OPERATIONS - A QUESTION OF SYSTEMS
r
operations
WHAT'S NewS Issue 6 June 1996
9
i
specialized team is already
^booking significant progress.
PThis business has grown from
around 25 percent both in
terms of exposure and income
to the current 40, and that in a
country where the sector is
relatively small. 'I estimate it's
between 5 and 7 percent of
GNP,' Roger Delcroix says. 'In
the US, it is about 25 percent.
But even so, we have still
managed to define a fairly
large number of companies
within our target group. And
these are the companies that
we are or will be marketing.'
The F8cA team sees itself as
the generalists in terms of
relationship management,
'basic products, like credit, we
khandle ourselves,' Delcroix
K:onfirms. 'But I think we make
extensive use of the specialist
expertise within the bank. Our
cooperation with the dealing
Jean-Michel Ancion
room is excellent and that
certainly helps in cross-selling.
Corporate finance is a
relatively young activity, but
we're all working on
improving the communication
between the two teams.'
EXPORT ORIENTATION
The same thinking also applies
for Jean-Michel Ancion and
his team. 'Our area of focus is
the so-called middle-market,'
Ancion confirms. 'We had
quite some exposure there
already. What we're trying to
do now is look more closely at
the quality of the companies
we work with. We have some
important clients in this
market, typically family-owned
companies, and we'11 certainly
continue to work with them.
But we've also come to the
conclusion that in our future
marketing we should be
focusing more on added value.
1 think you'11 see us marketing
more aggressively to export-
oriented companies in the
future.'
SELECTIVE MARKETING
Another area the middle-
market team is targeting is the
Port of Antwerp. 'Our
corporate finance colleagues
have become more active in
that sector, and we're
following them in,' Ancion
says. 'This is a comparatively
new area for us. But last year
we decided we would look at
the Port in a more structured
way. It represents a real
opportunity for us.' Other
mainstays of the Belgian
economy are also targets.
'Historically, we've always
worked with quite a lot of steel
traders, so you automatically
build up real sector
specialization. Metals is
another typically Belgian
commodity. We're in contact
with colleagues at London
Branch to exchange ideas on
this sector. Paper is another
area. Now we've got past the
name recognition
establishment stage, we can be
much more selective. And even
though this may be a relatively
small market, there are more
than enough opportunities for
us out there.'
If restructuring and revitalized focus are the key words on the commercial side, 'systems'
are definitely the hot issue in operations.
-JTTJ
n
Over one third of Rabo
Belgium's total 93 staff are
involved in administrating the
bank's activities. Operations
and P&O manager Albert
^fc.'oenen has seven different
^^lepartments under his wing -
money transfer, accounting,
back office, general services,
IT, documentary services and
Albert Coenen
internal organization. But
whoever you talk to, be it Staf
Van der Gucht of the back
office, Mare van Mieghem of
money transfer, or Louis van
Moer of accounting, or
Coenen himself, the topic on
everyone's mind appears to be
systems.
ATLAS IMPACT
This is hardly surprising. The
bank was recently the object of
a so-called Atlas impact study.
Essentially, what it meant was
that every aspect of our
operation was put under a
microscope,' says Coenen.
'The aim was to discover
whether the so-called
Rabobank Branch Module can
meet our specific needs and
requirements.' In fact, you
could say the jury is still out in
Belgium. There is a strong
realization among all the staff
that any system would have to
be adjusted to national
Staf Van der Gucht
requirements. Everyone sees
the need for a common, bank-
wide system. The discussion in
Mare van Mieghem
Antwerp focusses primarily on
whether this will actually be
the case once a module has
been adapted for every
different country, and on how
each department can prepare
for the future when no firm
decision has yet been taken on
what that future will be.
STABILITY AND
RELIABILITY
'I think we're going through an
uncertain time at the moment
in the sense that we're waiting
for a decision,' says Louis van
het beste kunnen beleggen. Vaak is dat in Luxemburg of Zwitserland, waar de grote portefeuilles beheerd worden.
De relatie met de klant is zeer persoonlijk. Het gaat niet alleen om bankzaken, maar ook wordt gesproken over de emotionele
gevolgen van verhuizen naar het buitenland of wordt geholpen bij het zoeken van een nieuw huis in België.
De klantnamen worden via de aangesloten banken verzameld, zodat het vermogen van bestaande klanten niet voor de organisatie
verloren gaat.
