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CustoMeR CentRiCity
Over the years, the Prysmian Group has perfected its approach
to the market by placing the customer at the centre of
every strategic, organisational and business decision. The
efforts made to analyse the expectations of customers, and
how these change over time, allow the Group to develop
organisational and operational models that translate into
rapid, efficient and targeted responses to the markets
concerned.
Pivotal to this approach is our “customer centricity”, being
the ability to understand early and satisfy the needs of the
customer. This calls for the dedication of constant attention at
all stages, from product design to delivery, with performance
measured against predetermined and agreed parameters.
The Prysmian Group is able to develop solutions that meet
specific standards, as well as those that respond to the
precise requirements of an individual customer. In particular,
the Group is able to serve highly diverse segments and
markets due to an ad hoc matrix structure that ensures a local
presence, even within broad projects that have global reach.
This means that highly specific local markets are served by
country development and commercial organisations, while
markets with global products and customers are served by
fully-integrated business units. Other segments requiring both
a local presence and cooperation between countries benefit
from the matrix structure.
Customer centricity and satisfaction represent a strategy that
is implemented via the fast, smooth organisation of the entire
supply chain. This approach accelerates decisions and the time
to market, while adapting to the needs of various industries
and ensuring continuous investment in innovation. “Factory
reliability” is one way to implement customer centricity. This
process improves the reliability of production planning and
performance in terms of both mix and volume, with ever faster
response times and stricter control over inventory levels of
every type (raw materials, semi-finished items and finished
products). This enables the Group to deal efficiently and
effectively with fluctuating sales volumes and the consequent
changes in production levels.
In addition to the customer centricity and factory reliability
initiatives, the Prysmian Group has launched “supply chain
integration” projects together with a number of major global
customers. The objective is to improve the effectiveness and
efficiency of all processes throughout the supply chain, from
the producers of the raw materials and semi-finished products
used in factories to the end users of our cables.
Customer satisfaction
The Prysmian Group aims to be the “preferred partner” where
customer satisfaction is concerned. To achieve this goal, in
addition to the regular monitoring of key service indicators,
such as reliability and speed, the Group has conducted specific
customer satisfaction surveys for more than ten years. These
surveys are carried out every two years, simultaneously
involving over 2,500 customers in more than 20 countries
around the world.
The customer satisfaction surveys are carried out by a
leading firm in the sector, using a standardised telephone
questionnaire for customers that is answered by the
managers who maintain commercial relations with Prysmian
(purchasing, technical area and logistics). The purpose of the
questions is to measure the level of customer satisfaction
with the different elements of the service provided:
commercial and marketing, technical and sales support,
management of requests, order processing and invoicing,
range and quality of products.
These surveys represent a useful tool for the Group to
better understand the service perceived and the needs of
customers, both in absolute terms and relative to other
market competitors. The surveys have enabled us to: assess
perceptions of the service offered by Prysmian over the
years; identify the reasons for any dissatisfaction; measure
the importance of each component of service in relation to
the overall level of satisfaction; analyse satisfaction with
the service in relation to customer characteristics; compare
Prysmian’s performance with that of competitors; identify
priorities for the improvement of service and verify the
effectiveness of the actions taken.
The outcome of the surveys provides excellent indications for
determining the corrective actions to be implemented in each
country. In general, the results of surveys have enabled the
Group to improve its products and services over time, paying
greater attention to the priorities expressed by customers.
In particular, the overall reliability of Group deliveries
increased by about five percentage points during the final
quarter of 2013, as a result of the service improvement plans
implemented in twenty factories around the world.
product Quality
The Quality function consolidated its presence within the
various areas of the Group during 2013. Pursuit of the strategy
to improve constantly the level of customer service resulted in
a 15% reduction in customer claims with respect to the prior
year, confirming the downward trend seen in recent years.
Backed by a common audit methodology and consistent
performance indicators, the Group is able to monitor every
part of the organisation, both centrally and locally, with a
view to satisfying the high standards of excellence that are
expected.
Consistent with this approach and in order to elevate the
role of the Quality function, so that it becomes an effective
