With the Fintec and Extec brands successfully integrated into Sandvik, the company is focusing on delivering customer needs. Claire Symes met with Anders Kjellberg to find out more
Earlier this summer,
According to Sandvik vice president business development construction Anders Kjellberg, the acquisitions were an important step for Sandvik to realise their strategic aim to be the leading supplier of mobile crushing and screening equipment to the mining and construction markets.
Fintec and Extec extended Sandvik's mobile crushing and screening offering to serve the company's existing key markets and expanded product and service offerings to the contractor and recycling sectors. Kjellberg said that Sandvik contributed with its global network, with access to quarry and mining customers and a competitive product line of heavy mobile crushers. Extec and Fintec contributed with access to contractor customers and a competitive product line of tracked mobile crushers and screens.
Unified branding
Kjellberg claims that going to one brand will increase customer awareness of Sandvik's full offering. "The unified Sandvik branding that is part of the customer segment strategy that Sandvik Mining and Construction implemented four years ago continues to help us to improve and broaden the services to a variety of customers by using the wider breadth of our organisation," he said. "But the former Extec and Fintec products are still there, and the features that made them world leaders are incorporated into the new product offering." One area where the former Extec and Fintec excelled, according to Kjellberg, was in bringing new products to market. "Most products come about as a result of customer demand, especially from the former Extec and Fintec product lines - that was a key part of their success," he said. "The personnel that delivered this innovative approach still remain even though the companies are now within the Sandvik brand. The benefit of being part of a larger company comes in the form of more testing and spares availability rather than trial and error development in the field. Additionally, Sandvik provides access to advanced crusher and screen technology, excellent process knowledge, a well structured service and sales organisation with a high focus on efficiency and profitability for our customers."
Customer focus
This summer's customer event also helped publicise Sandvik's recently created global centre of excellence for their mobile crushing and screening offering based in England and Northern Ireland. As a result of the creation of the centre the production of heavy mobile equipment is being moved to England from Sweden. "This move has created a mobile crushing and screening operation that will offer one of the most extensive product lines available from a single manufacturer today," said Kjellberg.
"The event was not limited solely to mobile crushing and screening, as a major purpose was to highlight exactly what Sandvik offers to all its customers. Our full range encompasses drill rigs, tools, breakers, static plants that possess direct applications to companies of all sizes that are involved in quarrying, construction, demolition, recycling, and surface mining. The mobile crushing and screening offering now allows our customers to enjoy a one-stop-shop, so that we can truly be the solutions partner of choice for all our customers, worldwide." It is the close contact that Sandvik has with its customers that has been important to the growth of the company and its subsidiaries. "The direct sales force means that we are very close to our customers and we also work with their head offices as well as with our distributors globally, so if a company tells us about their specific needs then we can react to them," he said. "The sales teams have a key role to play in this side of the business."
"Our aim is for our sales teams to spend more time in the quarry than our competitors to ensure they understand our customers' businesses." However, Kjellberg said that there is never just one source or channel of inspiration for business development. "Quality feedback from customers is key for upgrades," he explained. "Some customers will ask for a specific variation but that does not mean that the whole industry wants this option." "We continue to be focused on discussions and partnerships with customers and distributors as well as building on our strengths. Our future developments in mobile crushing and screening, for example our new QE440 large mobile scalping screen, incorporates lessons and feedback from our current offerings while at the same time our developments will also target new customer demands.
"We have ongoing information exchanges with our customers to keep track with their changing demands and ask them exactly what they need for the future, for example we recently conducted in depth interviews to discuss key customer purchasing criteria. This as well as other feedback is used in focusing research and development," explained Kjellberg.
Looking ahead
Kjellberg said that it is important to move the business forward but admits that 2009 has been a difficult one for the company. "A lot of time has been spent on cost reduction activities, including minimising purchasing costs," he said. "We have unfortunately had redundancies as a result of the restructuring."
Nonetheless, it is clear that Kjellberg is confident that, with a restructured business and a unified brand, Sandvik's Construction Segment is well positioned to move with the changed economic climate. "The strategic changes that have been put in place mean the company is in good shape to continue to meet the needs of its customers as their markets start to recover and return to growth," he concluded.
