A Perfect Team
Hoa Dang and Matthieu Rapp sell DMK products in Southeast Asia. Staying in close contact with their colleague in Bremen has helped them build up a large network abroad.
“I am currently responsible for DMK sales in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and the Maldives. Our activities are focused on establishing the Oldenburger brand in the Southeast Asian region. We are in closer contact with Germany since we opened the representative office in Vietnam three years ago. We call or email Ruben Kilian every day to keep track of our customers’ orders and to make sure processes run smoothly, from negotiating the price to the order, production and dispatch. Our teams’ close cooperation is important so that we can meet customer expectations in the best possible way.
Our main goal is customer satisfaction, both from the commercial side and in terms of customer service. Good teamwork makes all the difference and determines whether we can offer them a 5-star level of service. Our location in Vietnam gives us many advantages: We are geographically close to our customers and we can serve them without a time difference. We also gain deeper insights into what our competitors are doing. And we are able to apply Asian ways of working to European standards and the other way round.”
Matthieu Rapp, DMK Country Manager.
“My focus is on the countries of Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. Matthieu and I are working to make DMK products into a permanent fixture on the Southeast Asian market. The job is very versatile and covers a wide range of tasks, from customer development to marketing. Being located in the region, we are much better able to build up production volumes and a product portfolio here.
Also, not to underestimate the fact that we have a good overview of many parts of the value chain from here, from repackaging to joint ventures to contract manufacturing. The cooperation between Germany and Southeast Asia is essential and it is going very well! It makes things significantly easier that the ordering process at DMK is so well structured. The employees ensure everything runs smoothly thanks to the excellent communication between the commercial side of the orders in Asia and customer service for production and export in Germany.”
Hoa Dang, DMK Area Manager.
The sparring partner
Ruben Kilian is in constant contact with his colleagues in Vietnam. Beyond streamlining logistics, that exchange also creates trust and reliability.
What do you do at DMK?
As Customer & Services Specialist Export APAC, I look after customers from third countries from accepting their orders through to delivery. They come from BU International and BU Industry. We are also responsible for coordinating product-specific inquiries from customers. We monitor to make sure payments are received on time and ensure there is sufficient credit insurance.
How do you do that?
We work closely together with our production p duction planning and logistics service providers to create an individual delivery plan for the customer. The goods are shipped almost exclusively by container ships, but in some exceptional cases, shipments are sent by truck or air freight. Those are only small parts of our very broad range of export activities.
How do you work together as a team?
Our colleagues Matthieu Rapp and Hoa Dang are our contacts in Asia. They give us price and contact information about current and new customers. Their presence in the region means they are able to act and react quickly, otherwise that would be a major hurdle. We are in touch with them daily, by email, MS Teams or on the phone, and we work closely together to make sure each customer is satisfied.
How do you cooperate on orders and exports for example?
Customers contact Matthieu and Hoa directly with their order. That order is then recorded on a form and forwarded to us in Bremen. Next, we plan the fastest possible delivery date and organize for the goods to be collected by a forwarding agent. That involves checking the ship departure schedules and calculating the approximate date when the goods will arrive in the third country. We draw up a contract containing all the data and then that’s approved by Matthieu or Hoa.
How do things work now compared to in the past?
Thanks to our colleagues Matthieu and Hoa, we are better able to cooperate with customers in the region and can be much faster. Our colleagues’ connection to the customers mean we can solve problems far sooner and much more easily. They are always ready to help and never shy away from a challenge.
“Problems can be solved much more easily.”
Ruben Kilian, CCS Specialist at DMK.
The 4S Model
The 4S model sets out the logic of how we are organized, optimizing the way we work together to avoid duplicating work and to increase our flexibility, knowledge and skill across all of the organization’s units. Responsibilities are clearly allocated, enabling each organizational unit to focus on its core activities.