http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/RSS.ashxDanfoss Group Global PagesTue, 13 Jul 2010 09:24:40 +0200http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=1http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=1MAKING MODERN LIVING POSSIBLE Theme: Outsourcing • Indians with Danfoss DNA in their blood • Mini-compressor for Audi’s flagship • Why the purchase of Sauer-Danfoss shares failed • Stop hunting the wrong customers 3/2010 | A Stakeholder Publication | English edition2010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=2http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=222 Published by Danfoss A/S Total number printed: 24,420 Address: Danfoss A/S, D11 DK-6430 Nordborg globaldanfoss@danfoss.com Responsible: Ole Daugbjerg Editor: Niels Chr. Larsen Prepress: Christa Hartmann Photographer: Glenn Simonsen Print: Laursen Grafisk A/S Published in Danish, English, French, Spanish, Polish, Slovenian, German, Chinese, Slovakian and Russian. Printed with vegetable colours on environmentally approved paper. Reproduction only by permission of the Editor and always with acknowledgement to Global Danfoss 4 Global Danfoss June 2010 4 LET ThE oThERS Do ThE woRk (if they are better and cheper) 6 InDIAnS wITh Danfoss DnA In ThEIR bLooD. Report from Pune, India. 10 ouTSouRcInG DEmAnDS STAmInA. Success requires lots of funds for leadership and communication. 16 Q&A. Bendt Jørgensen on outsourcing. 17 mInI-comPRESSoR foR AuDI’S fLAGShIP. Compressor the size of a fist. 18 REfuGEES REunITInG on ThE InTERnET. Danfoss foundation helps Refugees United. 19 PoSTcARDS. Greetings from Danfoss employees. 20 SToP hunTInG ThE wRonG cuSTomERS. Danfoss Turbocor with its first profit. 28 Danfoss ARounD ThE woRLD. 22010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=3http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=3Leader Outsourcing makes us Core & Clear By Executive Vice President and COO Kim Fausing Core & Clear was implemented throughout the organisation six months ago. The first exciting period of familiarising ourselves with the new strategy has ended and the goal over the past few months has been to translate it into practice so that it can be useful to Danfoss as a whole. This is what the so-called perspective processes currently going on in the divisions are all about: simply to identify those activities that need dealing with and those that should be prioritised by the individual areas so that they can contribute to making Danfoss Core & Clear as quickly as possible. Some of the Core & Clear initiatives embrace the entire group – outsourcing is a good example. Focus is an important element of Core & Clear and focus is exactly what outsourcing is about. We want to concentrate all of our energy on our leading core businesses and building new businesses close to the core where we can capitalise on the things we are best at doing. Similarly, we want to use our strength in relation to the processes which make our customers choose Danfoss. One of the issues is to deliver quality – on time. On the other hand, we want to outsource the processes and activities which are not Danfoss’ core areas. These are the areas where suppliers and partners are the best in precisely their field of work. This applies to, for example, cleaning and the running of the canteens where good Danfoss colleagues have become employees in another company which now works for Danfoss. We can also benefit by outsourcing the products and parts to suppliers which offer equally high quality at more favourable prices. However, it is important to underline that prior to outsourcing, we always undergo a long process; leaving no stone unturned to make sure that we choose the right supplier. The supplier must live up to Danfoss’ requirements and values and make sure they can match the needs of our customers. One of the gains is that Danfoss becomes more flexible because the responsibility for some processes will rest with our suppliers rather than with us. We can react quickly when we suddenly get busy as a result of the markets improving and the customers wanting to buy more from us. And if we should be hit by a headwind, we will be able to slow down without having to go through the painful process of making people redundant. The examples of outsourcing in this edition of Global Danfoss each tell about the different ways in which we have translated our Core & Clear strategy into practice. ” . focus is exactly what outsourcing is about 32010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=4http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=4Outsourcing Let others do the work (if they are better and cheaper) Outsourcing is one of the key words of Danfoss’ new strategy, Core & Clear. The company has a long tradition of doing things itself – believing that this would give the best result. But time and money can be saved, and increased flexibility can be gained, if non-core Danfoss tasks are performed by others. There are already several examples of this. We have taken a closer look at what outsourcing is all about. Join us on a journey to India, the USA and Denmark – and learn what specialists say about what you should pay attention to when you venture into outsourcing. The theme’s text and photos are by Niels Chr. Larsen and Lene Ilsøe Nielsen.2010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=5http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=552010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=6http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=6Outsourcing Indians with Danfoss DNA in their blood Sixty software developers in KPIT Cummins in Pune, India, know who Mads Clausen was, and where Nordborg is. Walking around KPIT Cummins’ premises around noon, you see many seemingly empty rooms – but we are told that this is only because of the time difference. The teams working for American companies show up later in the day, and in the evening these rooms are buzzing with activity. We are in Pune in India; it has five million inhabitants and is 160 kilometres east of the major city of Mumbai. Pune is a young city with many universities and tens of thousands of IT engineers commuting by scooter or motorcycle every day, throwing themselves into rush hour and – surrounded by cars, taxis and moped rickshaws – threading their way to work where they solve IT challenges for all the world’s enterprises. If China is the world’s factory, then India is the world’s IT centre. According to NASSCOM – India’s leading trade association – the software market directly generates jobs for more than 2.2 million people in India, with almost twice as many indirect jobs. Of those, around 60 Indian software developers do not take up much space – we meet them located in two safety-locked rooms on the fourth floor of one of the KPIT Cummins buildings. They are in their fifth consecutive year working for Danfoss and Sauer-Danfoss, which is clearly reflected in their surroundings: Danfoss posters are stuck to glass windows, the cube with the Core & Clear strategy is found in several places, and about a dozen employees have been on long stays at Danfoss – getting the company’s DNA into their blood, as their manager puts it. Co-operation has progressed smoothly over the past few years. 62010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=7http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=7India The tree, which was planted to symbolise the ties between Danfoss and KPIT Cummins, is still small, but the Director of Global Outsourcing Office, Jørn Thomsen Mærsk, who deals with the outsourcing of tasks at Danfoss Power Electronics, has great expectations for its future. 30 per cent outsourced There are currently 400 development engineers working at Danfoss Power Electronics. This figure is expected to double by 2015, and the intention is to make substantial expansions into China and the USA so that the division’s R&D activities stand solidly on three legs: China, Europe and the USA. ”The current outsourcing amounts to around five per cent but we expect this to reach 10 per cent this year and 30 per cent by 2015,” predicts Jørn Thomsen Mærsk. In other words, almost every second of the recently hired development engineers in the division will be with an external company – of which many are likely to be located in India. He recognises the fact that it is considerably cheaper to have development tasks per- formed in India – at less than half the price compared to the price paid in Denmark – but Jørn Thomsen Mærsk denies that this is the only reason for outsourcing. Two current ongoing projects alone occupy 20 people at KPIT Cummins and it would be impossible to allocate so much manpower in the organisation in Europe or the USA. ”If we were to carry out those two projects ourselves, it would mean that we would have to wait for internal resources to be released. So this is more about time-tomarket than it is about savings,” says Jørn Thomsen Mærsk. facts • KPIT Cummins is the result of a merger of an Indian IT company and the American motor manufacturer Cummins’ IT department in India. • The company employs around 5,000 people and had net sales of 134m euros last year. According to the strategy plan, it aims to reach the 771m euros (1bn USD) in five years. Danfoss has been targeted as one of 50 key customers. 72010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=8http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=8Outsourcing Women prefer the IT business Jimmi wolff, software engineer at Power Electronics: ” Many Indian IT specialists used to dream about living in the Western world, but 30-year old Dhanashree Ranade does not share that dream. She is perfectly satisfied living in Pune – and with working for Danfoss – because: ”They are quality-minded and encourage us to act as partners and come up with our own ideas.” Dhanashree lives with her husband and two-year-old son in a newly refurbished three-room flat, only a 15-20 minute scooter drive from her workplace. Her husband is also an IT engineer working for a bank. She arrives at work at 9.30am and typically works nine hours, which is entirely normal when putting in an extra effort in the IT business, she says. On the other hand, salaries are higher compared with those paid in the manufacturing industry and most of her female student colleagues have, therefore, also ended up working in companies like KPIT Cummins. Her husband also has long working hours but her mother-in-law helps out by looking after their son during the day – and preparing dinner. She describes herself as belonging to the upper-middle class. Since she is a woman, she does not pay as much tax. The first 2,580 Euros (150,000 Rupees) are tax-free. The couple owns a car and, in addition to the flat in which they live, have a larger apartment in downtown Pune which they rent out. Dhanashree dreams of becoming a solution architect, which is a designer of solutions for electronic products with embedded software. This would require completing a number of courses, but she expects KPIT Cummins to support her financially. ”KPIT Cummins is not a leader in terms of salary levels, but, the quality of performed tasks is high,” she says. ”I have worked with other outsourced companies and, generally, the Indians perform well. However, there is a wide spectrum of competencies and there is a big difference between the one with the best skills and the one with the poorest. I think it was a good idea to outsource – in fact, it would have meant a greater risk if we hadn’t done it. You risk getting closed down if you cannot keep the level of costs as low as possible.” 82010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=9http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=9India 25 years old and already a senior employee Kapil Magdum – at 25 years old still one year younger than the average age at KPIT Cummins – was hired, along with three others, immediately after he had finished his bachelor’s degree as an electronics engineer. This was three years ago and he has worked with Danfoss ever since. He says it is an attractive place to work, because the partners in Danfoss are helpful and willing to co-operate. ”And they have technologically interesting tasks which make it possible to develop your skills,” he adds. Kapil shares a new four-room flat with his brother and sisterin-law, half an hour’s drive along the motorway on his new 150cc Yamaha motorbike. His brother is also an IT engineer. The flat costs 172 Euros (10,000 Rupees) per month, which is a rather large proportion of his monthly salary. On the other hand, he does not pay the rent all by himself. In December he visited Danfoss in Denmark and became more familiar with Danfoss’ product architecture, working culture and processes. And he also got to know his colleagues in Danfoss better. Today he is a software engineer and dreams of becoming a techleader, which is two steps higher up the ladder. He does not really have a big wish to work outside India, but if he got the chance, he would like to go to Europe. Thomas Iversen, project leader at Power Electronics: ” “You should not underestimate the support that is required to outsource. For every eight people’s work out there, it requires the support of about one person’s labour here. And it has been a bit of a challenge to make them come forward and tell us their ideas of how to do things in a better way. You could say that they were slightly reluctant to offer an opinion, but this has changed now. Also, the daily work gets more exciting when you co-operate with people from several cultures.” 92010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=10http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=10Outsourcing OuTSOurCINg deMaNdS STaMINa A lot of funds need to be invested in leadership and communication to ensure outsourcing succeeds.2010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=11http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=11India Take a look at the photo and the two print cards that Parag Athale is holding. They show the ethernet outlet on a frequency converter. An ethernet outlet is what links the frequency converter with the industrial plant’s measuring system and control unit. The photo shows its previous design (to the left) and how it is set to look from now on (to the right). The developers in Drives have limited the space so that extra features can be added to the frequency converter for the benefit of the customers. So now Parag and the team have been assigned the task of making the software architecture fit half the space. This is a good example of the kind of tasks that the software developers in KPIT Cummins are dealing with. None of the projects deal directly with the main purpose of the particular Danfoss product – in the case of the frequency converter the motor control – but rather, they deal with the features and applications offered through use of the product. KPIT Cummins have run 10-12 projects for Drives over four years, and the most important knowledge gained is – according to Director Jørn Thomsen Mærsk – that outsourcing increases flexibility, and that nothing comes of its own accord. Lots of funding for leadership Time and stamina is needed to make co-operation function well. Communication and mutual understanding of your partner’s culture is vital and it is important to allocate sufficient resources to it. According to textbooks, you should not allocate less than five per cent of the outsourcing budget to leadership. ”To begin with, we spent a lot more – 13-14 per cent – but we have managed to halve the expenses as we have improved the commitment, while at the same time we have overcome the start-up difficulties,” says Jørn Thomsen Mærsk. It has proved useful to have one or two Indian development engineers based in Denmark during the specification phase, after which they returned to India to solve the task there. This way they get a good understanding of Danfoss’ work methods while more staff get an insight into the company’s working culture. Another learning point that arises is the importance of precise and thorough internal communication of the dealings with the outsourcing partner. ”At first we experienced a certain degree of resistance in the organisation and maybe this was because we had not provided good enough information. But the resistance has eventually vanished and the employees have had good experiences working with the Indian engineers. They can see for themselves that jobs have not been lost.” However, it has been communicated in clear terms that outsourcing is a vital element of the strategy, and when the development department was forced to make cutbacks last year as a result of the recession, only very limited cuts were made in the outsourced parts. At the same level as the west Jørn Thomsen Mærsk also highlights that the Indians are as equally qualified as the developers who have received their training in the Western world. He says that they are not any better, or any worse, and that he comes across very skilful people. However, some of the Indian employees were not ideally suited to working at Danfoss and had to be made redundant. He has noticed that the turnover of employees is pretty much the same as in the Western world. ”It has often been held up as a problem that 15-20 per cent of Indian IT staff take up new positions every year. We have experienced a lower employee turnover; perhaps because we have heard that people think it is attractive to get on our team.” This is confirmed by his counterpart at KPIT Cummins, Kishore Chaphekar, the head of Danfoss ODC (Outsourcing Development Center), who explains that there are many applicants for the vacancies in the two Danfoss rooms on the fourth floor. ”When you outsource, you get back what you invest. In our internal records of customers’ preparedness to outsource, Danfoss is in the top two and I spent half of my time in Danfoss in Denmark during the fi2010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=12http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=12Denmark Outsourcing Torben Pedersen is affiliated to the Center for Strategic Management and Globalization at Copenhagen Business School. facts Advantages: • Reduced costs (in most cases) • Increased flexibility – and improved opportunities to get the right staff • Released resources, which means that you can focus on core areas Disadvantages: • Loss of jobs – can lead to uncertainty and a lack of motivation amongst employees • Dependency can result in gradually increasing prices • High costs at first Not a quick fix It’s no good throwing yourself into outsourcing thinking it’s a quick shortcut to turn blood-red figures black. On the contrary, for outsourcing to succeed, thorough homework is needed. Professor Torben Pedersen, a researcher and lecturer at Copenhagen Business School, has looked at international business management in detail, including outsourcing, which is one of the means that companies are increasingly applying in order to reorganise their international activities. ”According to textbooks, the advantage of outsourcing is that it offers the opportunity for companies to specialise in the elements that they can become really good at – and contract out the noncore activities to others, who in turn can become expert within those fields. However, the prerequisite for achieving success is to be familiar with one’s own processes and to prepare very precise specifications for the tasks that the external company will perform, and the interfaces that will emerge,” says Torben Pedersen. So, in his experience, the first step is for companies to make a big effort to group their processes and obtain a thorough understanding of them before moving them out. If this is not done, uncertainties might arise. ”When you have everything under the same roof, you do not have to write down a lot, but when you outsource, you have to make many more specifications. However, once that is done, it will have a range of positive effects because the knowledge can be put to use elsewhere in the company.” But no matter how well the outsourcing company prepares itself, it has to realise that it will become dependent on others. Torben Pedersen thinks this is the biggest potential disadvantage of outsourcing. ”It means that you are not in control as much as you used to be, and one possible effect is that the external company might utilise the dependency to pressure the price or loosen the contract. It could also mean that it will exploit know-how and competencies and actually become a competitor. However, this normally would only take place within consumer goods, not within the business-to-business area in which Danfoss operates.” 122010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=13http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=13Malaysia Outsourcing Malaysia sure is far away Three years after the outsourcing of thermostat production to a company in Malaysia, Lars Vorm, Vice President Supply Chain in Danfoss Heating Solutions, is ready to take stock. ”We have become more competitive, but we have also discovered that it’s a long way to Malaysia,” he says. Outsourcing of the electronics department – with 45 hourly-paid workers and 12 white-collar employees in Vejle, Denmark – was initiated in 2007. This took place after they themselves had been challenged to see whether they should produce the thermostats for the factory’s electrical floor heating products. The analysis showed that the production cost was the same at the factory in Vejle as in the East, but that investments in new machines could be problematic. They chose Escatec, Malaysia, which was already Danfoss’ sub-supplier. It was a two-stage process and, looking back, Lars Vorm thinks that the project was successful but also that a lot had to be learnt the hard way. Many of the work processes relating to the thermostat production were not sufficiently documented, so a great deal of effort had to be made to update them. At the same time, the organisation was sorry to let go of work which the employees knew they were good at performing. ”Moreover, it was difficult to work out exactly what the end result would be. We have travelled a lot back and forth and, as I said, it’s a very long way to Malaysia.” This is problematic both for the transport of the goods – sea carriage takes six weeks – and the personal face-to-face contact. Travelling to and from Malaysia can easily take a week out of someone’s schedule and this is indeed something that Lars Vorm has considered subsequently; that it would have been somewhat easier if the supplier was located in Europe. Lotte D. Jensen, former production manager in the electronics department: ” ” 13 “There are two sides to this. It was a very long process staff-wise, where we continuously had to say goodbye to many fine colleagues, but business-wise, things went smoothly. Deliveries from Malaysia arrived according to plan, even though it was a complicated production process to relocate.” marian L. Pedersen, former technician in the electronics department: “It was very tough to say goodbye to colleagues and to see others taking over the jobs that we had done for many years and were happy to get up to do in the morning. But, I must say that they do the job as equally well as we did.”2010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=14http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=14Denmark Outsourcing Same place, but new work clothes Large quantities of radiator valves are flowing out of Danfoss Heating Solutions’ factory in Viby, Denmark – but they are no longer being serviced by Danfoss employees. The Danish company VARO Specialmaskiner took over this task in November last year, and in doing so took on ten employees from Danfoss. Production Director Jesper Høj Hansen says that it was a lengthy process to get everything in place and train the employees in how to order machine servicing and machine parts from the ‘tool department’. Now there is a price to be paid per task and, at first sight, it seems more expensive. ”But this way, flexibility is increased and expenses are not incurred for staff who would maybe have no work for a period of time,” he explains. “Also, we now have more in-house competencies thanks to VARO, because they specialise in automated production equipment, and we have drawn on the skills of several of their staff. We have also often needed to do more tasks simultaneously, so VARO provided us with staff from other departments.” A 24-month contract has been signed with VARO, during which its workshop will be located in the Viby factory. The company specialises in machine construction and the servicing of machines – in particular automated production equipment – and it has taken over similar departments in other large Danish industrial companies. Jørn Thomassen machine operator: ” ” “We were sceptical to begin with, but we have become more and more satisfied. We have the same tasks as we used to, but now we work to sell our services as best as we can and show that we are indispensable to Danfoss. Almost all of the local agreements have been included in the contract with the new company and, on the whole, the salary hasn’t changed.” Carsten Nielsen is one of the new VARO employees. Jesper Petersen value stream manager: ”Our expenses for machine servicing have become more visible to everybody, and we have become better at prioritising tasks. Previously, employees were quick to ask someone in the workshop to help with troubleshooting if there were problems with a machine. Now there is a price on this kind of service, meaning that employees and technicians try to solve the problem first before getting help from others.” 142010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=15http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=15USA Outsourcing Machine giveaway reaps benefits They took up space, the maintenance staff had retired and a future investment was on the horizon. Danfoss Hago – a manufacturer of nozzles and components for oil burners – had a problem with three machines used for the production of turned parts for the nozzles. And the solution was rather unconventional: giving away the machines to a subsupplier. From the employees’ point of view, the downside was that it would cost three jobs. The advantages were that the factory would save 100,000 US dollars each year; the supplier has taken on the risk element; and Hago has been able to gather all of its activities in one factory location. But what is most essential, says Richard Thiel, Vice President Operations, is that: ”The agreement specifies that we can draw on the knowledge of the supplier. He is located only one and a half hours away from us and we can call him anytime.” Richard is the man who designed the agreement with the sub-supplier, Daven-Sharpe, who runs a small business with six employees. And he has great confidence in owner Steve Lewellin, who has already come back to the facility to train some of the employees in Hago. ”He comes from the Detroit area where the big car and production factories are located. He grew up with these types of machines, so it’s in his blood.” In addition to internal training, Steve Lewellin has also helped Danfoss Hago with a specific issue, namely finding a solution to a problem which the factory had when a sub-supplier could no longer comply with previous standards. ”As Daven-Sharpe puts it: ’If things don’t work for Danfoss, it won’t work for me’,” says Richard. Sebastian Desouza, Screw machine Department Lead: ” ” “Daven-Sharpe taught us how to rebuild threadrollers in July 2009. They are still in use and time will tell how much longer they will last.” Steve Lewellin (no. 2 from left) with a team of Hago employees. bob wilson, has a major role in troubleshooting throughout the Danfoss hago Inc. facility: “Although I’ve never been assigned to the Screw Machine Department, to me it is gaining more knowledge. It’s giving me more flexibility to do other jobs and do them correctly.” 152010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=16http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=16“More reason to be nervous if we didn’t take action …” By Niels Chr. Larsen Bendt Jørgensen, as shown through the examples in this Global Danfoss, Danfoss has already outsourced a great deal. You are the head of Danfoss Business System (DBS), which deals with the systematic mapping of how Danfoss can benefit from outsourcing. How is the work progressing? ”It is our job to find out how to ensure the best way to approach outsourcing. To begin with, we are taking a look at three areas: plastics, turn parts and stamping parts. At the end of June, we will have an overview of how much we produce ourselves within those areas in the five core divisions, and then together with the divisions, we will examine both where we would have a competitive advantage by continuing inhouse production and where we would be better off out-sourcing. This must take place in co-operation with Group Procurement, which is already in the process of reducing the number of suppliers. As it is, we have many sub-suppliers who are producing plastics, turn parts and stamping parts for us. The aim is to have fewer but, in return, build very strong partnerships with them.” What is the target? ”No financial target has been announced. But outsourcing is in line with the Core & Clear strategy’s target of increased financial independence and less complexity. By outsourcing non-core processes we will gain an increased financial scope because we don’t have to invest in machines and maintenance. At the same time, we will be able to react faster to the ups and downs in the market.” When will we see the first results? ”Once we have reviewed the material together with the divisions, it will go pretty fast and you will see the first things being outsourced this year.” You have started to deal with three processes. What comes next? ”In the autumn, we will establish whether any products or parts of products can be outsourced.” Should the employees fear this process? ”Personally, I would be more nervous if Danfoss did not take action. Generally, this is about ensuring that Danfoss improves its competitiveness and, thereby, that growth and jobs are secured in the long term. But, we also have to face the fact that this will affect employees in the areas we end up outsourcing. Of course, the consequences are naturally linked to how our markets develop and our ability to create jobs as we go along.” Q&A Questions and answers. On this page, in each edition of Global Danfoss, we will focus on a central issue. This time Bendt Jørgensen, Senior Vice President, Danfoss Business System, is in the hot seat. 162010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=17http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=17facts The cool box uses around one third less energy compared to similar electrical versions which do not have a compressor. And it cools the contents to refrigerator temperature, no matter how warm the weather is. mini-compressor for Audi’s flagship danfoss Household Compressors has developed a battery-driven compressor the size of a fist that will be used in audi’s new flagship a8 to keep the beverages cold. By Ole Kanstrup Photo: Søren Petersen Would a music centre with 19 loudspeakers tempt you? Or what about an air pillow massage, built into the back rest? There are plenty of options for wealthy people to consider when they work their way through the list of optional extras on the new A8 Quattro – German car producer Audi’s flagship model. One of the options for the back seat is a discreet, built-in fridge box which has a compressor in it that has been made by Danfoss Household Compressors in Flensburg, Germany, which ensures cool beverages for the drive. The compressor is called BD 1.4F and is the market’s smallest battery-driven compressor. “It isn’t much bigger than the fist of a hard-working farmer and the equipment in luxury cars needs to be small so there is more room for the passengers. That’s why we got the contract,” says global sales director in Danfoss Household Compressors, Erik Rudbeck. This is the first time the division will deliver the compressor to Audi’s own production line in Ingolstadt. And it is bit of a challenge. The car industry implements some of the world’s strictest quality requirements and, the reality is that it does not accept any errors. This means that each and every compressor is thoroughly tested before it leaves the assembly line. Danfoss Household Compressors expects to sell a few thousand BD Compact compressors to Audi annually, but other car manufacturers are also showing an interest in the compressor. The Italian refrigeration company Indel B makes the fridges where the Danfoss compressors are installed before it is all assembled on the Audi production line. Household Compressors’ shortest employee, Christian Andresen (1.70 metres), with the new compressor. Next to him is the tallest employee, Lars Henriksen (2.16 metres), holding the previous and larger version.2010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=18http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=18Refugees reuniting on the Internet a danfoss foundation is helping refugees united, which has created an online search tool for all the world’s refugees. By Niels Chr. Larsen Yonas Samuel’s story is an almost surreal odyssey which has stretched over 12 years and two continents. The 54-year-old was driven out of Ethiopia by the conflict between that country and Eritrea – and then later he had to leave Zimbabwe because of accusations that he backed the opposition against President Mugabe. He ended up in Brazil last year, alone, without his family. But July 22, 2009 was a good day. That was when he got in touch with his wife and daughter after more than a year apart, thanks to help offered by the organisation, Refugees United, whose purpose is to reunite refugees. Therefore, the group offers an online search tool, and it has centres in camps and other locations where there are large numbers of refugees, who just like Yonas have lost contact with their relatives during their escapes. Two Danish brothers, David and Chris M. Troensegaard, set up Refugees United. It has received substantial funding from the Fabrikant Mads Clausen Foundation, partly in the form of approximately 135,000 euros and also by the Foundation’s chairman, Peter M. Clausen, joining the Board. Mail from Alexandra Aparicio, Latin American Refugees United representative: I have excellent news. Well, today was a very special day. An anonymous profile has sent questions to Yonas yesterday, he replied and today the person answered saying she had a 9 years old daughter that would turn 10 on August 21st. I met with Yonas at RU’s. It took me 40 minutes to get there due to traffic and he arrived 10 minutes earlier than me because he went to the office running, literally. So, I called the number and a woman answered. Then I said I would put her through to Yonas. She asked: who? I said Yonas and she didn’t say anything else. When he started to talk, he started to cry. It was her indeed. He asked to talk with the baby and I could hear the girl screaming: Daddy daddy, you’re alive. He told me that the girl saw the police beating him and it was the last time she saw him, on the floor bleeding. facts • Danfoss has previously supported Refugees United via the Bitten and Mads Clausen Foundation. • Refugees United is an NGO, independent of political and religious interests. ”The money will cover our operational costs until the end of this year, and we are delighted with the support that we get from Danfoss,” says David M. Troensegaard. The organisation has a few thousand registered users. They enter their personal information anonymously, but include key words and other characteristics which their relatives will recognise and react to. In the case of Yonas, one of his key words was ’espresso’, and his 10-year-old daughter reacted to the word when she and her mother visited the website of Refugees United to see if they could find their missing husband and father. She remembered that her dad always had a cup of espresso when he took her to an ice-cream parlour. To bring the story up to date, Yonas has been granted refugee status in Brazil and hopes to be reunited with his wife and daughter, who have also fled Zimbabwe and are now living in Europe. 182010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=19http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=19Danfoss hit by gigantic hailstones The employees at Danfoss Buenos Aires were in for quite a spectacle when they arrived at work one morning. The reason was that a hailstorm had ravaged many parts of the city the evening before, causing damage to the entrance to Danfoss’ building and parts of the warehouse. Seven minutes work wonders According to the employees in Industrial Automation in Nordborg, Denmark, seven minutes of exercise work wonders. They meet on the factory floor every day between 10:00am and 10:07am. ”We have a ten minute break at that time. And seven minutes are what it takes to increase your pulse rate, but not so much that you need to take a shower,” says Maybritt Holm. Almost all of the factory floors’ 19 production employees take part in the daily exercises and the office workers from the offices nearby also usually come. Apprentices struggling for fitness The physical fitness of new apprentices at Danfoss in Nordborg is generally not too good. So, the Trainee Centre measures all newcomers’ fitness rating and sends them off to the gym – and then the competition heats up to achieve a good final result. Danfoss couple had quadruplets Iwona and Zbyszek Bodych who both work in the production in Danfoss, Poland, had to come up with three girl names and one boy name in January when Iwona gave birth to quadruplets. Danfoss in Poland has a special relationship with the quadruplets: not only do the babies’ parents work in Danfoss – so does their grandmother, and their aunts and uncles. So Danfoss quickly stepped in to help donating the company’s seven-person pool car to make transportation easier for the family which now counts seven members, including eight-yearold big-sister Wiktoria. ”For me, there’s clearly a competitive element in this. This time, my rating was 45.5 and the next time I want to be one of the best in my group,” says Esben Skotte Wrang. The average fitness rating of the 17 trainees was 36.8 and this puts them in the category Very low. 192010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=20http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=20Stop hunting for the wrong customers By Ole Kanstrup Illustration: Jenz Koudahl 202010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=21http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=21danfoss Turbocor has secured its first profit. and the reason? Simply that focusing on big customers pays off. There is no point accepting a sales opportunity if it means the customer sends you back to the drawing board to make changes to a product he only intends to buy one of – especially when you do not demand an extra fee. This is the conclusion in Danfoss Turbocor. A few years back, the company utilised every sales opportunity in sight when it launched a state-of-the-art compressor for air-conditioning systems: an electromagnetic compressor. The company wanted, on any account, to prove that the hours spent in the development laboratory had been worthwhile. “In our hunt for customers, we said yes to too many projects which only ended in very limited sales in return for a lot of extra work. This had us going in a direction which in the long run would have drained us of energy and money,” says Vice President of marketing in Danfoss Turbocor, Doug Bishop. But this wasn’t how things turned out. On the contrary, since the turn of the year, the factory has made a small, but growing profit, month after month. focusing on the big ones Part of the change is due to the fact that the company has stopped giving discounts to enter the product on the market. It is, moreover, equally important that it has been weeding out the file of small customers since January last year and, instead, has embarked on gaining the big OEM customers – the large American and European producers of air-conditioning systems for office buildings, among other things. The thing is, the OEMs do not buy a single compressor from time to time. They buy several hundreds at a time. “This way, the efforts are proportionate with the earnings, which makes it a much better business. It has also given us more energy to improve the quality, which was previously not at the level demanded by the big OEM customers,” says Doug Bishop. He adds that Danfoss Turbocor aims to double the number of compressors sold within three years. “But it takes time to have key customers take new technology to heart. They want to be certain that quality and delivery are first-class and that is where we are now focusing our efforts,” points out Doug Bishop. Danfoss Turbocor was set up in 2004 as a joint venture between Canadian Turbocor Inc. and Danfoss. In 2007, the company moved from Montreal in Canada to a new factory in Florida, USA. The company employs 165 people. A unique concept Danfoss Turbocor’s compressors are operated via electro-magnetism, meaning that the mechanical parts do not touch or wear each other. Therefore, the compressors have a longer life-span than mechanical compressors. The lack of friction also improves the efficiency. This allows Danfoss Turbocor to design the compressors at half the size of that of conventional compressors with the same capacity. And the smaller the compressor, the easier it is to install it. Since the mechanical parts do not touch each other, lubrication is superfluous which makes the compressors oil-free. Traditional compressors require the oil to be replaced on a regular basis. Danfoss Turbocor was the first company to launch electro-magnetic compressors. 212010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=22http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=22why ThE PuRchASE of SAuER-DAnfoSS ShARES fAILED 222010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=23http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=23Sauer-danfoss’ good start to the year actually had a bit of a downside – it affected danfoss’ attempts to buy the remaining shares in the subsidiary, because the price became too high. By Niels Chr. Larsen It is in fact a slightly paradoxical story. Month after month, we have witnessed the deterioration of net sales and profit at Sauer-Danfoss, ever since Danfoss became the major shareholder in the company in the summer of 2008 following the purchase of some of the Murmann family’s shares. When the situation looked bleakest, net sales had fallen by 45 per cent, 3,000 out of 8,000 employees had been made redundant and the losses at Sauer-Danfoss pulled the entire Danfoss group down to a large deficit in the 2009 accounts. This was the situation when Danfoss bought the remaining shares from the Murmann family. Subsequently, Danfoss made an offer to the minority shareholders to buy their shares, so that SauerDanfoss could become incorporated into the group, leading to advantages in the form of coordination of the accounting, purchasing, IT, HR functions and any other advantages that you might think of. There were around 11.5 million shares. The owners of 3.9 million shares agreed to sell at a price of 14 US dollars per share – but then the operation foundered; paradoxically because Sauer-Danfoss announced its expectations for the first quarterly result, with far more positive expectations for 2010, 2011 and 2012. And even more of a paradox, as Danfoss CEO Niels B. Christiansen, considered the subsidiary’s expectations for the three-year period, ‘rather high’. Sauer-Danfoss’ statement was noticed by the Special Committee set up when Danfoss announced that the group would buy the remaining shares. The committee consists of three independent board members who have the task of, among other things, assessing the value of the shares. The committee is the guarantee that the minority shareholders have the best possible basis for evaluating the submitted tender offer. withdrawing the recommendation Previously, the Special Committee had recommended that the shareholders sell at the price Danfoss originally offered. But with the new expectations from the Sauer-Danfoss management on the table, the committee withdrew the recommendation and said that the price would now have to be something approaching 21.5 US dollars per share. ”In our view, 21.5 dollars per share is too high a price, and since not enough of the minority shareholders wished to sell at the offered price of 14 dollars per share, the operation failed,” says Niels B. Christiansen. How annoyed are you that it didn’t pull through? ”Not very annoyed. With a price of 14, we would have spent 850 million DKK on purchasing the remaining shares. Now, we can use this money for other purposes. And with our 76 per cent of the shares, we are still in a majority and we have the right to govern and have very weighty influence on running the business.” But, does that not mean that you cannot reap the benefits of adding Sauer-Danfoss as the sixth division? ”We are still able to obtain synergies – though, not as much as we could have, if we had owned the company 100 per cent. For example, it is obvious that we can put our DBS competencies to use in Sauer-Danfoss, and there are other areas in which we could increase our co-operation. And then we should take note of the fact that 76 per cent of Sauer-Danfoss’ good results are directly added to our bottom line. Many have questioned whether it was such a good idea to buy the majority of shares in Sauer-Danfoss. With the current results, now is the time to eliminate this doubt. We have kept saying that it was a good idea to buy Sauer-Danfoss, and it turned out to be a good idea long before we had anticipated.” facts • Sauer-Danfoss is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. • The company was formed in 2000 as a merger between Danfoss’ hydraulics division and Sauer-Sundstrand, owned by the Murmann family. • Sauer-Danfoss is a market leader within hydrau2010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=24http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=24http://portal.danfoss.net/pages/insite.aspx http://portal.danfoss.net/pages/insite.aspx Powerpoint presentations and reality Select Danfoss via your mobile The installer’s GPS. That is the concept behind a new online tool, ‘Product Conversion’, introduced by Burner Components. The installer faces situations on a daily basis where he has to replace a defective component. He then needs to choose the right service part among hundreds of order numbers, which can be quite stressful. Using Product Conversion, the installer, within a few seconds, will get a proposal for how to convert to Danfoss from a competitor product or from a discontinued Danfoss product. In this way, he is helped in his Danfoss choice. By Roland Fritsch, Danfoss Global Services The last time I visited Copenhagen I saw a man on a bicycle wearing a black T-shirt which said on the back: ”A book a day keeps reality away.” I have since reflected on the slogan (the shirt was a piece of merchandise for a second-hand bookstore in Copenhagen) and how it advocates escapism – an adult way to go through the wardrobe and travel to Narnia or some other fantasy world. Sometimes I wonder; if we translated this to Danfoss, what would the equivalent slogan be? It would probably be something like: “A PowerPoint presentation a day keeps reality away.” Dear Roland, Thanks for touching on a very interesting subject. What an actual observation! Power Point indeed has a “power”. It can be a very destructive “power” if misused… I made an effort and calculated (roughly) the number of slides that I have seen at Danfoss (or in relation to job) in 2010 ytd. Any tips??? App. 4000! Using the golden rule of 2 min/slide it makes 8000 minutes or 130 hours or 3 working weaks ! Time best spent??? So what do we do with it? First of all I would ask if your opinion is that Danfoss GC currently supports going lean with presentations. I have my doubts looking at templates flying in a steady stream on my desk. Andrzej Kramer http://portal.danfoss.net/pages/insite.aspx Take care when using social media “It’s important to highlight at the outset that using this social media does not differ from making a statement to the local newspaper. In other words, passing on internal information about Danfoss on a networking site is not permitted either.” Ole Daugbjerg, Chief Reputation Officer Mojn Andrzej Now you are challenging me… but that is okay. The blog was created to generate dialogue - and dialogue without a frank exchange of opinions is just small talk. Have you spend too much time looking at Power Point? To be honest: I have no idea! But I sincerely hope you know and can react and change things if you have. Otherwise we should be discussing empowerment! But you ask me if I will work in Group Committee (GC) to reduce the reporting packages to the GC. The short answer is no! Though luck but no cigar. The long answer would be: Yes, when all reporting is aligned in Danfoss we can start reducing it. But to feel like “One Danfoss – One Way” we need aligned and well structured reporting and exchange of information up and down in the organisation. When we reach that point we can greatly reduce a lot of the work that today seems bureaucratic. 242010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=25http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=25Notes The price jumped 30 per cent There was great excitement among the shareholders at this year’s Annual General Meeting. How much would Danfoss shares be worth following the worst year in the company’s history? They could breathe a sigh of relief: the price increased by 30 per cent to reach 1,077 – a good sign that Danske Bank, the bank that sets the price, is confident that the Core & Clear strategy will bring Danfoss onto the right course. At the same time, 51-year old Björn Rosengren (pictured) was elected onto the Danfoss Board. Björn Rosengren has an M.Sc. in Technology from Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, and is a division president at Atlas Copco Construction & Mining Technique. The division is the size of Danfoss. Satisfied mayor All mayors like to see new jobs created and Serafína Ostrihoňová, Mayor of the small town of Zlaté Moravce, is no exception. She was very pleased when 200 new jobs were created in connection with the opening of a new Danfoss factory in the town. The factory, which produces small and customised geared motors, has moved from Munich in Germany to Slovakia. Danfoss is already producing household compressors and parts for geared motors in Zlaté Moravce but with the opening of the new factory, the geared motors are now completed in the town too, and purchasing, logistics and product development can also be found here. Danfoss produces large geared motors in Esslingen, Germany. Closer to the Chinese customers Danfoss’ new central warehouse – the China Distribution Centre – is up and running. The 6,000m² facility is located in a 120,000m² logistics park outside Shanghai, which means that it is close to most of the Chinese customers. It also means that transportation time from the warehouse to the customer has been reduced by an average of 1.5 days. Furthermore, the customers now have the opportunity to receive their Danfoss products in one shipment. Previously if, for example, a customer ordered goods from Wuqing, Mexico and France, they would get the products in three different shipments. Award for being green It pays to go green. In April, Danfoss Power Electronics in Milwaukee received a ‘Go Green’ Supplier Award from customer Ingersoll-Rand for their efforts to reduce and recycle material at the Lexington facility. The recycling project began as a challenge to reduce the waste generated from the cardboard and wood that is used to package Danfoss products sent to Lexington. And at the same time, it provides a positive economic solution. Danfoss has recycled boxes and pallets used for shipping panels from the Milwaukee location. In all, the total amount recycled added up to 40,000 pounds of cardboard (11,000 boxes) and 50,000 pounds of wood pallets. In the picture, packer Zer Xiong, in Milwaukee, is using packaging returned from the Ingersoll-Rand Lexington facility to package a drive. 252010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=26http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=26Quality must go up, up, By Ole Kanstrup When a defective product is returned to RC’s Food Retail plant in Denmark, the employee who checks the product also writes the error report to the customer. This is one of the examples of the initiatives taken at Danfoss Refrigeration & A/C Controls and Danfoss Commercial Compressor’s factories, which have cut the response time to complaints by 45 per cent compared with 2009 – from 81 days to 46. In the same period, the customers have registered 27 per cent fewer faulty products; for every one million products, 566 errors are found, compared with 829 in 2009. The two divisions have increased their quality efforts to be at the cutting edge of developments as more and more customers expect quality to match the high levels of the car industry. However, exactly those same expectations mean the division is still far from reaching its goals. In fact, the complaints response time this year must be reduced to up says Torben Olejank Madsen, who is in charge of the quality-related activities in both divisions. He adds, though, that improved quality rates do not guarantee that customers are satisfied. not just customer’s headache One example is that Danfoss sometimes leaves it to the customer to make the product work if the product has already worked when Danfoss performed the check. But several major customers have begun to expect Danfoss to assist them in identifying the cause of the error – even if the customer has not applied the product correctly. The division has therefore launched a range of initiatives to make sure that the quality rates equal the customer’s perception of quality. Among other things, a team has been set up consisting of Customer Quality Managers, who will approach the major customers that are experiencing problems with quality – and stay with them until the problem is solved. Quality at danfoss refrigeration & a/C Controls and danfoss Commercial Compressors has been improved quite a bit. But more has to be done – and better quality rates are no guarantee of satisfied customers. Food Retail in Nordborg, Denmark, which programmes and tests controllers for refrigeration systems, among other things, is one of the areas that has considerably improved quality. 25 days and the number of faulty products must be cut by an additional 30 per cent. ”We are on the right track. However, competition is so tough now that we have to make continuous improvements in order to increase, or even maintain, the sales. Improvements are like licences or admission tickets which get us invited in at the customer,” 262010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=27http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=27wear a badge – and be honest “I live, I show, and I share my values…HONESTY.” Sasan resigned – unsuccessfully Sasan Mostafaei was convinced that he would not be able to find a job in Danfoss in Canada where he was moving to with his wife Parastoo in late 2008. So he handed in his resignation. But Mads Helge, Danfoss Drives’ Regional Sales Manager in the Middle East, asked Sasan, if they could strike a deal: if Sasan would take the resignation letter off the table, Mads would try to find a job in Danfoss, Canada, for him. So Mads spent the next couple of weeks making phone calls to senior management in Danfoss Drives. And a few months later, Sasan was offered a job as a Sales Manager in Danfoss Drives, Canada, working out of Toronto. “It proved that Danfoss cared for me both as an employee and a person. I think that is the main difference between Danfoss and many other companies that just mention their concern for employees on their web-site, but never act on it,” explains Sasan Mostafaei. That was the message written on a number of badges which recently changed hands among the employees in Danfoss, Mexico. The badges marked the launch of a project where values such as honesty, loyalty, respect, and determination will be in focus over the next months. If someone handed you the honesty badge, you had to be an ambassador for honesty for a week. This meant trying to find everyday examples of what honesty is all about – and to discuss them with colleagues, friends, and family members. Protection, wealth and prosperity secured The employees at Danfoss’ sales office in Thailand attended a three-hour ceremony for a new Spirit House for the property. Thai people believe that every house or every land has a holy spirit to protect them from bad luck and dangers, so if the existing spirit house is damaged it should be replaced – otherwise it will cause bad luck and misfortune. The site selection for the Spirit House and an invitation to the spirit to take up residence are done by Brahman. For the location, the Spirit House should be to the North side of the main building and facing North. If north is not available, Northeast would be next choice. The important thing is that the Spirit House must not be placed in the shadow of the house or close to bathroom or toilet. 272010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=28http://danfoss.ipapercms.dk/Danfoss/Newsletters/GlobalDanfoss/UK/2010/GlobalDanfossNo32010/?Page=28danfoss around the world denmark niels b. and medvedev Russia’s President, Dmitrij Medvedev, met with Danfoss CEO Niels B. Christiansen, when he visited Denmark in late April. The President stressed the importance of opportunities to strengthen the commercial ties between the two countries, within the field of energy among others. And at a conference held in connection with the meeting, Mikhail Shapiro, the head of Danfoss Russia, pointed out the major benefits to be gained from energyefficiency initiatives in Russia, where 53 per cent of total consumption is spent on heating buildings. In the photo is also Denmark’s Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen. China millions listened to Danfoss’ story Five million Chinese people listened to the Danfoss story and the company’s focus on energy-saving technology. This figure is revealed in the listener statistics of China National Radio, which had invited Danfoss to the studio in April as the main guest on a programme about CO2 reductions. China National Radio broadcast the programme in connection with its coverage of the exhibition ‘China Refrigeration’, which is one of the country’s most important annual industrial fairs. The radio programme went out to the provinces of Beijing, Tianjiin and Hebei. In addition to Senior Sales Director Jian Jijian, Product Manager Wei Xiang and Product Manager Xu Weidong also took part. China Danfoss is inside world Expo 190 countries attended the World Expo in Shanghai and some of the monumental buildings highlighting the exhibition have been equipped with Danfoss Hydronic Balancing & Control components. For example, in the prestigious Village VIP Hotel, the central air-conditioning system for both cooling and heating was equipped with Danfoss AB-QM valves. Also, the eye-catching Performance Centre, the 201metre Harmony Tower and the Urban Best Practices Area were supplied with HB products. 282010-07-13T09:24:40+02:00