Customers have more influence over products, and CTS grows closer to its clientele.There are numerous advantages to being a global company with offices close to the customer base, benefiting both the customer and CTS.
Responsiveness is a key initial success factor. Listening to suggestions from customers and forwarding them to production is crucial. If CTS only had its office in Taiwan, this aspect would be nearly impossible. With offices in Europe, where the largest customer base is, CTS interacts with customers daily. It’s through conversations with customers that many products are born, as CTS tailors products according to the customer’s needs.
If a customer requires fast delivery, we take care of it. If they want a unique version of a previous product, we handle that as well. This is possible thanks to our close relationship with our customers and our presence where they are. This is not always the standard, so we are pleased that we can meet our customers’ specific needs, says Martin Johansson, Business Developer at CTS.
One of the best-selling products in Sweden was shaped by Swedish customers’ feedback. CTS, for instance, considered the ease of installation for the customer, which is not always a given. Another prime example of this is the HES-5106 product, a service splitter for fiber with the capacity to handle 10Gbps. It was developed as a bespoke solution with a customer in less than nine months. This meant that this customer was the first in the world to launch broadband with a capacity of 10Gbps on a large scale.
How does the process work?
We find ourselves in a dialogue with a customer. The customer expresses a need for a function that is currently unavailable. We can almost always meet the customer’s wishes here. It can involve improving either the hardware or the software. CTS then develops an initial prototype for the customer to test before a full version of the product is produced, explains Martin.
This is a typical business for CTS. A customer wants a standardized product, but one that meets their specific and unique requirements. After that, we add features in the software to make it suitable for more customers.
So, with input from the customer, CTS can produce more interesting and unique products than what other suppliers can normally offer. Even though the products initially have a special design, they are adapted to fit into the standard assortment.
Subsidiaries make the products more European
Since CTS has a subsidiary in Sweden, the products are more adapted to society in this part of the world. Some refinements would have been difficult to achieve if CTS, as a company, wasn’t present in the same market and environment as the customer.There are many aspects that make CTS in Sweden crucial for the company as a whole:
The proximity to the customer and the language, above all. But also, here in Sweden,we understand the market better in both Sweden and Europe, compared to if CTS was only present in, for example, Asia, says Martin.
Flexible with delivery and support
CTS often has many products in stock. It also happens that customers come to Gothenburg to pick up their products directly from the warehouse shelf. Many times,therefore, the customer can receive their products quickly, often within a week rather than several months. CTS’s flexibility in moving around deliveries is, of course, also an important success factor. That they also provide their customers with support in Swedish and English further distinguishes them from many competitors.