Natco Group: Interview with Daniele Tartoni, Executive VP

Daniele Tartoni:
Could you briefly sketch in Natco’s company history?

Natco was established over 22 years ago. The founding members Gary Heller and Helmut File have been continuously involved in its development over the past two decades. This resulted in the creation of Natco AG and Transorga AG. Natco is headquartered in Rumlang near Zurich. The Natco Group has branch offices and stakes in other companies in Switzerland and abroad. It is pursuing a strategy of customer-oriented activities in the sector of <. The head office of Transorga is in Zurich and it has built up an excellent reputation in <>. especially in third-world and threshold countries. The firm has a staff of over 250 employees worldwide and generates an annual turnover of more than USD 100 million.

What is your business philosophy?

Both Natco and Transorga see themselves as providers of complete packages of solutions. This means that they provide services for small and medium-sized firms as well as for globally operating conglomerates. Regarding the business philosophy and activities in the market, both firms have a very similar philosophy: in the past, if you had the necessary financial means, you could go ahead and build a factory and create jobs. This entrepreneurial truth was accept-
ed as self-evident for a long time. Later, it was more advantageous to own a market instead of a factory. We did not succumb to the illusion that we would ever he able to own a market. hut focused on <> the svmpathy of a small and clearly defined target group. We have focused our attention on the unique features of various services and the basic needs of our customers.

How are you positioned in the market?

We define our market as the place where we can reach our goals in time. And we have goals that excite us! They also motivate our highly qualified employees, and earn the ovalty of our customers. We see ourselves as market leaders. and not as market followers. We do not ask ourselves primarily if there is a market for our services. We search for the right partners to achieve common goals. This way we create our own markets.

What are the strengths of your company?

We are aware of the fact that a high service quality is expected as a matter of course and that there are many alternatives in the market.Therefore we have been focusing on those customers, who are looking for flexibility, enthusiasm. honcstv. successful communication, transparency and process stability — and who are prepared to pay accordingly. Our business is built on a high degree of compati
bility between the requirements of our customers and our resources. Therefore Natco has hired experts from the <) as well as from the export sector. Because a growing number of companies are looking for new ways of managing processes which are not among their core competencies, the demand for tailormade solutions has been increasing. Our society has developed in the last few years at such a rate that qualitative growth has not been able to keep pace with quantitative growth. Our branch of the industry has also been pulled into the maelstrom. Contracts are more varied, the competition is tougher and the prices lower. All too often individuality and flexibility are sacrificed. In close cooperation with its customers, Natco is focusing on closing this gap between quality and quantity.

The year 2001 brought some changes for Natco. What are the most important changes?

The Natco organisation in Switzerland has been consistently elaborating its
strategy since the beginning of the year and has invested a great deal in human resources, structures and infrastructures. The joint venLure in the air freight sector with JAS was called off so that all core business activities could be offered under our own brand. We transferred our head office to Rümlang in October 2001 and operate in all sectors under our own brand identity. The excellent response from our customers has meant that we could create 20 new jobs. The new network, consisting of our own branches, shareholdings and exclusive agents. has been created and expanded to conform with the new requirements. Cooperation between shareholders and the operative units have been redefined for business development. These units concentrate on building up our financial interests and affiliates overseas and on the global realisation of our presence on the market under the Natco and Transorga brands.