View non-flash version
Radio Holland Group in the Netherlands, a maritime electronics supplier and service organization, faces many of the same challenges of other sales and service organizations: fierce competition; maintenance of a global network of technicians; and an ever- evolving clientele. Nearly four years after its management buyout, the com- pany is prosperous and expanding. David A. Slager, Chairman of the Board and CEO, spent some time with MR/EN to explain his company's suc- cess. — by Greg Trauthwein MR: How would you describe your management philosophy? Slager: I am a strong believer in direct contact with as many employees as pos- sible, which is why I travel around the world so much. It helps to keep me aware of what's going on, and gives me the opportunity to motivate. For exam- ple, when I joined Radio Holland Netherlands, the company was losing money, and we needed to re-organize. I set up "social meetings," which includ- ed small groups (about 15) of staff together to discuss the plans for change. Using this strategy, the plan became "our" plan, not "my" plan. Whenever we want to make changes, I discuss it with the staff before implementing. MR: What are some of the most significant recent industry changes? Slager: 1. IMO regulations as driver of equip- ment on ships. 2. Far East Shipbuilding activities, have grown enormously, which have allowed us to grow our business, partic- ularly in China 3. The tightening of safety regulations in the wake of September 11, which has significantly broadened our product range. 4. Customers have become more interested in the "one stop shop" princi- ple. Though I do not like this overused and misused term, it best sums it up. 5. On the customer side, mergers have taken place on a grand scale in the last few years, which has turned out to be very positive for us. I believe consoli- dation of competitors will continue, as well. The main problem for smaller companies is the rising cost of Research and Development (R&D), as it is increasingly difficult for these manu- facturers to keep up and survive. This consolidation is not a problem for us, as we are representing most of the major maritime electronics manufacturers around the world. MR: What investment is Radio Holland making today that are intended for the long-term good? Slager: We continuously look at our network (which currently encompasses 54 branches and 775 employees). We want to be where the shipowner expects us to be. Why are we increasing the number of subsidiaries around the world since we presently already have more than 50? Well quite simply because we want to further increase our service capabilities around the world in order to even better serve our cus- tomers. We have to follow our cus- tomers and have service outlets in all ports where we can justify having tech- nicians. There are still numerous ports in the Far East, India, Middle East and Europe where we are currently not rep- resented. I have made it my goal to be positioned in all those ports where our customers are in need of service. In five years from now I forsee to have some 70 to 80 subsidiaries around the globe. MR: Are there any other recent developments? Slager: Last year we introduced the Global Service House, a central depart- ment in Rotterdam, to provide efficient service tools to all RH branches and safeguard the exceptional level of tech- nical know-how within the Radio Holland Group. One of the most important tools is the global service database, housing all service request information, which allows Radio Holland to proactively monitor equip- ment status for the merchant shipping market, ensuring fast situation assess- ment and providing valuable manage- ment information to the shipowner. Many shipowners, such as recently P&O Nedlloyd and Beluga Shipping, have outsourced maintenance & service management to Radio Holland. MR: What are some challenges facing Radio Holland Group? Slager: Your network is only as strong as its weakest link, and the number one challenge is to maintain the knowledge of all of our technicians to support our worldwide organization. In some coun- tries they simply don't have the mar- itime educational infrastructure, so we've started our own training school in the Netherlands to train young techni- cians. When they are ready, in a year or a year and a half, they will move to branches around the world to spread this base of knowledge. To date, this has not limited our expansion. But when we open a new branch, we always start with service, and the sales automatical- ly follow. We are also working together with the Dutch maritime college (The Maritime Academy of the ROC Nova College (IJmuiden)) to develop an internet application to facilitate e-learning and training for radio-, navigation- and VDR (Voyage Data Recorder)-survey- ors. With this e-learning application the Radio Holland surveyors can test and keep their knowledge on Rules and Regulations up-to-date right from their desk. Surveyors inspect the maritime equipment on board and determine if the equipment meets the International Requirements. We have signed a coop- eration agreement with Germanischer Lloyd to carry out worldwide radio sur- veys, and we expect to sign similar cooperation agreements with other clas- sification societies soon. Q&A with David A. Slager David A. Slager, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Radio Holland 34 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News David A. Slager MR FEBRUARY2006 #5 (33-40).qxd 2/1/2006 7:48 PM Page 34
