australa sia
AkzoNobel
Feature
Akzo’s
master
stroke Interpon Powder Coatings is a global brand of AkzoNobel, the world’s largest coatings company. By Ian Armitage
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kzoNobel Powder Coatings is the largest global manufacturer of powder coatings and a leader in powder coatings technology. Whatever your powder coating needs, it has a solution. It is a truly global business, with around 4,000 dedicated employees spread throughout all five continents. “We produce high quality coatings which can be used on everything from microwave ovens, to office furniture, alloy wheels to aluminium windows,” says Branka Vinaj, business manager for AkzoNobel in Australia and New Zealand. The group’s head quarters are in Sassenheim, The Netherlands, and the business is divided into five sub business units: Functional; Europe East, Middle East and Africa; Europe West; The Americas; and Asia Pacific. Australia falls into Asia Pacific. “The powder business in Australia has manufacturing and sales in Australia, and sales in New Zealand,” says Ms Vinaj. “We have a strategy fine-tuned to meet local needs. And we’re continuously developing.” Long, medium and short-term research and development support comes from four key areas, she says: The innovation centre, based in Felling; The Centres of Expertise spread around the world; The national technical support teams; and AkzoNobel’s product development labs. “Together with our customers, we work to take powder coatings technology into the future,” says Vinaj. AkzoNobel’s powder coatings are always solvent-free and can be applied to metal and other conductive surfaces. They are used on many everyday items and customers work in diverse industries. “We supply several key segments including appliance, architectural, automotive and general industry with our global brand, namely Interpon,” Vinaj says. Interpon is the brand name of the powder coatings supplied by AkzoNobel. Interpon Powder Coatings are used on a variety of applications, and it is considered the world leader in architectural powder coatings, having supplied coatings on some of the world’s most recognisable landmarks
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including the Beijing Bird Nest, Hong Kong’s AIG Tower, Wimbledon Centre Court and Melbourne’s Eureka Tower. “We are uniquely placed to meet the needs of our customers locally and globally,” says Vinaj. “At the moment my official title is business manager for the powder business in Australia and New Zealand. AkzoNobel is a great company to work for and I’ve been with them 25 years this month, performing a variety of roles. I started off in the automotive business before moving over to powder and have also worked in the lab, in R&D, QC, technical service and sales. It is a wealth of experience.” AkzoNobel’s Australian operations are headquartered in Sunshine, Victoria. Plans are afoot to expand the business. “I’m currently writing a complete restructure of the sales team, splitting into regional responsibilities,” says Vinaj. “One key reason for restructuring the sales team is that we indentified that the existing structure needs streamlining and redefining – we need to simplify the way we operate. We also felt that based on the skills of the individuals within our team, we could grow and develop the business even further from where we are, if the high performers we have are given new regions to explore “We are now looking at that next step change in terms of market share growth and how to best go forward with that. This new structure is going to help us do that.” The past 12 months have been challenging for the business, however AkzoNobel is not alone in finding things tough. “This is probably a tougher time now than during the global financial crisis, without a doubt. In terms of our own business performance, I am very pleased. We are continuing to achieve market share growth in a very tight market. We are still a little bit off target and where we’d like to be, but it’s a good start to the year and I’m comfortable with how the business is going in terms of growth, in both market share and profitability. “It has been a hard start, but it is a positive start to the year and we are always determined to exceed the market’s needs.” This is the time for innovation, Vinaj says. “We are continually looking at how we can 4
“Together with our customers, we work to take powder coatings technology into the future” differentiate ourselves from our competitors and protect ourselves from imports from Asia. We are always under threat from that, being heavily dependent on manufacturing, more and more of which is moving offshore. How do we differentiate ourselves? Product technology is one that we have worked very hard on over the last four or five years, creating products specifically suited for the local environment and specifically suited to our customers. “These are things we are constantly working on.” Warranties are another differentiator. “With industry leading initiatives such as Australia’s leading architectural powder coatings warranty offering, Interpon D, MiniB and MiniB Micro, and the soon to be released Interpon Steelplex, we are leading the way in performance and decorative powder coatings in Australia.” She says the Australian arm’s strength is the ability to focus on the needs of the customer and understand market requirements. “That’s something we do very well. We’re very good at qualifying our market, qualifying our customers’ requirements and developing solutions.
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“I think that stems from our experience and we have a lot of it. Many people have been here several decades. There is stability there. Our customers respect the fact we have been in the market a long time, we are stable, and have sales people with extensive experience. There is not less than an average of 15 years experience amongst our senior sales managers. There is reliability there.” If Vinaj met a genie, what would she wish for? “More resources and specifically more sales people. Our strategy is sound. We just need more people on the ground to deliver it.” And what’s the secret to its success? “That’s easy to answer. The secret to our success, no doubt at all, is the people within our business, and the fact everybody in the business knows and believes in one of our most important core values to ‘focus on our customer’s future first’. Everything else after that is easier. “We’re determined to exceed the market’s expectations.” To learn more visit www.interpon.com/au.
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