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A new broom, but there little to sweep clean

19th September 1981
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Bernt Brandzaeg, Volvo's GB's new md, doesn't plan any dramatic changes at an already successful Irvine plant, but he's a seasoned campaigner and is always on the lookout for changes in the market barometer. lain Sherriff reports

WE GAVE Bernt Brandtzaeg ten days to settle in at Volvo (GB) Ltd as managing director replacing Stig Arne Olson. Then we presented him with issues which had a direct bearing on the Irvine-based company's future.

He takes over a company which has been well-managed and with an almost perfect track record. When others were working short-time, Volvo was the only British vehicle manufacturer working a five-day week.

Bernt Brandtzaeg is 47, a Norwegian by birth, a Volvo man by adoption, and a salesman by profession. He has travelled the world on Volvo business since 1962.

Volvo (GB) Ltd was once known as Ailsa, the brainchild of the late Jim McKelvie. It was very much a family company, founded by a Scot, managed by Scots, and with a Scottish workforce. It was an immediate success.

Gradually, the company took on a British look as Jim McKelvie imported expertise from south of the border. Success continued. When Volvo Sweden took over and Jim McKelvie slid qui

etly into the background, the Swedish influence became increasingly apparent and Stig Arne Olson was appointed md.

How then does Berra Brandtzaeg feel about following in the footsteps of his successful predecessors? He believes the ground work has been done.

"Stig made Ailsa a Volvo company and I have moved into a settled situation," he said. He believes that in the nature of things, the workforce must have been suspicious of the new Swedish influence. It is no longer. The previous md built confidence.

"Time has shown the move to be good," said Bernt. "People who work at Volvo, Irvine, have a status alongside their neighbours. We have replaced ICI as the local employer with whom to work."

With full-time work, an expanding market share and a regular supply of new models, complacency could creep in. Bernt Brandtzaeg is alive to the danger and has plans to avoid it.

As a marketing and sales man, he recognises the value, of getting out and about. The destri butors can expect him to drop in regularly to discuss the product, campaigns, after-sales and their customers. He also intends to have direct contact with customers, large and small.

"Expectations are high in the entire Volvo organisation, and this must be maintained with expectations being achieved," he said. "I don't see myself spending too much time in Irvine." He wants to meet the men at the sharp end on their own ground.

His enthusiasm and expectations are high, but in a time when the vehicle population is decreasing, how will he succeed? "We are going hard after a greater market share, albeit of a smaller market, but we are looking in other directions," said Bernt Brandtzaeg. Something akin to a reld takeover has already ta place. Volvo GB is buildinc fuse collection vehicles for S dinavia; the first two are air' in service in Bernt's home t of Trondheim.

Exports and customi vehicle orders are an impo road to expansion. The S

market is another success s While Europe's builders, e through complacency or te( cal inability, could not .pro( vehicles suitable for confined areas of Swiss to, Volvo GB has done and is joying the fruits of its ingness to tackle the unusua

On the home front the sto much the same. Shell rec modified vehicles on whic mount new tanks. They c blanks in approaches to c suppliers, but Volvo GB gra: the nettle, picked up the or and now Burnt is ready to gc more of their business.

He considers that a small c pany of only 425 employeE totally flexible and can tun hand more easily to the hy market than bigger orgar tions. That is why in additio normal production moc Volvo will be producing for small-run market. "We F reason to be optimistic and I safely say my colleagues Gothenburg think highly of Scottish operation."

The philosophy which the md intends to capitalise o that "the customer's dem must be met". "We will tailor product to meet the operatic requirement," he said.

Since the beginning, the Ir plant has enjoyed the best o dustrial relations. There F been no industrial disputes, part of the reason is that the r does not live in fear of the fut "We have a declared policy o redundancy so that our put have a future."

He believes that peace a vine is maintained because rr agement and operatives an daily contact, and the persor manager is readily availablr deal with queries before they velop into complaints.

"I treat this business as did

ro in Norway, from the inning of 1982, will market ault light vehicles. Volvo GB

no such plans. "It would our company industrial in istion," he said.

olvo GB's passenger vehicle ration is a major success y, says Bernt. He claims to e 60 per cent of the heavy / coach market. The home :ket is now well-established export potential is now beexploited.

s we spoke, bus sales manr, Sandy Glennie, was in Djaa following up a first order 100 buses with high hopes a repeat.

rticulated buses are big news iweden, but what about their in Britain? How did he see aspect of business? Bernt eed there was limited potenin the UK and this was likely )e in the express coach sec

me of the problems a foreign -lowly has to face in these assionary times is our patio instinct to "Buy British".

e are a British company," ntered Bernt. He supported claim by quoting the British tent in the Irvine-produced vos. "The double-deckers :e a 95 per cent British itent, the commercial ,icles 40 per cent, and the ches 30 per cent, and they all built by 100 per cent :ish labour."

Vhy should Volvo GB appoint icandinavian md when we ,e a surfeit of managerial abilin Britain? "I asked myself the

same question," Bernt replied candidly. He feels the answer lies in it being essential to maintain continuity with Gothenberg.

"It is also desirable to have a person with company experience and I have 18 years behind me. It could also be an advantage to have a Norwegian md in Scotland, rather than an Englishman," he said with an expansive grin.

Whatever the reason, he said, he was immediately accepted, and the philosophy has proved correct.

Can this success continue in a static market? Bernt Brandtzaeg is in no doubt. "We are aiming at a growth of two per cent a year in some cases. In others, it will be more dramatic." However, growth will not stretch Volvo's capability to service the aftermarket — again the customercare philosophy came through.

The tractor market share will grow by two per cent to 22 per cent; eight-wheelers will go up from 16 per cent to 25 per cent, six-wheelers by five per cent to 15 per cent, and 16-tonners from six per cent to eight per cent. This growth is planned over the next three years.

Being top of the league is not always enviable. "In the over 28ton sector we are under constant attack from our competitors," said Bernt. "They don't make a combined attack but come at us in ones and twos with high discounts and special offers."

He is a student of market movements and has already pointed out that whereas ERF and Seddon Atkinson had been breathing down Volvo's collar in the 28-ton sector last year, they had now been replaced as number two by Leyland. "We have added one per cent in 12 months and we don't want to see a dramatic change in percentage terms. That will attract too much attention."

New brooms sweep clean; does he plan any structural changes at Irvine? Only to meet changing circumstances and market forces. "We will go for growth with efficiency and that will mean changes. There is always such a need in an expanding company." However, he emphasised that the changes will be for good, apparent and understandable reasons and not for the sake of making his mark. That would seem to be unnecessary in his case.

The foreseeable future of Volvo GB Ltd would seem to be in very capable hands. Bernt two predecessors; it is mine," he said.

"No" asserted Bernt. "Our people and distributors are our greatest asset" — very much the McKelvie and Olson philosophy. "They are the company and to relocate would have a devastating effect." Irvine, to those who can locate it, is the back of beyond. Others know it is in Scotland — somewhere. Would the company not be better served in another location?

The location of distributors and the decentralisation of area managers gives Volvo a presence in strategic points throughout the UK. "It does not matter in geographical terms where the plant is," said Bernt.

The man who spent his childhood on a remote Norwegian island without all mod cons is probably more at home on the Scottish coast than he would be in Piccadilly, Manchester or London.

A successful marketing and sales phliosophy lays emphasis on the after-market, and this is where Bernt sees Volvo's futur success developing. Elsewher in this issue the launch of Actio Volvo and • International Credi into Europe is described. Bernt i enthusiastic about this aspect o after-sales.

He takes no credit for the guar anteed 12-hour parts service nor for the 95 per cent first pick ing of parts. He intends to capitalise on this. "Salesmen will be produced with case studies and examples of how our service has worked for customers when they are chasing business. Prospective customers must be given proof of our claims and the opportunity to test it at first-hand."

Five years ago, CM surveyed the spare parts market, and found that the cost of imported parts was many times greater than the home-produced material. Was the customer not them paying a premium for the

sophisticated service at Volvo? According to Bernt that is history. "Our spares are as cheap and in some cases cheaper than those of our cornpetitors," he claimed, "and you will learn why later."

I believed it a disadvantage to offer heavy vehicles only, and asked if there were plans to introduce or take over a light range.

Bernt Brandtzaeg was ada mant: "We will stick where we are on the range. Light vehicles require a totally different market approach, expertise and organi sation. We are in the sector we know best and this is where our investment and expertise will be employed."

He revealed, however, that Brandtzaeg's management team and workforce have a proven track record and they are behind him.


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