Frederick Persson explains Prysmian's plans for growth

The Italy-headquartered cable manufacturer Prysmian Group recently hired Frederick Persson* as chief executive officer for Australia & New Zealand. ECD Solutions speaks to the new CEO about the current market conditions and future plans.

Persson takes the reins at a time that is exciting and challenging for the cable manufacturing industry.

Nexans Olex, one of Prysmian’s biggest competitors, recently decided to shut down its manufacturing facility in Tottenham, Victoria, due to a high dollar and reduced demand.

Rising input prices, uncertainty in downstream markets and challenges surrounding the NBN have contributed to the uncertainty in the Australian wire and cable manufacturing market, according to research firm IBIS World. The research firm expects the industry revenue to decline 3.5% to an estimated $1.7 billion in 2013-14.

Cable manufacturers, like most other businesses in the manufacturing industry, may be under pressure but opportunities still exist.

What’s your growth plan?

We plan to grow the business through continued focus on power utilities, telecommunication carriers, electrical wholesalers and contractors, OEMs, the mining industry and petrochemical facilities.

It’s also important to have a customer-focused culture. We need to respond more quickly to customers’ requests for quotations. I’d also like to simplify internal administration, encourage people to take decisions and make sure we turn around calls faster.

In May this year, Prysmian was awarded a $44m contract by Ausgrid, for 132 kV underground high-voltage cables for the North Shore cable upgrade project. This contract came on the back of a separate smaller ($8m) related contract awarded in September 2013.

The NBN is one of our key customers. Prysmian’s high fibre-count ribbon cables are helping the government in achieving its goal of creating a fibre-to-the-node network that will connect 93% of the country’s residential and commercial buildings.

What are the key differences between the Australian and the Swedish market?

Compared to Sweden, Australia has a very export-driven competitive market that is fragmented and decentralised. Logistics is a big issue here - it plays a much bigger part of the game. The other key challenge is cheap imports - they pose a serious threat to the industry. While cheap price doesn’t necessarily mean cheap quality, the recent electrical product recalls raise concerns about the safety and quality of imported electrical products.

Do you manufacture locally?

Around 80% of Prysmian’s products are produced locally, and the company also has a design team in Australia to address the local market requirements. While we may consider increasing our imports, we see value in local manufacturing. It’s easier to maintain quality in the local market and there is also a lot of risk in shipping cables between continents. It costs money to produce and sell quality products and we are prepared to pay. We need to improve marketing of locally produced products and make sure our customers are aware what they are paying for is worth it.

What are you most passionate about?

In business, it’s speed - it’s important to be quick. And in life, I’d say it’s cycling.

*Frederick Persson commenced employment with Prysmian Group as CEO in Sweden in 2010. He was appointed as CEO of the ANZ business in March 2014. He started his career with a Swedish steel manufacturer, SSAB. Persson held various positions, mainly in sales, and progressed to CEO of SSAB, Canada. Persson moved to the stainless steel industry becoming the MD of the French wholesaler company IMS in Sweden. He has a degree in Bachelor of Science in Logistics, studied in Vaxjoe Sweden, in 1996.