About our client, LEGO
LEGO is one of the largest toy retailers in the world and has physical stores in more than 100 countries.
INKI currently works with the LEGO stores in Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and Bulgaria. Together, these all report to the Central South Eastern Europe subregion hub.
Each store within this subregion relies on iPads for running the ERP, warehouse software, invoicing, and even cash machine operations.
Devices are used for inventory tracking (e.g., staff take photos of product part numbers and immediately update ERP to issue invoices). Ensuring that these devices remain functional, secure, and standardized across different countries is critical for smooth daily operations.
What challenges did LEGO face?
Many of the operational challenges LEGO faced in this region had the same origin: business fragmentation across multiple different legal jurisdictions, languages and even geographical distance in the case of Bulgaria.
This fragmentation added significant overhead to the region’s daily operations.
Centralized procurement of devices, as well as local billing and collection, was very difficult, since stores from each country are under their own distinct legal entity.
IT and technical expertise were another overhead in terms of costs and operations. LEGO essentially had to employ and operate a distinct IT department for each country to handle any device issues they might have had. This increased costs, but more importantly it increased complexity.
Because of the different legal jurisdictions, each country would have to create its own IT protocols, create their own MDM system, establish vendor relationships, IT inventory management, and so on.
Over the long term, this would have made it difficult to keep business operations agile and quick to react to market changes.
Security concerns were another issue. Devices in stores were sometimes stolen, which created the risk of data leakage if they were not secured properly.
The challenge was not how to secure the individual devices, since there are comprehensive solutions for that.
The real problem was how to secure a large number of devices quickly and efficiently, and in a centralized manner.
Finally, devices had to be restricted to business use only, with zero personal app downloads or misuse.
Repairing or replacing broken devices was a tedious task, since it was not possible to do it at a centralized level.
Every country LEGO operated in used different vendors, each with their own warranty claim processes, so it wasn’t possible to create a single standard operating procedure at the group level.
Likewise, sending devices to be repaired at a single central hub was also very inefficient, both in terms of time and money.
How did INKI resolve LEGO’s problems?
As one of Europe’s largest Device-as-a-Service providers, INKI specializes in providing companies with the devices they require, plus the complete management of those devices.
Our device management service contains the entire lifecycle of the device: procurement, configuration, maintenance and repairs, replacements, and end-of-life decommissioning.
By partnering with INKI, LEGO managed to resolve all these operational problems, all while making their business processes much simpler and more predictable.
Country-specific procurement was greatly simplified, since INKI has deep partnerships with hardware suppliers in every country LEGO Central South Eastern Europe operates in.
Besides procurement, INKI also handles device repairs, warranty claims and procurement.
By working with INKI, LEGO freed itself from the complexity and overhead of working with multiple different hardware vendors, from different countries and jurisdictions.
Instead, LEGO has replaced this web of suppliers with a single partner.
Scalable EU-wide coverage: INKI manages contracts and invoicing directly with the legal entity, avoiding internal cross-charging and simplifying procurement.
Finally, INKI handles logistics and support directly with each store, ensuring consistent service across Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, and Bulgaria.
Centralized device configuration is also handled by INKI. Every iPad LEGO uses is enrolled via Apple Business Manager (ABM) and configured through INKI’s MDM and device management platform.
Applications are pushed and updated automatically, ensuring uniform setup and zero IT work for LEGO when adding a new device to their store employees.
INKI’s setup is also flexible, meaning devices can remain under INKI’s MDM or be integrated into LEGO’s own MDM if IT capabilities were developed later.
Security-first configuration: Devices are locked down to LEGO’s approved ERP, warehouse, and invoicing apps, with restrictions preventing personal app usage.
Fast device replacements is one of INKI’s strongest advantages. We offer guaranteed replacement for faulty devices, but also preconfigured devices that can be quickly loaned for immediate use to prevent any work disruptions.
Anti-theft protections for data are included in every single INKI device. From the INKI app, LEGO managers and IT administrators can remotely lock and wipe all the data from any of their iPads, protecting sensitive stock and pricing data.
Results
Working with INKI has simplified the day-to-day operations of LEGO’s stores, making it easier to add new devices, manage existing ones and create more predictable work procedures.
Much less IT and technical work for LEGO in each country, because INKI handles everything related to procurement, initial device configuration, and lifecycle management.
Another advantage is that LEGO can create a single standard operating procedures for all stores in the region.
Operational efficiency is better since store staff don’t need to do anything to get a device up and running. All they have to do is connect to Wi-Fi, log in, and start working without any technical setup required.
Fewer work disruptions are caused by broken devices, since INKI can quickly replace them. We are proud of our ability to do this for our partners, and it is included in our Service Level Agreement.
Flexibility and predictability. With INKI’s DaaS solution, LEGO’s retail stores have the flexibility to add fully configured iPads in short notice, but also to remove existing device that are no longer needed.
INKI’s setup is also flexible, so LEGO can use either INKI’s MDM or switch to their own whenever they want to.
More importantly is the predictability, since LEGO knows they can rely on INKI to quickly and efficiently resolve any hardware related issues a store might have, all hassle-free and without paperwork.
Data protection. Thanks to INKI’s MDM integration, sensitive business data is protected against theft or misuse through instant remote wipe.
