Page 60 - Mellby Gård Yearbook 2018–2019

SÖDERBERG & HAAK
MOBILE SALES AND SERVICE UNITS AND AN UPWARD GEAR SHIFT IN CONTRACTING
Söderberg & Haak is an importer and retailer of agricultural and construction machinery. The company is Mellby Gård’s oldest wholly owned holding with
24 years in the portfolio. Over the year, Jonas Jaenecke navigated the company through a tough restructuring process but now views efforts in active market processing with confidence.
In the agricultural sector, the summer drought of 2018 did not pass unnoticed. The farmers’ strained situation led to reduced demand for new agricultural machinery and accessories, delivering a severe blow to a market already pervaded by substantial competition.
The decline in demand from farmers came at an inconvenient
time also for Söderberg & Haak. In 2015, the company was struck
by contracts for key brands being terminated and it has struggled since then, with several years of reduced sales. To reverse the trend, Söderberg & Haak implemented a restructuring of the company in the first half of 2019.
“The situation was not sustainable. In recent years, the market for agricultural machinery has become over-established, while farmers also have some stressful seasons behind them. This has affected both margins and sales figures in the wrong direction. Through
the restructuring process, we have adjusted the costume of the agricultural operations while also weighting additional focus to the construction industry”, says MD Jonas Jaenecke.
During the restructuring process, parts of the proprietary dealership network were sold to local representatives who will continue the opera- tions under their own auspices. Instead, Söderberg & Haak is increasing its customer presence through mobile sales and service centres.
“Our mobile solution makes us more flexible and offers a completely different level of accessibility. It is important that we can offer customers the best service and expertise even if we lack a permanent facility in their location”, says Jonas Jaenecke.
“With increased mobility and greater focus on accessories, we will also be able to capture market shares in geographies where we have historically been weaker.”
The challenges facing Söderberg & Haak’s agricultural operations have not been noted on the construction side, which today accounts for more than half of the company’s turnover and is showing strong growth.
“The construction machinery segment has grown in recent years and everything indicates that it is stabilizing at a high level. For us, this trend has brought an opportunity to shift up a gear in contracting”, says Jonas Jaenecke.
As part of efforts to develop the contracting operations,
Söderberg & Haak has, in a small space of time, established three competence centres in Staffanstorp, Kungälv and Rosersberg, outside Stockholm. These combine sales and service with specific technical expertise on Komatsu – the Japanese brand for which the company has been a retailer in Sweden since 2016.
Komatsu is number two in the world in contracting. In Sweden, however, the brand has previously been shadowed by its competitors due to a lack of market processing. Söderberg & Haak seeks to change this.
“Globally, Komatsu is an extremely strong and sought-after brand. We are working hard to ensure that it gains an equally prominent role in Sweden. These efforts are now beginning to produce results”, says Jonas Jaenecke.
60 | MELLBY GÅRD – YEARBOOK 2018 / 2019