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4 questions to Steffi Schlager
Project Manager Steffi Schlager talks about a project with the Australian supermarket chain Coles.
With Coles, WALTHER has won its first customer in Australia. What is this project about?
Steffi Schlager: Coles is a supermarket chain in Australia. Last year, they opened the largest automated distribution centre in Australia. Another will follow this year. We are proud to supply Coles with the DPS folding box based on Australian dimensions. Our DPS folding box is already in use millions of times in Europe. We are now benefiting from this here. We can incorporate our expertise and many years of experience into the design of a new Coles box.
What were the particular challenges?
Steffi Schlager: The biggest challenge was gaining the customer’s trust. After all, our contacts are located 14,000 kilometres away from us. Fortunately, we were successful. With each video conference, we were able to build more and more trust. It was also interesting to look at the times at which we scheduled meetings. The time differences can vary between eight and ten hours – depending on whether it’s summer or winter time. We always greeted each other at the meetings with ‘Good morning to Germany’ and ‘Good evening to Australia’.
Why was the project so interesting?
Steffi Schlager: Because of my international background, I particularly enjoy working with different nationalities and mentalities. It is certainly also interesting for WALTHER that Coles is the second largest retail company in Australia. They have already opened a large distribution centre in Queensland and will be opening another one in New South Wales this year. I am sure that more will follow.
How international is WALTHER?
Steffi Schlager: WALTHER is strongly represented in Europe. To name just a few countries: Of course Germany, Scandinavia, the Benelux countries, Switzerland… We also supply customers in North America and we are also represented in the Asian region – in South Korea, Singapore and Japan. Now with Coles also in Australia. We have some exciting projects planned for this year. We have won a major project in England. Then, with the Euro Plant Tray, we will deliver 6 million reusable plant trays in Europe over the next few years.
Would you like to find out more about our WALTHER solutions in use?
Have a look at our customer examples.