Satair sets off for new horizons - Satair.com

Satair maps its future
with a strong customer focus
As the world’s largest independent aftermarket distributor, Satair is in a strong
position to service its customer and attract the best mix of suppliers.
With more than 25,000 part numbers in stock
and offices and warehouses on all major
continents, Satair is already serving all airlines
and most MROs worldwide. The company
is a key provider of aftermarket services to
Airbus’ and Boeing’s support programs and
runs an advanced supply chain solution built
on a SAP platform.
In a series of strategy sessions key members
of Satair’s management team have spent the
past months formulating a new strategy –
Destination 2014. This strategy is focusing on
the next 3-5 years. CEO John Staer outlines
the starting point:
“We are in a favorable competitive
situation and very well positioned towards
customers. We also enjoy strong supplier
relationships and we have a solid and flexible
operational model. This is the foundation
for our ambitious growth targets – and to
achieve them we will launch more than 50
new initiatives. We are also investing in
new capabilities and upgrading the project
organization. The goal with Destination 2014
is to take Satair to the next level by
exploiting our strong market position for
further growth.”
Listen and act
Satair’s mission is to become the global
leader in aerospace distribution services by
exceeding both customer and supplier needs
for competitive and innovative supply chain
solutions. COO – Head of Sales Morten Olsen
explains how the team aims to accomplish
this:
“First of all we must listen to the market –
and act swiftly according to what we learn.
It’s vitally important to understand market
trends and work to meet new requirements
from customers, suppliers, partners and
other stakeholders. We must exploit Satair’s
strengths, namely our strong position in
the aerospace value chain, our systems and
relationships, and, foremost, our people.”
It is Satair’s belief that long-term growth
in air traffic will continue due to the general
economic growth and the increase in global
trade. Other growth drivers are population
growth and liberalization of airspace. Industry
analysts believe that passenger and cargo
traffic growth will outpace GDP growth by a
factor of around 1.5, thus doubling over the
next 15 years.
To benefit from this growth, aerospace
companies can’t just sit waiting for it. Morten
Olsen points out that customer and supplier
demands are increasing, and Satair must meet
these. As a result, Corporate Management is
constantly looking for ways to minimize lead
time, maximize stability and create service
solutions that directly address the customer’s
ability to focus on his core business and his
bottom line.
Long-term customer relationships
With more than 50 years’ aerospace
experience, Satair already enjoys a preferred
status with customers which are long-term
sustainable. Morten Olsen acknowledges:
“We’re often seen as an integral part of
the customers’ operation, and as customer
satisfaction is our key focus, we have a
strong sales team to manage relationships
and opportunities. Our mantra is that we are
global in reach – but always with a local flair.”
Morten Olsen ticks off the individual
points in favor of Satair: “We have a good
reputation, and we want to keep it. So we
tailor package solutions to customer needs,
we make it possible for customers to reduce
their inventory investment while at the same
time keeping stock close by, we have a strong
product portfolio which supports vendor
reductions, we provide a reliable service
helping maintenance activities, we try to be
easy to do business with and we have a true
sense of urgency in emergencies.”
Needs to evolve
The customers are telling us that their
preferred supplier must evolve in several
aspects: They must have a high degree of
parts availability, deliver on time and keep
promises, provide workable solutions to
complex challenges and minor problems alike,
have industry leading customer service – and
he must have the financial strength to make
investments as and when they are needed.
On top of this Satair is looking to offer
more services such as integrated inventory
planning, vendor inventory planning as well
as sourcing and outsourced procurement.
Add value to the suppliers
Satair has strong supplier relationships that
are long term and tend to strengthen and
evolve over time. It is generally agreed that
John Stær, CEO of Satair
Satair adds significant value to its suppliers.
Steen Karsbo, Group VP – Head of Global
Marketing, expands on the subject of good
supplier relations: “Our overall goal is to add
value in the supply chain between supplier
and customer. We offer predictability in
monthly sales instead of high variance, a
better cash flow due to high turnover of stock
and improved delivery performance. We
also reduce the number of claims and take
over the interface with hundreds of different
customers with different needs and replace it
with one professional buyer with smooth and
consistent processes.”
In the future, Satair will focus on
component management including warranty
handling, repair handling and repair operation
to further enhance its value proposition to
suppliers.
Foundation for success
Satair has with Destination2014 a clear focus
on the direction for the next 3-5 years, but
it is also common knowledge that business
strategy and priorities may change over time
based on external factors. The operational
model is what provides the foundation and
flexibility required to execute the initiatives
defined by the strategy.
Mikkel Bardram, Group VP – Head of
Global Supply Chain raps up: “Over the last
few years Satair has built a strong operational
model. With the implementation of SAP,
Satair has a strong IT platform with advanced
functionality in place. By standardizing
processes, implementing a functional
organization and initiating lean, we have
consistent performance and good control. For
the coming years Satair will continue to make
step-wise improvements while supporting
significant growth”.
Satair’s operational model is strong and
the strategy is designed to exploit this. With
Destination 2014 Satair has a robust strategy
to help meeting and exceeding customer and
supplier expectations. That succeeding, Satair
should experience continued growth and
emerge as the preferred partner in aerospace.