Born out of frustration
Convium was born out of frustration: frustration with the fact that the ‘solutions’ offered by others often turn out to be anything but. Others deliver temporary fixes that solve individual problems and leave you out in the cold if similar problems occur elsewhere. You deserve better. You deserve a durable solution that takes into account the 360-degree perspective. You deserve accurate analysis first, followed by effective procedural change, so that the technology you need to implement solutions follows naturally.
Needs of the internal customers
I started my career in 1993 at a dairy group as a technical buyer, lead buyer, and technical warehouse manager.
Straightaway, I was gripped by the needs of internal customers. All solutions need to deliver benefits to all departments — such as reduced workload. Only then are all employees in production, the technical department and engineering guaranteed to get behind them.
Proactive instead of reactive
Fast forward a few years, and I’m working for an MRO supplier (maintenance, repair and operating supplies). What struck me at this stage was the sheer lack of a proactive approach. Sure, I needed to sell products and services, but I was also expected to wait until customers themselves took the initiative. In effect, I was picking up the pieces only after customers found out things were broken. I couldn’t live with this reactive approach any longer: my customers deserved genuine, proactive help.
Convium can do better
In 2016, I set up Convium with a strong business model and plenty of startup capital. Initially, I focused on industrial vending systems: tools, safety helmets, gloves and so on.
However, I soon noticed that putting this into practice involved much more than simply linking a list of products to a list of employees. Once again, the interplay between all internal customers was the ‘make or break’ factor.
And that’s where Convium could show its true worth through an integrated approach for:
• physical product management solutions, for as many different product groups as possible • streamlining procurement processes
• supplier optimisation
