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Page 10 November 1st 2010Email: warehouse@flame1.com THE INTERVIEW - STILL MATERIALS HANDLING LTDTel: 01923 272960STILL MATERIALS HANDLINGSTRENGTHENS ITS UK MATERIALS HANDLING OFFERINGTILL, one of Europe’s leadingmaterials handing equipmentSsuppliers with a wide range ofindustrial trucks for different applications,is celebrating 90 years of successfultrading, and continues to make majorglobal progress.Here, STILL has been making substantialchanges to its UK business in the last twoyears, which strengthens its market positionsignificantly. First of all STILL carriedout a major re-organisation through2008/9. With a new management team,they developed three key operating regions,bringing its sales and service aspects closertogether. As part of this, the integration ofthe DAC business - previously STILL’slargest UK distributor - into STILL UK provideda great opportunity to reach newcustomers. STILL UK now has comprehensivenational coverage, with localknowledge, supported by their exclusiveDistributor base.STILL’s broad-based product range iscoming into its own in the current climate,and in particular, the RX70’s economicalbenefits are hitting home to STILL’s customers.As a result, despite the overall UKindustrial market dropping in the recessionSTILL has been seeing an increase in itssales and market share. Nick Smith,Managing Director of STILL UK, spoke toWarehouse & Logistics News.WLN – First of all, Nick, what does yourrole entail as MD of STILL UK? Do you getinvolved in developing fleet solutions formajor customers? Who besides yourself isin the senior management team?I’m lucky to have a great team aroundme, with Steve Gerrard (UK Head of Sales),Steve Pearce (UK Head of Service) and JobKoopmans (UK Rental and Used Manager).I really enjoy meeting our customers andsupporting our team in presenting valuedcommercial proposals to clients. A largepart of my role over the last two years hasalso been to reorganise our business, bothstructural and culturally, to push ourselvestowards our strategy of ‘best in service’. Iwant everyone associated with our companyto feel they get the best service.WLN – STILL Group is celebrating 90years of history, a long time by any standard.Where and when was Still set up, andwho by?Hans Still founded the company inHamburg in 1920 as a repair shop for electricmotors. During the 1950s, Hans Stillwas quick to recognize that as the need totransport goods increased so to would theneed for innovative logistics solutions. Healso identified that it would need a strongbrand for every employee to identifywith so that they could continuouslydevelop efficient solutions for the customers.WLN - How is STILL doing globally?STILL features in the topbrands in the marketplace,andemploys over6,000 people inEurope alone.WLN - When was Still UK set up?Where is STILL UK based? How manypeople do you employ here?STILL began operations in the UK in 1978and today we employ over 200 peopledirectly. We also have five dedicated, wellestablished Exclusive STILL DistributorPartners, serving customers in their localregions.WLN - How does the UK fit into theSTILL worldwide picture? What characterisesthe UK as a market for your trucks?Whilst the UK market is both highlycompetitive and mature, nevertheless itsstrategic importance is clear, and thus ourcommitment to this market is crucial. Weserve a great number of pan-European contracts,operated from the UK, and our fullrange product offering ideally suits the UKmarketplace.WLN – Which UK industry sectors areyour customers in? Can you tell us aboutthem?STILL covers a broad spectrum of customers- that’s the beauty of having the fullproduct range! We are particularly strong inthe food and drink sector, along with 3PLorganisations. Our fleet range is particularlysuited for our partners to gain from ourtotal cost of ownership savings.WLN – You’ve been carrying out amajor restructuring in the UK. Whatprompted it at this time? Have you beenpersonally heading it up? Can you talk usthrough what’s been involved? Is it completenow?Yes, it is complete. I started the reorganisationin July 2008. It was instigated dueto our acquisition of the DAC business. Atthe time, we were making very severe cutsand changes, at a point when our competitorswere continuing to employ personnel.This created some market rumours,however I believe in taking a ‘quick knifeapproach’ to such changes. This enabled usto come through the other side quickly asthe market dropped severely. Now, weare growing and recruiting! Withoutbeing arrogant, we see many businessesstill going through the ‘bigchanges’, while we are now focusedon improvements to our customerservice and growth.WLN – DAC was previously yourlargest UK distributor. Do youplan to ownmore of yourUK distributionnetwork,or is there stilla role for independentregional distributors towork side by side withyou? Are you looking formore distributors?Well, first of all, 2008seems a long time ago!There was a need tobring DAC andSTILL together atthis time, which provideda great platformfor our development. Havingsaid that, we are very proud of our establishedexclusive distributors and are veryclear that they form part of our long-termstrategy, and are able to serve our mutualcustomers extremely well in their regions.We will not be adding to this portfolio, butwill be developing what we have already.WLN – Following the reorganisation,how would you sum up the Still proposition?Why buy a fork lift fleet from Still?!The re-organisation of our structurewas heavily influenced by our desire tobecome the company that was closestin contact with its customers and bestin service. All the changes we havemade have led to closer interaction withcustomers.We believe personal contact is key inboth sales and service. One of our mostinnovative and unique products is STILLReport - not a forklift truck itself but anonline service management package,bespoke to individual customers. So toanswer the question “Why buy a forkliftfrom STILL?,” it has to be for unrivalledaccount management.WLN – Which products are in your UKrange? Which are your best selling ones?Every customer of STILL benefits fromwhat is probably the most comprehensiveand innovative range of materials handlingequipment available from a single sourcemanufacturer. From the most basic handpallet truck right through to semi-automatedwarehousing equipment, STILL canoffer the right product for the right job. Atrue “one stop shop”!STILL are probably best known for theirhigh performance electric counterbalancetruck range but recently all the talk hasbeen about the RX70 with HybridTechnology.WLN - Why is the RX70 doing so well atthis particular time?Economic challenges have promptedcompanies to look at ways to save moneyand this is where the RX70 comes into itsown. Through Hybrid Technology thatSTILL developed and has used for manyyears, the RX70 is saving customers up to30% on fuel costs compared to their previoustrucks but the savings do not stopthere. Maintenance free braking, unrivalledperformance and long serviceintervals all add up to make the RX70 thetruck with the lowest TCO – Total Cost ofOwnership.WLN – Have you launched any newproducts in 2010? Can you tell us aboutthem?Investment in R&D at STILL is paramountto our future, and we have areputation for being the innovators.Exciting new products brought to marketin 2010 include the innovative, multi-purposeCiTi truck, an electric powered pallettruck with superelastic tyres for loadingand unloading vehicles in town and citycentres.2010 has also seen the launch of a newmodular family of Powered Pallet Trucksincluding the EXU-SF, which is particularlysuited for the UK market with its flip downrider platform, which offers unrivalled comfortfor the operator with its uniquesuspension, height adjustable side guardsand the “combi-tiller” which extends orfolds depending on whether it’s in rider orpedestrian mode.There has also been the Kanvan, a multifunctionaltruck that operates as atrailer/tractor unit but has the adaptabilityto operate as a fork lift truck with flip downforks and mast, and of course the newSTILL RC40 torque convertor truck,allowing our team to offer the complete”solution sale” and provide customers withthe right truck for their applications andbudget.WLN – Do you provide driver training?We offer a comprehensive in housetraining programme. We have our owndriver training centres, and have been successfulin providing training to 650operators at one of our major clients.WLN – Do you offer tailor-made trucksin small batches, if clients require them?Do you provide LPG trucks if clientsrequest it?We can offer customers bespoke specificationin terms of factory modifications. Wewould survey the application first to ascertainwhat changes from standard arerequired and give the customer professionaladvice in terms of requirements andtimescale.LPG Trucks are a major part of what wesupply, and are available from within theHybrid RX70 range and the TorqueConvertor RC 40 range.WLN - Do you offer related materialshandling services such as warehousedesign and racking consultancy?Yes we do. Clients invite the STILL teamto take responsibility for the site, and inreturn we plan for them the best optimisationof the space available.WLN - You claim to be ‘First inIntralogistics.’ For the uninitiated, whatexactly is ‘Intralogistics,’ and what doesyou being first in this area mean to the endusers?Intralogistics is a cutting edge termwhich describes the internal flow of materialsbetween different logistics functions ina company - from materials handling in theproduction process to distribution of theproducts as well as the corresponding flowof information.STILL are well known for offering worldclass products, and now that can be saidabout the innovative solutions we alsooffer including RFID, stock managementcontrol systems, semi automation andracking systems.WLN - Do you offer on-site fleet management?Is this side of your business growing?This is one of our major strengths: STILLhas its own suite of fleet managementproducts. We have the fleet manager fitteddirectly to the truck,allowing STILL andthe customer theopportunity to monitorand drive downdamage or as wecall it at STILL, 3D.It also allows us towatch utilisationand pick up on anyinefficiency withinthe operation. Ontop of this we havethe unique STILLReport System, anon line fleetmanagementsystem.Nick Smith, Managing Director of STILL UK.STILL Report gives a detailed look intohow both STILL service and its productsoperate on the customer sites. The systemallows all the standard KPI reporting programsthat everyone offers: what is uniqueto STILL Report is the facility to dig deep andanalyse all aspects of the contract. If there is aproblem then it will be shown in the Reports,which enables us to improve and continue tobetter our service to our valuable customersWLN – You offer a high quality both ofproducts and service. In the present climate,do you think customers are preparedto pay for quality, or is it a buyer’s market?Of course everyone knows the MaterialsHandling Industry is high in its capacity ofsuppliers, and you can buy equipment fromwithin our Industry at extremely low pricesfor the front end of the contract. However,you need to ask what is the true cost ofthese contracts? What I can guarantee youfrom STILL is a return on your investment.WLN – How do you think the UK forkliftmarket has changed, as a result of therecession?I’m relatively new to this industry, havingworked in Oil & Gas, Construction and so on, butfor me it’s clear that the days are over of marketshare dominance being the key to success.To survive now, we have to not only bethe best in service, but also understand ourtrue contract profitability. This means wehave to make courageous decisions andsometimes to walk away from a deal!WLN - What do you see as the mostimportant issues for forklift manufacturersand distributors?In my view, the industry is quick to celebratethe success of winning the deal, butthen puts far less energy into delivery of thecontract during its lifetime. We had a businesscase to make big changes anyway in 2008, butthe recession has focused everyone’s minds onlooking into the detail. It’s obvious that the daysof profit contribution from the sale of a truck hasgone, therefore we have to ensure our marginby sustaining our relationship with the customerthrough our service offering. The goal of highcustomer retention, partnership and mutual successis key to our strategy, and we are balancingour sales and service to work in partnership.WLN – Where do you see STILL UKgoing from here?We have been through all the bigchanges and are now focused on customerservice and growth. We have a great team,a service-focused culture, a great infrastructureacross the UK with Direct andDistributor coverage, and a newDemonstration Arena which opened inOctober at our Midlands Depot. At the endof October, we launched our new TorqueConverter Product, the STILL RC40. With ahigh focus on service and agreat productrange,STILL isnow wellplaced forgrowthin the UK.We arereally upfor it!STILL MATERIALS HANDLING LTD TEL: 01772 644300 WWW.STILL.CO.UK