“I like trying out something new and different to further develop Scania’s business and organisation with a rational and holistic approach,” said Eunjoo Chun, the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Scania Southeast Asia.
Scania’s New CFO Reveals Total Operating Economy Approach
Chun’s journey with Scania began more than 20 years ago when she joined Scania Korea in 1998. After 14½ years, she moved to Scania Taiwan as the CFO in 2012. She became one of Scania Southeast Asia team member in April this year.
“I am willing to do this in resolving multiple and complex situations to find solutions to make it happen through a balanced approach. I would like to continue to move forward on this journey in Southeast Asia,” she said
Her extensive hands-on experience in the automobile industry, not only in the finance areas but also in different big and complex projects in both Scania Korea and Taiwan, made her the perfect fit for the new position. These valuable experiences gained her a holistic perspective that enables her to bring creative and practical solutions that help the clients achieve their strategic goals.
Importance of TOE
“I would like to stress on the importance of Total Operating Economy (TOE),” she continued. “If we are in business for the long term, the way we make decisions must be for the long term. A short-term criterion is not sustainable for a long-term business. TOE looks at the long-term operating cost of a truck or bus operator and how much that cost could be lower in the long run.”
Chun realised that it was a process. She pointed out that some operators already had a long-standing relationship with Scania and seen how reliable Scania was in fuel economy and uptime. So, they knew about the best TOE they could get from Scania. Some operators asked about TOE because they were well versed in that way. Some operators only looked at upfront cost – these were customers that Scania enjoyed sharing the TOE perspective with.
“Well, this has to be done with historical data as the basis of the discussion. We could do that with the Scania Fleet Management System where we track driver and vehicle behaviour up to 1min intervals. The data is used to discuss the results that a Scania had given and how much more the fleet could improve.”
Chun sees no challenges but only opportunities in promoting the concept of TOE in the future. She said the future was already here – sustainability, urbanisation and digitalisation. These global trends fuelled the need for the best TOE. Any operation, especially in a congested urban area, would require all the digital technology to help maintain a sustainable operation for the best in moving people and goods reliably in the long term. Therefore, she pointed out that one had to have the right-specified Scania vehicle with the right Scania Maintenance regime, coupled with Scania Driver Training and Coaching based on the data from the Scania Fleet Management System.
Apart from TOE, she said the role of CFO was increasing complex. Alongside the traditional mandate to provide financial insights and analysis, today’s CFO was expected to have greater involvement in the setting up of strategies and operations as well as focus on driving the creation of value across the entire business.
“My immediate focus would be more on cross functional communication and motivating team members to enhance a well-functioning organisation. I would also focus on a proactive and accelerated approach to find a better way of capturing activities. To make change happen, I would have to repeat my message over and over again,” she revealed.
Sustainable Solutions Against the Odds
How would Malaysia’s slower economic growth and Ringgit depreciation affect the market and what would the company’s approach be? She replied that the business climate in the truck and bus market was volatile depending on the economic growth and government projects. In addition, the environmental awareness was getting higher and higher throughout the country.
“Scania is focusing on the shift towards sustainable transportation. To achieve this goal, we need to understand the day-to-day transportation and day-to-day challenges that our customers are facing and try to provide sustainable solutions. Without this knowledge, we could not deliver the total value of our products. We would continue to focus on helping our customers in maintaining and improving their profitability.”
Despite the current challenging economic environment, Chun remained optimistic that there would be steady growth ahead for the Malaysian truck and bus market, in line with the urbanisation, environmental challenges and increasing awareness of health and safety.
“The automobile industry has focused more and more on sustainable business goals and solutions, and Scania is in a strong position to lead in sustainable transport solutions. Our business in Malaysia has been developing in both truck and bus segments in a diverse and multicultural environment with differences in political systems, religion and culture. Our key challenge would be on how to manage the volume growth by balancing resources and profitability in the coming years. To contribute to the further development of Scania business in Southeast Asia, I would like to support our business process in a more systematic and efficient way to deliver profitability to our customers as a strategic business partner,” she concluded.
斯堪尼亚新任东南亚首席财务员谈总经营经济与计划
“我喜欢尝试透过新和不同的事物，以一个合理和整体的方式进一步发展斯堪尼亚的业务和组织。”斯堪尼亚东南亚首席财务员Eunjoo Chun表示。
她在斯堪尼亚已有20多年。自1998年加入斯堪尼亚韩国公司起，她一做就做了整整14年半。2012年，她转战斯堪尼 亚台湾，担任该公司的首席财务员。今年4月，她成为斯堪尼亚东南亚团队的一分子。
“我愿意透过一个较为平衡的方式解决各种复杂的情况，寻找能够实现这一切的方案。我想要在东南亚继续从事这样的工作。”她说。
她的汽车行业经验非常丰富，不仅只是财务领域，更曾涉猎斯堪尼亚韩国和台湾公司的大型项目，使她成为这个新职位的不二人选。这些宝贵的经验令她获益匪浅， 提供了她一个整体的观点，让她能够为客户带来充满创意又实际的解决方案，协助他们实现策略性目标。
总经营经济的重要性
“我要强调总经营经济（TOE）的重要性。”她接着说：“如果我们要做长期的生意，那么我们所做的决定也要是长期的。短期的标准对长期的生意来说是无法持续的。TOE看的是卡车或客车运营者的长期营业成本，以及长期下来该成本能够减低多少。”
她意识到这是一个过程。她指出，有些运营者已经与斯堪尼亚建立了长期关系，也看到了斯堪尼亚的燃油经济和高出勤率。因此，他们知道能够从斯堪尼亚那里取得最佳的TOE。有的提出了有关TOE的询问 ，因为他们在这方面做得很好。而那些只在意前期费用的运营者， 正是斯堪尼亚分享TOE的目标。
“当然，我们必须要有历史数据才能进行这方面的讨论。我们能够透过斯堪尼亚车队管理系统，每1分钟跟踪司机和车辆行为。这些数据将用来探讨斯堪尼亚的表现和该车队还能做多少改善。”
谈到未来的TOE推广，她表示只看到机会。 她说未来就在当下–可持续性、城市化及数字化。这些全球趋势推动了运营者对最佳TOE的需求。任何运营，尤其是拥挤的市区就会需要数字技术，协助维持一个可靠的可持续性运营，能够长期移动人和货物。因此，她指出运营者必须要有适合他们，规格正确的斯堪尼亚车辆和正确的斯堪尼亚维修管理，再加上基于斯堪尼亚车队管理系统数据的斯堪尼亚驾驶员培训和辅导。
她表示，除了TOE，首席财务执行员的角色已经变得愈来愈复杂。除了传统的财务见解和分析外， 今天的首席财务执行员往往被要求参与公司战略的制定和运营，以及推动整个业务的创造价值 。
“我的当务之急是跨职能沟通和激发团队成员，强化组织的运作。我也会积极主动地加速寻找一个集结活动的更好方式。为了实现改变，我必须不断重复我的信息。”她透露。
克服一切困难的可持续性解决方案
询及大马经济成长放缓和令吉下滑对市场的影响，还有斯堪尼亚的应对之道时，她回答说，卡客车市场的商业环境与经济成长和政府计划息息相关。再加上，全马各地的环保意识正在不断增强。
“斯堪尼亚聚焦于转向可持续性运输。为了达到这个目标，我们必须了解客户日复一日的运输和挑战，为他们提供可持续性解决方案。如果没有这样的知识，我们就无法提供产品的整体价值。我们将继续把重点放在协助客户维持和改善他们的利润上。”
尽管目前的经济环境充满挑战性，她依然保持乐观，并相信马来西亚的卡客车市场将因城市化、环保挑战及健康与安全的提升而稳定增长。
“汽车行业愈发重视可持续性业务目标和解决方案，斯堪尼亚在可持续性运输解决方案方面处于领先地位。在马来西亚这个拥有不同政治系统、宗教、多元文化的环境中，我们的卡车和客车业务一直在不断地发展。如何在未来几年透过平衡资源和利润来管理数量增长，将会成为我们的主要挑战。为了进一步发展斯堪尼亚在东南亚的业务，作为客户的策略性商业伙伴，我想以一个更有系统和有效的方式来支持我们的业务过程，为他们提供盈利。”她总结。
