Swiss Connect 13 - PRECI-DIP SA

PRECI-DIP DURTAL SA · CH-2800 DELEMONTWWW.PRECIDIP.COMLessons of the immediate pastWhy some companies are doing better in dull markets than othersAfter quite a number of years as ProductionManager of Preci-Dip and the last three yearsas CEO, I feel entitled to a few retrospectivethoughts and reflexions.The first: the problems a company has to faceare always the same but, depending on whatthe individual tasks are, one becomes awarethat the same problem can have many facetswhich may be totally different from oneanother.The second: it is great to work with the latestequipment allowing cost-efficient, highspeed production – as long as you don’t losethe flexibility of switching over to new productsand technologies very quickly.The third: it is necessary to have growth, nodoubt about that. However, growth alsomeans that one has to analyse the structure ofthe markets, and to find out the slowly growing,but stable sectors, as opposed to thebooming high risk business opportunities.With all the shades and varieties in between.And – last but not least – it is indispensable toanalyse your company‘s own possibilities togo into these markets with a well-balancedoffer and strategy and with sufficient capabilitiesin production and marketing.Obviously, some of our competitors madechoices they probably regret today. Perhapsthey forgot about the simple fact that everythinghas its limits and the higher the benefits,the higher the risk.The most flagrant example of what can happenwhen managers forget about their taskto move forward without running unacceptablerisks was delivered lately by E-commerce,the virtual marketplace. Countless companieswiped away and billions of invested capitallost – in no time. A painful experience.However – in spite of the serious setback suf-fered by so many dotcoms – E-commerce stilloffers excellent opportunities to companieshandling their business professionally. Justas an example: Ebay, with some USD 10 billionvolume of sales by auction, has publisheda turnover of over 1 billion for 2002. Andincreasing profit.Ebay’s CEO, Margaret C. Whitman says: «Themost important thing in our business is: welisten to our community of customers...» AndEbay obviously uses the Internet the way it‘sbest fit for.In our case, listening to our customers meansthat we have to offer a comprehensive rangeof competitive standard products, to be fastand flexible with specials at reasonable costand to invest constantly in new technologies,in order to make sure that our customers buyproducts which are always the state-of-theart.Preci-Dip, being one of the world’s leadingmanufacturers in machined contacts, fightsagainst the market‘s high risk temptationsby adopting a simple principle: there is nosuch thing as a small customer.Each and every customer is a business partnerto Preci-Dip and deserves to be treated assuch. We may not always be able to do exactlywhat is asked for in the first place, but we willalways try to help with technical advice, goodproposals and may be alternative solutions.The key word is customer satisfaction.Because, after all, the real assets of a companycan only be found in its customer base.Sincerely,Pierre Lehmann, CEOinfo and products online : www.precidip.comCONNECT US !Preci-Dip Durtal SARue Saint-Maurice 34, P.O.Box 341CH-2800 Delémont / SwitzerlandPhone: +41 (0)32 421 04 00Fax: +41 (0)32 421 04 01E-mail: sales@precidip.comSwiss Connect is a free newsletter published by Preci-Dip Durtal SA and is available on paper and PDFfile. For detailed product information please contact your Preci-Dip dealer (see address on bottomof page 8) or call Preci-Dip Durtal International Division at CH-2800 Delémont (Switzerland).2