Kundrelationer - mellan Setragroup AB och bygghandeln

Abstract: This study is made in cooperation with Setragroup AB. Setra is Sweden's biggest sawmilling company with a turnover of almost 6 billion SEK. 45% of the produced volume goes to the Swedish market where the customers are the DIY-sector and industrial customers. Setra as well as the other Swedish sawmilling companies operate in a very competitive environment. The customers demand on the products and the distribution of them increases and tend to be more sophisticated with a simultaneously growing competition from low cost countries. Under these circumstances it becomes very important for the companies to satisfy their customers' needs in a successful way. Due to the circumstances stated above the main purpose with this study is to examine how the customers experience Setra as a supplier and the outcome of their performance. Furthermore, what kind of relationship Setra has with their customers will be investigated and if the customers experience any differences between different suppliers. Finally, the customer's view on the future development in the DIY-sector will be examined and how that affects the suppliers. The study is restricted only to customers within the DIY-sector and the product segment "träprodukter". A case study methodology is used where nine qualitative interviews have been executed with persons working both central and local in stores within the DIY-sector. These interviewed persons represent a total number of five different companies or organizations. One of the main findings of the study is that the customers experience dissatisfaction with deliveries. The supplier has problems delivering the agreed products at the right time. This fact, together with dissatisfaction over unmotivated high prices, leads to failure in getting customers feeling prioritized. The relationship itself is quite simple and can be defined as a basic buying-selling type of relationship where what the seller routinely has to offer matches the buyer's needs. One difference between the different kinds of suppliers is that sawmilling suppliers still focus on production and pay little interest in the end-consumer and how to reach them. Other differences are that sawmilling suppliers tend to have more problems with deliveries and are not able to provide as much information as requested. Regarding the development of the DIY-sector, the customers believe the consolidation will continue and that actors will strengthen and buy more volume centrally. A consequence of this would be that the customer relationship becomes more important in the future as well as supplier's need to full fill their commitments towards the customers.