Linde turns to face the change
August 7th 2009 The news that Linde will cease production at Basingstoke was grist to competitor's mills. But sales & marketing director, Andrew Daly, says the firm is facing market realities head on and focusing on improvement. Are other manufacturers doing the same? Brendan Coyne reports
The closure of Linde's Basingstoke facility, while hard on those now facing redundancy, was inevitable, according to sales and marketing director, Andrew Daly. "The industry has an over-capacity issue. It is not just Linde that is facing this problem because of recession. The top three lift truck manufacturers can satisfy the entire global demand through their current capacity in 2009. That's a big deal because in theory it means you have 20 plus redundant manufacturers in terms of capacity. Kion is facing up to that reality and addressing it.
"What we are doing, although it has been a very difficult decision – and a sad one for the people in Basingstoke – is an inevitable reaction. And were the market only 20 per cent down we would probably be doing the same thing… to ensure the continued financial strength of the Kion group. Kion and Linde are very committed to the UK, it's one of our most important markets. We are a financially strong group, our network is not affected and customers should take confidence from that."
Given that in the UK, 85 per cent of sold equipment comes from abroad, Daly claims that the removal of standard counterbalance production from the UK will have no impact on customers. In fact, he says the Basingstoke operation, now focused primarily on sales and service, can hone consistency throughout its 23 dealerships.
"We have the biggest network in the UK with 23 geographic locations and 1,000 service engineers – and I don't think we shout about that enough," says Daly. "We take it for granted but compared to the competition, that's a really strong asset."
Linde UK's ongoing goal is to improve that asset with better processes and Daly, who previously worked with Ford, believes the lift truck industry will benefit from the data-driven sales and services processes widely used in the automotive sector. So how is Linde going about it?
"We have implemented a simple sales management system which provides the sales force with information on the customers that are likely to be buying at this time, and which measures their sales efficiency. Managers are then presented with that information and can thereby manage their people in a data-driven way. We've worked with the dealer network to implement it, and it means we're contacting customers when they want to be contacted with a good idea of what they want."
A similar system is being implemented to ensure service engineers arrive with customers faster and more efficiently, enabling the most suitable engineer for the job to be deployed in the fastest time. Daly says these elements are just the beginning of a more data-driven approach, with all information linked, interrogated and fed in to the system to provide a clearer, more unified strategy throughout the country.
In other areas, Daly says customers have benefited from Linde's data-driven approach for some time. For example, its STRATOS software enables the firm to design the most efficient warehouse in terms of throughput and then recommend the most efficient material handling needs.
"We've been using it for years, but now we're shouting about it more. It's a very simple story to tell: We will visit your site, recommend efficiencies and reductions and show how it can be done. Why would customers not want to use it – in any climate but particularly now? STRATOS is booked up for the next few months, so customers clearly see the benefit." Among those who already have, are Somerfield and Morphy Richards.
Another way of cutting customer costs is through reduced accident damage. Daly says focusing on this aspect, particularly in recent months, has shown rapid results.
"By engaging with people on site, looking at problem areas and the root causes, we have worked with customers and their workforce to devise process improvements. And it's generated big improvements because accident damage costs a lot of money – yet it can be solved relatively quickly."
Used trucks are another area of focus. Currently some, but not all, Linde dealers offer the Linde Approved brand. Daly says the aim is to make Linde Approved a standard product throughout the UK network, and making national stock lists available through all dealers.
"Despite Linde's strong product brand, awareness of used trucks and short term rental isn't as great. So what we are doing centrally is creating customer awareness that we have used trucks and short term rental at competitive prices."
According to Daly, the approach is paying dividends. "Linde Dewsbury is piloting that approach. We've just done a mailer and received 120 phone calls in the first two weeks. So we're going to replicate that across the network, working with dealers and encouraging their input. Because getting people involved generates rapid results.
"Our whole philosophy is to make things better – and we're making progress." More articles from Linde Material Handling (UK) Ltd: | 
