Dt magazine 10

You can’t compromise

No. 10 · summer 2011

safety 14

Your 30 minutes team building guide

20

Knowing yourself gives you

power Want loyalty?

Buy a

24

Win an

dog!

4

iPhone

6 The story of Lightbulbs 12 What does Loyalty mean to you? 16 Small is beautiful

Take me home

Inside

4

Charlotte Gullach Büttrich Chief responsible editor for DT Magazine

Want loyalty?

Buy a dog!

Does loyalty at all exist? Or is it merely a buzzword that when it comes to execution, proofs to be a lot of hot air?

8 10

HardTalk

14 16

You can’t compromise safety

20

Ideas@work: Knowing yourself gives you power

22

Do it yourself: Learn how to with Silvan

24

DT Quiz

What does Loyalty mean to you?

Construction is sometimes all about ‘getting things to stick together’

Small is beautiful Construction is sometimes all about ‘getting things to stick together’

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The story of light bulbs Today the light bulb is considered a common item – but its invention back in 1809 revolutionized both the way we live, work, and play.

USEFUL NUMBERS DT Group Wolseley Starkki STARK

2

+45 39559700 +44 118 929 8700 +358 3 850 900 +45 89343434

DT MAGAZINE

What is loyalty to you?

Loyalty is one of those words that desperately needs a context before it starts making sense. Addressing loyalty from a universal point of view - has little value. Loyalty in a family context, is probably the strongest form of loyalty most people will ever experience. Yet with family relations becoming increasingly fluid, friendship is a worthy competitor when it comes to loyalty. It’s about being there for the other person, regardless what. Supporting this person when this person needs it, also when this person at times might not deserve your support. Loyalty towards yourself and your own values, again puts loyalty in a different perspective as this easily can clash with the loyal-

ty for your family or your friends. Or at least, it can bring you into situations where you have to make a choice. Last but not least there’s loyalty in a business context.

How loyal are our customers? And how do we define that loyalty? Will a loyal customer never buy from the competitor? Are we ourselves loyal to our customers?

Are we loyal employees?

In the business units comprising DT Group the average employee retention is high compared to the industries’ average. Does that mean we are loyal? What is loyalty to you?

Happy reading You can write to Charlotte at editor@fittings.nu Feel free to share your ideas, comments - both positive and critics.

Colophon Beijer Neumann Silvan Cheapy

+46 752411000 +47 55549800 +45 87308730 +46 431443540

Editorial responsibility: DT Group/Charlotte Gullach Büttrich Journalistic production and project management: Radical Communications/Patrick May Design and layout: Appetizer/Simon Johnsen Photography: Das Buro/Emil Lyders Print: Trykcentret

DT Magazine // Code of conduct

Good citizenship is good business Wolseley recently rolled out an Ethics and Fraud program across the business to reinforce the Group’s commitment to conduct all our activities ethically with honesty and integrity.

The aim of the program is to ensure that we are aware of how we conduct our business and understand our role in executing all activities in the most ethical way. This will help us to increase our customers’ confidence that they will encounter the same standards of excellence in execution in every Wolseley business and this will help us deliver our shared objective of growing profitably

The aim of the program is to ensure that we are aware of how we conduct our business

and faster than our competition.

There are three main parts of the Ethics and Fraud Program:

1

A new Group Code of Conduct

This is a framework that explains how we should always do the right thing during our working lives. It will drive how we behave and how we conduct our business. It provides us with guidance on the expected standards.

2

The Fraud Policy

In support of the Code is the Fraud Policy, which introduces a set of overarching principles in relation to fraud and corruption that all our businesses must adhere to. Further guidance on the principles is contained in the AntiFraud Manual and the Anti-Corruption Manual and other supporting materials, which have been developed with representatives from

each of the Group’s businesses.

3

The Speak Up! reporting service

The Group’s whistleblowing service is being relaunched and renamed Speak Up! A web reporting facility has also been introduced.

More information about the initiative you can find on your local intranet.

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DT Magazine // Loyalty

Want loyalty?

Buy a

dog!

Does loyalty at all exist? Or is it merely a buzzword that when it comes to execution, proofs to be a lot of hot air?

Should you consider buying a dog if you want to experience loyalty? Or is there actually something to it? And if so, can you develop loyalty?

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DT MAGAZINE

A systematic approach to loyalty There is a lot of emphasis these days on creating satisfied customers. But is having satisfied customers enough?

A satisfied customer isn’t necessarily a loyal customer.

Any given custom-

er, can be satisfied with multiple suppliers at the same time.

Satisfied customers will tend to buy from suppliers offering the best price. But what happens when a supplier is able to differentiate himself in terms of building some degree of customer loyalty?

Chances are good that price becomes

less of an issue as loyalty increases. But moving a customer from satisfied to loyal requires something out of the ordinary.

At STARK they acknowledge that satisfied customers not necessarily are loyal customers. “For us, loyal customers”, STARK’s managing director Lars Hansen says, “are customers that buy 75% or more of their entire supplies at STARK. It doesn’t matter really whether it is a large or a small company.

More important is how large a share of their total budget for supplies they spend in our branches. 75% and preferably more is what we aim for.

When you reach that kind of commitment with a customer, the probability that you will get their next order is vast. We’re talking serious money here. The flip side

is that if we loose a loyal customer, this is reflected in our books.”

STARK rewards loyal customers with free relevant services. “Loyal customers can for example order their supplies until nine in the evening and still get them delivered the next day”, says Lars. “This is not only a service customers appreciate , it also shows them what STARK is capable of doing. None of our competitors would be able to consistently deliver on that kind of promise.

The service enhances our brand, which in turn enforces loyalty.”

Customers buying 75% or more, get marked ‘extra loyal’.

This is the first category of four used

by STARK when looking at their customer base with loyalty glasses on. “Once a customer reach-

Same treatment Extra loyal customers get the same beneficiary conditions regardless what branch they visit. That is one of the capital benefits STARK customers enjoy. Whether they shop in Odder or Copenhagen, they will get a similar experience.

Salespeople are able to check what level of loyalty the customer they are dealing with has in their system. This enables them to make sure the customer gets an adequate treatment so extra loyal customers feel special no matter where they shop.

To be able to make this program work, staff had to label all customers into one of the four categories described in the main story.

The service enhances our brand, which in turn enforces loyalty Lars Hansen Managing Director, STARK

es 75% or more, the growth potential is limited. From a growth point of view, category 2 customers, those buying between 50 and 75%, is therefore an interesting category for us”, the CEO of STARK says. “With a dedicated sales effort, we can grow this segment and in time turn them into extra loyal customers. As mentioned above, the size of the company doesn’t matter. In fact, we

know that our service is extremely valued by smaller and medium sized entrepreneurs and they reward us with their loyalty.”

Extra loyal customers, STARK has documented, buy a significant larger part of STARK’s assortment, also private label products, whereas less loyal customers have a

More on page 13 DT MAGAZINE

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DT Magazine // The story of ...

The story of

Light bulbs Today the light bulb is considered a common item – but its invention back in 1809 revolutionized both the way we live, work, and play.

With clear light at a low cost, the world lit up in ways we could not have imagined.

The first light bulb was built by Humphry Davy (an Englishman) in 1809.

Thomas Edison improved the invention and based his improvements on a 6

DT MAGAZINE

patent he purchased from inventors Henry Woodward & Matthew Evans who patented their bulb in 1875. It is also Edison who therefore is credited with the invention of the light bulb.

Edison and his associates tried more than 3,000 different theories for creating a high-resistance element that would significantly lower the amount of electrical power required.

In January 1879, he finally succeeded in creating a high-resistance filament,

using platinum, but it only burned for a few hours.

In his attempts to improve the useful life of the bulb, Edison tested more than 6,000 types of plant materials along with every other filament he could think of, including tungsten, the most common component of modern filaments.

Eventually, he tried a carbonized cotton thread, which burned for 15 hours. He continued to improve on that filament until, by late 1880, he had a marketable 16-watt

The dark truth Myth: You save on energy bills by leaving lights on. Some people believe that the energy to turn on lights exceeds savings of turning lights off. Extensive tests show the opposite is true: it’s best to turn off the bulb even if you are leaving the room for only a second. The exact time will vary depending on the kind of bulb but as a rule of thumb: turn of the light and save on your electricity bill.

bulb that would burn for 1,500 hours.

Why invented?

Many Inventions were invented by accident, or while trying to invent something else. The light bulb was not one of these. Many scientists of the day were trying to invent a way to use electricity to light your house. The reason is that the old style of lighting, candles, lamps, lanterns, were all very dangerous.

People were starting at that time to run natural gas through cities then, as a new safer way to light homes, and the gas companies were raking in the profit. As soon as scientists started working with elec-

tricity, they thought about using it for lighting. It is logical, because they saw electricity create sparks.

How works?

A light bulb produced light by heating a metal filament wire to a high temperature until it glows.

The hot filament is protected from air by a glass bulb that is filled with inert gas or evacuated. The light bulb is supplied with electrical current by feed-through terminals or wires embedded in the glass. Most bulbs are used in a socket (a housing giving mechanical support to the bulb, keeping its terminals in contact with the supply current terminals).

It has been estimated that, over the course of its life, an energy saving light bulb can save about DKK 240 in the cost of the electricity used to run it

Energy saving light bulbs

Energy saving light bulbs are fundamentally different to traditional light bulbs.

The latter can be purchased with different wattage outputs – the typical light bulb used in the home is either 60 watts or 100 watts, which means that is how much power they use up in an hour. The low energy equivalents use only 9 or 11 watts each hour, so represent a substantial power saving, even though they give the same amount of light out.

The downside to energy saving light bulbs has been that they are much more expensive than traditional bulbs – but this is offset by their much longer life. It has been estimated that, over the course of its life, an energy saving light bulb can

save about DKK 240 in the cost of the electricity used to run it.

It is now possible to buy different forms of lower energy light bulbs – including ones that fit into spotlight fittings and down lighters. The light bulbs formerly used in this type of lighting, which tends to have multiple spots in the ceiling, meant that the lighting system was very power hungry. By replacing 10 spotlight bulbs of 60 watts with 10 of 9 watts, lighting the whole room takes 90 watts instead of 600 watts.

Disposing of Low Energy Light Bulbs

Like traditional light bulbs, energy saving

More on page 19

Centennial bulb How long does a bulb last? The average bulb lasts for 600 hours. Give and take. At Livermore/ Pleasanton (USA) Fire Department, the have a light bulb that has been burning for 105 years! It has a carbon filament that is much thicker than modern bulbs and also burns much cooler/darker.

You can check on the light using the bulb’s webcam. www.centennialbulb.org

DT MAGAZINE

7

DT Magazine // HardTalk

HardTalk with Steen Weirsøe

In an enterprise with more than 9000 employees and 485 branches, the distance to the top management may seem long. With HardTalk, it becomes shorter, because here we put you in contact with DT Group’s most senior manager.

Steen Weirsøe answers you and your colleagues questions, however searching they are.

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DT MAGAZINE

What is the image we want the outside world to have of us? Conservative or modern?

I guess it depends what you compare us to. If you compare us to our competitors, I think I can safely say that we are perceived to be the pioneers of the industry. What sets us aside is our ability to simplify complicated processes. Dealing with a huge amount of customer interactions every day, suppliers, product assortment, logistics all the way down to how we transform and change stores - we got a real tight grip around our operations. On top of that, colleagues working with customers have front line competency and that enables them to make decisions in favor of our

customers. In general, I think we have a rather flat organization - which I’d say is definitely modern.

Working in Beijer Byggmaterial, should I consider myself to be employed by Beijer Byggmaterial, DT Group or Wolseley?

When you are working at Beijer Byggmaterial, you are foremost employed

by Beijer Byggmaterial and you should also feel and act accordingly. Beijer Byggmaterial, just like Stark, Starkki, Neuman, Silvan and Cheapy, has their own identity. This identity is the very reason for customers to choose where to bring their business. Therefore it is important to act in the Beijer Byggmaterial spirit if you’re employed here and work for Beijer Byg-

gmaterial. The exception obviously is in purchasing. Here Wolseley should be on top of mind as the size of the company and the expertise is something we can use to our advantage.

Would you recommend staff to participate in the Wolseley share saver program?

I am really not allowed to give staff advice in this matter.

It’s not that I don’t want to but since Wolseley is an English company, we have to comply to English legislation and the law is very strict about this.

Therefore, as much as I want to help, I am afraid this is something each employee has to decide for him/her self.

Is there a link between loyal

What would you like to ask Steen? Send your question to steen@dtmagazine.dk – Don’t mince your words as you may remain totally anonymous.

customers and happy employees?

Yes there is. But it is not like you might expect. Unlike typical product brands, our customers’ loyalty is depending on the service perception our customers have when they deal with us. Competent and service minded staff plays a decisive role in this perception, but so does efficiency and here is where it all starts.

Top tuned stores, effective processes, a well managed product assortment - are at the very fundament of the customers’ service perception. It makes our customers happy and in the end loyal.

Satisfied customers have an effect on the happiness of staff because dealing with satisfied people is so much more rewarding.

From here on, it’s a self enforcing process.

in the latest Wolseley health and safety report.

What is wrong?

Nothing is wrong with health and safety in either Starkki, Beijer Byggmaterial or any other division in DT Group. We are in the fortunate situation that we actually experience very few work related accidents. What happened is that Wolseley during their latest assessment identified that not all divisions lived entirely up to the standard way of reporting

Wolseley applies. Except for the fact that we of course need to comply to all health and safety regulations, we also need to report about it in a specific way. That of course is important and it has been solved adequately.

Health and safety is absolutely a priority.

Starkki and Beijer Byggmaterial scored not very well

DT MAGAZINE

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DT Magazine // Nine to five

What does

Loyalty

mean to you?

Name:

Janne Fjellhaug

Age: Function: Where: Work: Loyal to:

49 years Office manager Neumann Bygg in Bergen, Norway Working for Neumann Bygg 32 years My children

Loyalty cannot tollerate dishonesty “Mutual respect is what loyalty is all about” says Janne Fjellhaug, office manager at Neumann Bygg in Bergen. During her 32 years in the company she has never experienced any form of illoyalty, nothing that she can think of anyway.

Even though she has been fortunate to have trustworthy

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colleagues, Janne has been less fortunate in her private life. “There have been issues with honesty in her family - where a family member was revealed to be dishonest. No one in her family has contact with this person any longer. A high price to pay but this the consequence when loyalty goes bad.”

To be loyal towards others gives Janne a good feeling and since “what you give is what you get” it is good for everybody involved. My working colleagues are the best loyal people you can imagine. The reason why I have been loyal to Neumann Bygg for 32 years is because the company offers me interest-

What you give is what you get

ing tasks and challenges. What would really put my loyalty to the test was if work and family life would clash.

Choosing between work and my children would be the hardest thing to do since I love my job very much. But in the end, I’d have to say I’d choose what is best for my children.”

Loyalty, according to Wikipedia, is faithfulness or a devotion to a person, a country, a group, or a cause. In a business context, you can be loyal to a brand, a product, an employer.

Loyalty is a lot of different things to a lot of different people, making loyalty an interesting phenomenon. What does loyalty mean to you? Who or what are you loyal to and what would challenge your loyalty?

Name:

Juha Pyykkönen

Age: Function: Where: Work: Loyal to:

58 Product group manager for tools and fixing Starkki in Lahti, Finland Working for Starkki 35 years My wife, Terttu

The secret ingredient for a happy marriage On the seventh of June this year, Juha Pyykkönen will be celebrating his 35-years anniversary at Starkki in Lahti. A long term commitment - one that builds upon loyalty.

“I have to admit that in the beginning of my career in Starkki I got tempted once or twice to leave the company and start elsewhere”, Juha says. “I got contact-

ed by a headhunter, which in itself is flattering enough.

But after careful considerations I decided to stick, which today, I am happy for.”

“The values at Starkki, are close to my own values and that means a lot to me. During my career in Starkki, I not once experienced an act of ill loyalty or dishonesty. Instead I experience

commitment from the people around me. The fact that the company has given me responsibility and a large level of independence, are important ingredients for employer loyalty I would say.”

Juha has been married to his wife Terttu for 20 years.

“I consider her to be very loyal, She’s always be there for me when ever I need

The values at Starkki, are close to my own values and that means a lot to me

her. And vice versa.

We’re extreme loyal to each other. Mutual loyalty is an important ingredient for a good and lasting marriage.”

“Considering my age, I doubt whether I ever will get offers from headhunters. But you never know do you? Would my loyalty be put to the test of I did get a good offer? It just might. Who knows.”

More on next page DT MAGAZINE

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DT Magazine // Nine to five

What does

Loyalty

mean to you?

Name:

Anders Håkansson

Age: Function: Where: Work: Loyal to:

40 years Salesperson Beijer Byggmaterial in Ängelholm, Sweden Beijer Byggmaterial for 20 years My family

Family first Anders Håkansson is a salesperson at Beijer Byggmaterial in Sweden. “For me loyalty is a matter of give and take - make the best out of each situation without letting your colleagues, your friends and your family down.

It’s actually quite simple. The loyalty you give to others, you get back.

Both from family and colleagues, but certainly also from Anna, my partner.

She’s always there

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for me when I need her.”

Anders has been working for Beijer Byggmaterial for twenty years. He loves working at Beijer Byggmaterial.

“There’s an amazing atmosphere in the store. Without any exception, everybody is getting along well. On top of that, my boss gives me a fair share of responsibility. That keeps me going as it challenges me in my job.”

Equally important when addressing

employer loyalty is the integrity of the management. “In my eyes, leaders should be communicative and you have to be able to trust that they are fair and that they are doing the right thing. The latter hasn’t always been the case. In my early years at Beijer Byggmaterial we at some point discovered that some leaders actually cheated the company out of money.

It came as quite a shock to us. Events like this are killing

The loyalty you give to others, you get back

for loyalty. Really. I mean, these are the people you trust.

Fortunately that is in the long gone past and everything works out just great now.”

Most loyal Anders is to his family. “There’s never been any problems combining work and family while working at Beijer Byggmaterial. So I haven’t been put in a loyalty conflict really. But if I had to choose between work and family, family of course comes first.”

ed Continpuage 5 from tendency to buy discounted products.

“Less loyal customers we divide in two groups. Category 3 and 4.” Lars explains: “Category 3 customers prefer to do business with one of our competitors and deal with us if we have a good offer. They put between 20 and 50% of their budget in our cash tilts. To develop this category, we have to continuously provide them with good offers and good service. We want, where possible, to show them the service level we can offer them if they choose to increase their business with STARK.” “Category 4 customers purchase less than 20% of their budget here. They visit us typically because they have a project near by one of our branches, not necessarily because they have any sentiments towards STARK. These customers obviously, we offer the least discount. In our loyalty program, we focus on the first three categories, offering them world class service we know our competitors can’t handle. Services that help them making their working day more efficient. We want them to experience that it can pay of to do business with the largest player in the market.”

Bonus cards

Do they work?

Your wallet probably holds a credit card or two, a few membership cards including your fitness and blockbuster card, as well as a vast growing number of customer benefit cards from your preferred airline, petrol station and shopping facilities. DT Groups’ divisions also issues a number of cards with varying benefits for loyal customers. But do they work?

STARK has developed the so called green concept for private customers. The sweet spot in the concept is nothing less than brilliant.

“Private home owners typically will contract professionals when they have a building project”, says Lars Hansen, CEO of STARK. “We can help them with finding the right professional. After all, we know most of them since they are our customers. We deliver a list with loyal professional builders relevant to the project, together with references from other home owners that have used these professionals.” Today, 65.000 private customers have a STARK green card, receiving emails on a regular basis with rel-

evant offers and news and additional benefits.

Customer surveys show that 75% of the members in the program, use STARK as their preferred partner.

CHEAPY Lågprisbygg defines

a loyal customer being a returning customer, buying a significant part of the entire assortment.

The discount chain offers loyal customers a bonuscard that gives the holder certain benefits. To start with, all purchases are being registered and are eligible for a bonus. The bonus is calculated on a monthly basis. On top of this, card holders benefit from exclusive monthly special offers.

But does it work? “Yes, extremely well”, says Eric Cardell, responsible for Cheapy’s loyalty program. “Card holders in average spend 4 times the amount compared to other customers. Therefore we have done an extra effort to increase the amount of cardholders. So far, we have been able to double the sales (6%) from our cardholders compared to last year (3%).”

SILVAN introduced a customer card in march

this year - and to date already 15.000 customers are equipped with this card giving them loads of extra benefits.

The card comes with a smart on line feature: my Silvan - giving customers access to a personalized area of the website. Each purchase after swiping their card, is being registered and saved here, as well as the color codes used when buying paint. Other benefits are that cardholders instead of the regular two weeks have two months to swap their products, are informed about the very popular do-it-yourself evenings Silvan organizes before other customers and can reserve their spot and they have the ability to ask do it yourself questions in an on-line forum where a professional expert panel answers all questions. “Whether it works”, Lars Halse, responsible for the development of the customer card, “is to early to say but we can see that the opening rate of the mails we send to our cardholders is extremely high, and the basket size of card holders is significantly larger than the average basket size in SILVAN.”

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DT Magazine // Spot on

You can’t compromise

safety Knud Jensen and Harry Jensen are both hard core STARK veterans. They know the business inside out. Both gents are a part of a long term strategy, making STARK an even saver place to work.

We can’t live with potential safety hazards in our branch

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They are so called workplace environment consultants, visiting all 88 branches and 5 on Greenland to check and follow up upon health and safety. A job that requires a good understanding of existing regulations, a sharp eye for potential dangerous situations, business insight and good people skills.

We catch Harry Jensen (61) while he’s getting ready to visit the STARK branch in Odder. He doesn’t show up un announced as you might expect, but has an appointment with Per Nielsen, the managing director of both the locations in Odder and Skanderborg. “It is important to understand that I am here to help the business getting better on health and safety issues, not to disturb their business.” STARK has developed a

ranking for branches ranging from level one to level five, level one meaning that the branch complies 100% with both internal and external health and safety regulations. Level five is the lowest level and this means the branch will have to develop dramatically.

“When we visit a branch”, Harry explains, “we use a far reaching checklist that we follow. An inspection typically takes up between 2 and 4 hours, depending on the size of the place. Our checklist includes 4 focus areas: internal traffic, ergonomics, accident hazards and the formal requirements by Danish law.

For each of these areas, we have multiple relevant points that we need to check.

Based upon our findings we develop an action plan that we present to the managing director and his health and safety representatives. During our screening, we take a massive amount of pictures.

We use these pictures in the action plan. In the action

I am here to help the business getting better on health and safety issues, not to disturb their business

plan we prioritize issues based upon gravity and identify who’s responsible to solve the issues we came across.”

Branches scoring in the high end, level 1 and 2, the consultants visit once a year whereas those ranked lower can expect to be visited more frequently. “This is en effective way to keep these branches focused upon health and safety

issues”, Harry explains.

“And what is more important, help them to improve. For example by showing the less performing branches what the better performing branches do to improve.

When we started this initiative the average ranking was over 3, now we’re at 2,6. The objective for this year is to reach an average of 2,2 but on the long term, the ambition is to get all branches on level 1.”

How to get from level 3 to level 1 Two years ago when workplace environment consultant Harry Jensen visited the STARK branch in Odder, he identified a number of issues that were prone for improvement. They ranged from lacking floor markings, marking walking and driving areas, to wearing gloves when producing keys. As a result, the branch was ranked at level 3.

“We can’t live with potential safety hazards in our branch”, says Per Nielsen, managing director in Odder and Skanderborg. “So after Harry visited our branch the first time, we took the action plan and started working with it.

There were quite a lot of issues. We divided them into smaller pro-

jects and delegated the responsibility to the relevant people.”

“Our philosophy is and always has been that things have to be in order”, says Per. “This means that we have to live up to all health and safety requirements and regulations. I realize that I, being the leader, have to show the way. Therefore, whenever a staff member brings a safety issue under my attention, I never question it but instead tell him or her to get it fixed. Doing this consistently, results in a positive approach towards health and safety here. If a fork truck has worn out tires, you might be able to still drive the truck for a couple of months more. But we choose to replace them right away. Safety before saving a few dimes. Nobody questions this.”

“We’re a level one branch now”, says Per. “It gives staff peace of mind knowing that they operate in a save environment. We also get acknowledgement from our customers who, especially the smaller sized customers, ask us for advice on safety issues. It has not been an easy process and I can imagine that for certain branches it is even harder to get the job done. But I can only say it is worth doing it. You should never compromise on safety, it can’t pay of”.

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DT Magazine // Thermometer

L ELECTRO-OI Glostrup and ørresundby, Denmark - N Kolding 1964 ablished

Where

Est

cts Main produ r heating systems (oil and fo Spare parts danish houses e at iv pr in s) ga

ers Main customating fitters

Christian Gulløv

Managing Director, Electro-Oil

he Specialized

26

Staff

essional in a lized and prof mes to the ia ec sp y hl ig H co niche when it very distinct e heating in Denmark. at iv will pr of issues good at and Electro-Oil is This is what stick with.

Special

small is beautiful Size does matter. Or what? In DT Magazine you are used to read about Stark, Beijer Byggmaterial and the other large companies in DT Group.

But what about the smaller companies? Who are they, what do they do?

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DT MAGAZINE

Danish ElectroOil is a small gem that lives a relatively quiet but good life. The company is the leading supplier of spares for gas and oil heated systems in Denmark. They have their headquarters in Glostrup and offices in Kolding and Nørresundby. This setup enables them to service customers nationwide.

Electro-Oil Int. A/S

(Electro-Oil) was established as a subsidiary of Electro-Oil AB I Sweden in 1963. In 1996 the company was acquired

by Wolseley. Today Electro-Oil reports to STARK and DT Group.

Twenty-six highly dedicated employees ensure the company a significant profit. With a lucrative market - it is tempting to consider a ‘business as usual’ approach. Not a vi-

HT BENDIX AS Where

HELATUKKU Finland Oy

Finland Seinajoki, western

Industry

imOy engages in the Helatukku Finland ure nit fur of ly d supp port, wholesale, an fittings 1982 Established

Main products

luding hinges, Furniture fittings inc chanisms, wire me , les nd ha drawers, nnection fittings, co s, ort products, supp accessories, t, fee ornamental bands, . sinks other fittings, and

Main customers companies - mainly rniture processing

Kitchen supply firms

Staff 53

Industry

HT BENDIX is a distributor of fittings and accessories for the furniture-, kitchen-, and wood industry

Where

Main customers

Denmark, Herning, Ringkøbing

Established

1971

Main products

Fittings and accessories for the furniture, kitchen, and wood industries, including handles, hinges, screws, castors, drawer extensions, table legs, wire articles and lighting

Special

Thanks to our extensive network and great knowledge of the business, we are able to offer our customers the latest available products and the best available advice.

CEO Kaj Østergaard

Website www.htbendix.dk

Telephone 0045 96 26 33 11

Fu manufacturing the kitchen cabinet ssia, Estonia and Ru d, lan Fin in industry Sweden.

23 Staff

Special

t efficient team tha A professional and for try us ind in the has been working refore has the know many years and the to give customers e nc rie how and expe e. the very best advic

CEO

HULTÉN AB Where

Ari Pölkky

m www.helatukku.co Website 00358 64 20 08 14 Telephone

or a small independent installer. The key to our success has been being the best, not in price, but in product availability, quick correct and friendly guidance in technical issues, first class market leading catalogue material, and last but not least a flexible attitude from our dedicated employees towards our customers. This strategy has secured a steady

Established Main products

able strategy if you ask Christian Gulløv, the managing director of Electro-Oil. “Our strategy so far has been to stay away from price wars, in which we succeeded due to our strong focus on our added value. In ElectroOil serving customers is about being a reliable partner at any time, regardless whether the customers is a large service organization

Sweden, Kungsb acka

40 years ago

Import and distri bution of hardwo ods from Europe, No rth Asia - MDF, Vene & South America, ered panels, Chipb Plywoods - Edge oard, glued panels - Mo uldings

Main customer s ??

Staff Special

10

What makes HU LTÉN special is th e fantastic quality of the creates a solid bu raw material, which siness fundamen well as the relat t, as ions the compan y has with customers.

HULTÉN loves to create long lasting relat ions with its cust

omers.

CEO M

ichael Kristense n Website

www.hulten.nu Telephone 0046 (0)300 18 0 00 DT MAGAZINE

17

DT Magazine // Thermometer growth over the past ten years.”

“We should however not make the mistake and believe that we can continue growing unless we adept to the current market situation. The market is declining, the availability of fossil fuels is decreasing and prices are under pressure due to fierce competition. If we don’t act, we sooner or later will be challenged severely in our profitability”, says Christian.

The objective for the next three to five years is to create a

situation where price once again becomes a secondary parameter.

As a part of the strategy, Electro-Oil has launched into new segments within sustainable ways to heat buildings, for example bio fuel and Heat pumps.

“We will of course not neglect what made us great to start with, but we are keen to develop the company and our products so they are synchronized with the demand of our present and new customers”, says Christian.

OPC Co) (Oscar Peschard Where

nd Norway, Kristiansa

Main products al quality wooden olesaler of Fjord Wh floors

s Main customer ors Retailers selling flo

18

Industry Established

Special

llent service Fast delivery, exce w.fjordal.no ww

Website

H.R. SAN DVOLD AS Norway, Drammen

Norway, H augesund

Industry

Wholesale o heating e f hardware, plumb quipment ing and

Wholesale timber

1959

Main customers

Interwood is a leading supplier to the wood processing industry in Norway and has both private and professional customers

Special

Interwood has a modern warehouse of approximately 3300 m2. Interwood aims to be the market leader in terms of competences, product range and accessibility. The products we sell are of an excellent quality. Besides, we have very good looking and professional staff.

Nils Wilhelm Johnsen

Website www.interwood.no 47 32 21 83 80

Establis hed Main pro ducts Plum

1968 bing fixtu res and ac (pipes, tu cessori be pumps hyd s and fittings, tran es sm raulic valv cessories es, ventila issions, ) tion ac-

Main cu stomers Plumbe

Staff 10

DT MAGAZINE

Where

Timber, Veneer, plates (MDF, plywood, chipboard and laminates), and Laminates

Telephone

0047 38 18 44 00

Telephone

Main products

CEO

15

Staff

INTERWOOD AS Where

1993

Established

rs, e workers, in ntrepreneurs, shee t d companie ustrial professiona metal s ls shore ind within the marine a and ustry nd off-

Staff Special

Fast deliv ery

CEO Website

Telephon e

15 and excelle nt service Håkon Sa ndvold www.sand vold.no 0047 - 52 70 20 00

DT Magazine // News

HusCompagniet chooses STARK STARK has reached an agreement with HusCompagniet to become their exclusive supplier for building material.

HusCompagniet is Denmarks largest construction company for new houses.

Every fourth house in Denmark is build by the 850 people working for HusCompagniet. They build five houses a day!

STARK is going to deliver materi-

al to approximately 1.000 houses a year. HusCompagniet wishes to consolidate and as a strategic consequence they were looking for one exclusive supplier. STARK pitched on the project together with a few close competitors.

HusCompagniet was already a large customer but STARK was among the four preferred suppliers.

Now STARK is the only supplier. STARK

developed a special logistic system for the customer focusing on effectivity and takes a stake in solving and preventing customer issues HusCompagniet

might run into. The deal is estimated to be worth around 250 million DKK.

DT Magazine // The story of ...

Continued from page 7 bulbs are also made using a very small amount of mercury.

This doesn’t cause problems when the light bulb is in use but it must be disposed of very carefully. It is not ideal for discarded light bulbs to end up in landfill.

Recycling is available through the WEEE recycling initiative.

During recycling, the mercury is removed from each lamp and is then reused.

Silvan Silvan sells approximately 650.000 bulbs a year, among them of course the traditional bulbs, energy saving bulbs, halogen bulbs and LED bulbs.

Even though approximately 200.000 of the bulbs sold are energy saving bulbs, the majority still chooses traditional bulbs.

People in general think that energy saving bulbs have a cold glow compared to their alternatives.

This is a pity as energy saving bulbs last longer and use considerably less power. A good alternative that increasingly finds their way into the shopping baskets is the halogen bulb, which compared

to traditional bulbs saves up to 30% energy but matches the glow of traditional bulbs very well.

LED bulbs last up to ten times more than traditional bulbs but they are not available in all required shapes and forms yet. Silvan sells around 13.000 LED bulbs a year.

DT MAGAZINE

19

DT Magazine // Ideas@work

rk ite board where o w @ s a Ide es’ non exclusiveiswiohns. The qualityeoisf

offic e div gazin is DT Ma ideas from all th n whether your er does h o e we shar not dependent of a truck. Neit ial. On the in t is the idea room or the cab t science poten at easily e d k h r t the boa ave to have roc plicable ideas p h the idea we love sticky, a , y . r s a other contr opied by can be c Project file:

Creating the right dynam ics Division: Idea: Result:

Beijer Byggm aterial Use the DISC assessment method in team situat ions A better bala nced team

Knowing yourself gives you power Franz Öberg (35) is the XX? for Beijer Byggmaterial in the middle of Norrlan??, Sweden. He has been working for the company for nine years and throughout his career he has tried a number of different personality

20

DT MAGAZINE

tests. But none managed to impress him in the way the DISC assessment does.

“It was love at first sight”, says Franz.

“I was introduced to DISC for the first time last year, while participating in a Nordic leader’s project. When I came

home, I tried to test in my teams, with a stunning result.”

DISC is not a new test. It has been around for eighty or more years. It was US psychologist William Moulton Marston who developed the test.

Moulton Marston

It was love at first sight

died in 1947, and with him his belief that women are more honest and trustworthy. This belief however, hasn’t stopped DISC from becoming one of the most popular personally tests in the Western world. The original test has

You can use the test both in your private life as well as professionally

been altered and developed to fit a lot of different situations and needs, making DISC one of the most applicable tests available on the market.

“You can use the test both in your private life as well as professionally”, Says Franz. “DISC is clarifying but at the same time easy to use. One could imagine that some people might find it a bit buffeting to do a personality- test but that wasn’t at all the feedback I got from my team. On the contrary, people thought is was exciting and interesting. The test brought us a greater level of understanding of

the team dynamics that we experience every day. It opened up our eyes for a lot of things like our individual strong and weak points.”

“Knowing what you’re good at, or not good at, is a major help in your work”, Franz explains. “We used the test both in my leader team but also on staff working at the main office in Örnsköldsvik. The results of the test lead to some rearrangements in the group - to both strengthen the group dynamics and make the team more effective.

We learn a lot about our own personalities and also our colleagues’ personalities. Meaning that

Knowing what you’re good at, or not good at, is a major help in your work

we can take those into consideration at work. This creates a better atmosphere.

It also enables us to ensure that we have the right people with the right personalities and set of com-

petencies in the right place. That will improve the service we offer our customers.”

DT MAGAZINE

21

DT Magazine // Do it yourself

The Do It Yourself demonstrations are done by local Silvan staff

Do it yourself:

h t i w o t w o h n r a e L

Silvan

How do you make optimal use of your grill? How do you put up tiles in your bathroom? How do you turn your home into a green home with energy saving initiatives?

These are just a few examples of past Do It Yourself courses organized by Silvan for their customers. With success. Customers, come, they learn – and they return. To buy of course.

22

DT MAGAZINE

The concept is simple. You find an inspiring topic. Preferably one that either fits the season or is in fashion, like the energy saving course. Once the topic is pinpointed, you invite customers. Loyal customers, the 15.000 holding a customer card,

A lot of customers leave the courses buying products right away

are the first ones the be informed by mail of courses coming up. Second in line are customers who signed up for Silvans newsletters and last but not least, the courses are announced in Silvans’ brochures.

All 40 stores participate so customers can attend in their

local Silvan outlet.

The courses are well visited. An average of 1.000 people per course. Particular popular courses can generate up to 1.300 visitors.

The Do It Yourself demonstrations are done by local Silvan staff. They are trained to make sure that they are able to demonstrate correctly.

Sometimes relevant suppliers are invited as well to tell something about their products. The idea itself might be quite simple, it requires quite some organization and involvement both from HR, marketing and product managers.

It’s worth the effort though as the success criteria, are met

every time.

The objective is for Silvan to teach customers the skills and competences to initiate their own Do It Yourself projects. As well as give

them, and the stores, a good experience.

The popularity of the initiative is immense.

Some courses are overbooked and as a result repeated. Customers evaluate the courses positive in the standard forms Silvan asks customers to fill out. Customers unsolicited send enthusiastic, heartwarming thank you mails to the Silvan organization and if you google the courses, you will find quite an amount of people that have attended the courses giving positive feedback for example on their blogs.

During the courses, customers can buy the material and

The objective is for Silvan to teach customers the skills and competences to initiate their own Do It Yourself projects

tools needed for the completion of the particular task they learn about. There’s always a special offer for attendees as well. A lot of customers leave the courses buying products right away. Others happily accept special discount vouchers they can use later on when they have made up their mind. Silvan organizes four Do It Yourself schools a year.

During the courses, customers can buy the material and tools needed

Grilling unisex?

In the past, Silvan had success with women only courses. The latest course, the grill course, has been the first course that was exclusively for

men. This got a lot of women to react since they obviously are interested in learning how to properly use their grill as well. This made Silvan consid-

er to organize a similar course for women as well. It kind of tells you how popular these initiatives really are.

DT MAGAZINE

23

And the winner is ...

you must pay tax on the prize

The happy winner of the iPad from the spring quiz is: Michael Møller Pedersen, from Silvan Aalborg Congratulations Michael!

Win an

iPhone

iPhone 4 16 GB SIM-unlocked

How well are you informed of what happens in DT Group?

Answer these questions below and win an iPhone 4! It has 16 GB and comes without subscription but is of course sim unlocked so you can use your own sim card in your brand new smart phone.

1

How many people are signed up to STARK’s green concept?

A 45.000 B 55.000 C 65.000

2

3

How many

Silvan customers have a customer card?

a 5.000 b 10.000 c 15.000

What is the most effec-

tive way to save money on your electricity bill?

A Switch of the light whenever you are leaving the room

B Swap all conventional light bulbs with energy saving bulbs

C Both A and B

4

What is

the main business area of Electro Oil?

a Fuel and oil B Heating solutions C IT Services

5

How many

energy saving light bulbs does Silvan sell?

A 15.000 B 200.000 C 650.000

send your answers before August 12th, 2011 Use the coupon below or send your answers by e-mail to: quiz@dtmagazine.dk

1: 2: 3: 4: 5:

A

B

C

Name: Address: Zip and City: Country: Phone: E-mail: Employed at:

Send this coupon to: DT Group Attn.: Charlotte Gullach Büttrich Gladsaxe Møllevej 5 2860 Søborg (Denmark)