Less is more

Tobias Rölz, when the merger between Komax and Schleuniger was finalized in summer 2022, the global sales and service network had numerous overlaps. What was the reality at that time?
After the merger with Schleuniger, we had a total of 80 different sales channels worldwide, which were active in 84 markets. Basically, in almost all countries there were two companies advising and serving our customers. These could be two individual distributors, two company-owned societies, a Komax company in combination with a Schleuniger distributor, or vice versa.

These were mostly companies that had been serving the market for decades, competing and constantly fighting for customer orders. This competitive situation was present in all initial discussions, as they had been more “adversaries than friends” for years.

How can such a large integration process be managed?
Until the merger was officially completed, we were not permitted and therefore unable to gain insight into Schleuniger's structures. It was thus clear to us from the outset that we would require a significant amount of time for a detailed analysis of the channels and the associated discussions. We wanted to offer our customers in all countries the best possible sales and service – with a highly competent contact person who knows and can meet all of the customers' automation needs. So, the year 2023 was dedicated to analysis.

In the course of the analysis, we noticed that customer overlap is much lower than we had assumed. We had always thought that 80 percent of customers were served by both Komax and Schleuniger. Fortunately, however, the opposite was true: in most cases, only 20 to 30 percent of our customers purchased from both Komax and Schleuniger. The majority of customers were buying either from Komax or Schleuniger only. This was very positive for the discussions and quickly showed that we could serve and support our customers even better together and with combined forces than we could on our own. This means having a clearly defined contact person for each country and thus also for each customer in that country – or in other words: “one voice to the customer.”

How were these discussions?
In the vast majority of cases, discussions with all parties involved were very friendly, respectful, and professional. This quickly led to very good solutions in many countries. We were able to reach an amicable solution in 81 of 84 markets. These solutions varied greatly, ranging from mergers of distributors to acquisitions to a split of the markets. Who led the project varied from case to case. In Japan, for example, the Schleuniger organization took the lead and the sales department of Komax Japan was integrated, while in Germany it was the other way around. The same was true for the composition of the new organization. In the US, Darren Teasck from Schleuniger took over the management of the sales and service organization for North and Central America, while in India, Komax CEO Ramanathan Murugappan is responsible for sales throughout the country. We are particularly pleased that, when we have acquired distributors, almost all employees have been successfully integrated, as was the case, for example, with the Lintech Group in France, Morocco, and Tunisia. The same applies to the Czech Republic and Romania.

The talks have been positive in the vast majority of cases. In which cases not?
In three countries, despite all our efforts, we have not managed to find a joint, partnership-based solution with all parties. Nevertheless, we were able to provide our customers with either a strong distributor or even a new, separate organization. This is what happened in Tunisia with Komax Tunisia. The first WirePro Expo, which just took place there, proved that we are on the right track and can provide our customers in Tunisia with even better and closer support.

How was the Komax Group able to ensure that the quality of customer service was maintained throughout the entire integration process?
Our aim was to ensure that everything remained the same for our customers during the analysis phase and that their existing contacts would continue to be there for them. So we first informed our customers that we would not be making any changes and that they could continue to rely fully on our existing support. We communicated with our customers immediately whenever we had found a solution and were able to present a plan that guaranteed optimal service.

This approach required a high degree of flexibility and perseverance. Both from our employees at Komax Kampus (formerly Komax Academy and Schleuniger University) and from the production sites, which had to organize a large number of training courses as soon as a solution was found for that country. We did this to ensure that we could offer the entire range of sales and service expertise when the two units were merged. In addition, we merged and standardized our customer relationship management systems in parallel. First in sales, then in service. Of course, this also affected all underlying processes, which was quite challenging. And in some cases, still is.

The journey began with 84 service and sales channels. How does the situation look today?
The merger of the Komax and Schleuniger sales and service networks has now been successfully completed. Only a few remaining activities still need to be finalized. Existing and new partners have been trained on the new portfolio and have access to the necessary tools. The sales channels for our customers in the more than 60 countries where we are present have been reduced from 84 to 51. At the same time, we have doubled our customer base. We are, of course, continuing to invest heavily in training and want to strengthen our external locations even further so that customers can be served not only with the utmost competence, but also quickly. Internal processes also need to be refined and simplified. And, of course, there will be further consolidation and innovation within our product portfolio, which will benefit our customers.

What were your highlights within this integration process?
It was very gratifying to see how well, friendly, and customer-oriented most of the discussions went. Often, after just a few conversations, we realized that the cultures of the previously competing companies were not all that different. This allowed us to quickly find many commonalities and, above all, to realize that, in the end, we all pursue the same goal: the well-being and success of our customers. The positive attitude and tireless commitment of those involved contributed enormously to finding pragmatic solutions. I am incredibly grateful for that. Today, we cannot only offer our customers a broader and more comprehensive portfolio, we can also provide them with more know-how, expertise, and specific specialist knowledge to support them holistically. That makes me happy and gives me great confidence for the future.