Page 61 - Best of 2016 English

Steel sellers in Scandinavia must understand the Scandinavians and know the value that the people there place on quality. Roland Tomicic, Managing Director at Salzgitter
Mannesmann Scandinavia (SMSC) in Malmö, says, “ e Scandinavians make tough demands. ey particularly like German quality, which is why we always have to be better than the discount- ers.” Tomicic is a good judge in this matter because he was born in Helsingborg and is Swedish, but, thanks to his Croatian roots, he can appreciate the di erences between northern and southern Euro- pean mentalities.
Scandinavia is a small and complex steel market with small companies and steel warehouses. While Germany has 300,000 t on stock, Scandinavia has perhaps 40,000 t. Nevertheless, it is an important market, particularly for Salzgitter AG. “We are generally seeing an increase in orders for higher grades,” reports Maik Lintl, head of the Steel Ser- vice Center/Trading sales area at Salzgitter Flach- stahl GmbH, “and the customers also appreciate our physical proximity.” Roland Tomicic values the faithfulness and loyalty of the Scandinavian customers and adds, “ e rms are healthy, and insolvencies are rare.”
Also important on the Scandinavian sales mar- ket are exibility, punctuality, service, and honest communication. According to Tomicic, “Bad news is not a problem for Scandinavians as long as the news is delivered in time so that they can prepare themselves. On the other hand, if something hap- pens without advance warning, it is a disaster.”
It is also important to use locational advantages. It is a short trip from Salzgitter to Malmö. “Many
Salzgitter Mannesmann
Scandinavia (SMSC) steel sales by country, 2015
Schweden 49.47%
customers are located in southern Sweden, which means that cost-e cient deliveries by train are possible,” reports Maik Lintl.
SMSC also endeavors to make the group’s struc- ture with the business units and companies clearer to the Scandinavian customers. “O en I nd out that the customers do not know enough about this, although they are happy to use our products,” explains Tomicic. But the most important key to success on the Scandinavian steel market must be that “we should sell more than just the steel, and always o er the total package: goods, service and logistics.” Complete solutions are necessary for success here.
Denmark
9.6%
7.3%
Norway 33.63%
Finland
Salzgitter Mannesmann Scandinavia’s (SMSC) work
SMSC, with headquarters in Malmö and o ces in Oslo and Turku, belongs to the Salzgitter AG Trading business unit. It is headed by Managing Director Roland Tomicic, 41. Working at his side are four sales or country managers, each one responsible for one country, and three adminis- trative sales employees.
“SMSC is like our extended arm to the cus- tomer,” says Maik Lintl, head of the Salzgitter Flachstahl Steel Service Center/Trading sales area. To describe his job, Roland Tomicic says, “We are service providers. We supply such things as market reports and analyses, we o er advice, we clear up legal issues and naturally we engage in merchandising in addition to the sales activities. We represent the entire group and not just our own business unit.” Because sometimes customers call Malmö and say they would like to have this or that from “Salzgitter”, and they mean the whole Group. It is SMSC’s job to see
Roland Tomicic in the SMSC o ce in Malmö
where they can get the products. Meanwhile it is also possible to trade in steel on an international level, for example, to buy in China and sell in Denmark.
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Photo: Gunnar Garms