Incentivised to interact

An integrated approach is a central element in Sonat’s brand promise; an outsourced competence, for example, immediately striking the right note with the client. The teams at Sonat seem to have got it right through the simple use of collaborative efforts, horizontal and vertical skills and a commitment to the customer. Their Headquarters in Örebro shows that even a brand that works on a multitude of tasks can create a culture with a real sense of belonging. Entering the reception, is more like walking into a newly started business than stepping into a slumbering corporate landscape. ‘We are a tightknit logistics design team,’ as Kjell Rundqvist, the company’s founder, puts it.

At Sonat, there is a general focus on building a network of skills in alliance with the client. ‘We operate as part of our client’s organisation, to optimise their business rhythms of inbound and outbound logistics. We are our clients supply chain function but does what the client has to do in the most cost-effective and climate-smart of ways,’ he says. While working with the client, all Sonat employees have responsibility and mandate to transform their client’s businesses as one cohesive network. ‘We operate beyond the screens, and into the boardrooms, developing creative solutions with a clear outcome,’ Rundqvist explains ‘but one thing I have learnt over the years, is the important of bringing back the business challenges to the Sonat team at the end of the day, sharing knowledge and letting the competence in-house support any solution.’

Always reaching the given end-result is a key objective: after all, it is the trust in the goal that you and your team have set that makes all the difference. This spirit reflects the brand culture well, with a strong willingness to keep on going even when it is tough. ‘We never give up,’ Rundqvist says and smiles, ‘we are your best colleague and a service provider at the same time, the commercial viability of a billable hour is always a push for us to do better and more.’

Today, Sonat’s values all reflect a sense of openness. Thanks to the current demand of supply chain visibility across business segments, new intriguing models are entering the brand’s bespoke offer. Many of the largest clients have the ambition to be market leaders, including Swedish home improvement company Byggmax. ‘Partnering with us, the ambition is to be the best in Sweden, but to get there we have to create transparency across all platforms,’ says Rundqvist. The strength lies in the overall orchestration by Sonat, directly resulting in an improved customer journey. ‘Byggmax has set an ambition to better customer service both before and after sales and together we will develop a strategic network that will set them apart from competitors,’ he explains.

‘Today, we work horizontally and vertically, with a team that is trained to work on broad matters just as diverse as the client’s themselves,’ Rundqvist says: ‘that is where we want to be, adding services to a full spectrum of a product lifecycle from supply and manufacturing, to distribution and sales.’ While investments are often targeted at one part of the chain, Sonat looks at all aspects of supply management. ‘After-sales and reuse are areas we are developing as well, as the future demands us to produce sounder fulfilment services. We listen to the business needs at hand, and introduce new competences that fit the competitive landscape,’ he says and looks out across the floor.

The company’s agile adaptation includes realising how important collaboration and openness have been to both the work environment and the bespoke solutions made with and for clients. In the years to come, new solutions will flourish. ‘For the last twenty years we have grown steadily as a team, accumulating knowledge and expertise that is unprecedented in the market,’ says Rundqvist, ‘Early on, we placed great importance on being an excellent employee, sharing knowledge and constant creative development.’ Sonat is proof his twenty-year-old collaborative philosophies – and forward-thinking supply architecture – have stood the test of time.