Sonepar in Austria, big challenges cross the way

Its career
After graduating from the engineering school for flight techniques, with a masters degree in economics and the PhD in information technology he started his career with Siemens. Beginning with a part time job during his studies, he later worked as a programmer, sales representative in the USA and regional sales manager for Slovenia, Croatia and Slovakia. In 1996 he jumped on board of i-center Austria, the wholesaling organization of Siemens.

Who is Sonepar in Austria?
Sonepar in Austria consists of two companies, i-center and GEG Gerstmair. Sonepar acquired both companies in 2001. While GEG Gerstmair has a strength in consumer goods, i-center is focusing in the industry and installation sector. Together these companies have a growing market share of approx. 25%.

Customer satisfaction is a goal
The main challenge for wholesaling business has to be faced every day: to convince our customers of the benefits doing business with us. Due to the fierce competition in Austria, coming not only from within Austria but also from outside the country, winning over the customers in the long run is a challenge to be tackled with each phone call, each e-Mail, and each personal visit, says Oliver Karall.

Fast information is a request
The second challenge to mention is of course the influence of electronic businesses on our work. I am not talking only about e-commerce but also about its speed! Customers expect standardized and comparable product information, which has to be accessible quickly, explains the MD of i-center, Austria. For that purpose ETIM, the electro-technical information system has been implemented in the Austrian e-business tools. Furthermore Oliver Karall took the chance to persuade the Austrian top suppliers to support ETIM as a classification model at a suppliers event in Vienna in late 2003.

Cost optimization is a need
Last but not least in 2004 the two operating companies, i-center and GEG Gerstmair will merge to Sonepar Osterreich. This step will be made for the benefit of both customers and the company. While keeping the brand names for customers' convenience, back-office-work will be optimized to save money. Although our market share gives us a good starting position to be successful, we need to grasp all opportunities to make our business efficient. A keen competition, increasing customer needs, larger assortments and our dedication to sustainable growth urge us to identify and use all possible synergies, so says Oliver Karall.