SAZI PUTS ITS ENERGY INTO NEW INTELLIGENT LINE
that did not involve racing competitors to the bottom on
price. Mr Borzoi explains: “The question we had to ask
ourselves was how we could create a non-price
commercial advantage with a simple machine like a dryer.
We decided that the answer was to concentrate on
reducing energy consumption. If our customers could
consume less energy, we knew they would save money. It
went down well.”
A full Intelligent line followed in 2007, but with the input
of industrial design consultants whose brief was to come
up with ways of making the new Sazi machines attractive
to look at and easy to maintain. In the intervening years,
the line has sold well, with clients reporting impressive
savings on energy costs. The numbers were powerful
enough to convince big Brazilian footwear manufacturing
companies, including Alpargatas, Grendene, Dakota and
Ramarim, to become clients. It knows it’s not the only
machinery manufacturer to have focused on energy costs
and to have made claims about the benefits it can offer. All
Mr Borzoi will say about the competition is that clients that
are truly in the know can see through rebranding exercises,
which he feels in the worst cases involve little more than
adding a dynamic-sounding word to a product’s name and,
perhaps, painting it a different colour. Some clients
became convinced after carrying out a series of detailed
tests to compare energy consumption between machines
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In 2006, Sazi decided it could differentiate itself not on the
price of its products, but on the energy savings they can deliver
for user organisations.
CREDIT: WTP