hydraulik - HANSA-FLEX Hydraulics Canada Inc.

placement hose supply service for a large production
line to a rapid-response X-CODE system. More
than 500 different hose assemblies will in future be
carried within the X-CODE system. That will enable
the customer gradually to run down its costly stockholding
operation.
HYDRAULIKPRESSE:
Customers are expecting more and more from
HANSA-FLEX. How do you, as a system partner, respond
to those demands?
Christian v.d. Veen:
The rapid growth of HANSA-FLEX brings new challenges
on a daily basis. This is what we have been
finding. Misunderstandings sometimes arise with
regard to time windows and process workflows in
our hydraulics service partnerships. Customers expect
the usual fast response. Our task is to convey
a sense of realistic targets. It is simply a fact that a
cylinder repair involving replacement of the entire
seal set may be a lengthy job, as may the engineering
for a unit for which the construction and installation
work demands different time budgets than
for merely supplying replacement hoses. That is
what we have been finding, and we are working on
conveying those findings to our staff and customers.
HYDRAULIKPRESSE:
Could you elaborate on that?
Christian v.d. Veen:
We have to improve our system skills even more,
and optimise all our processes to that end. XLOGO
is a project by which the HANSA-FLEX head office is
making a conscious effort to shape the transition to
the company’s role of being a system partner. we in
the Osnabrück group are complementing the process
with our own initiatives, by offering training
courses at the branches to teach all the staff about
the new possibilities open to them. In that way we
will achieve the greatest possible benefit for our
customers.
ISSUE AUGUST 2008
Our rapid growth demands that we plan resources
skilfully, so that the branches remain flexible
enough to provide the rapid assistance customers
expect. Nothing must be blocked by the demands
of mass production. That is why we have centred
large-scale hose assembly production runs in
Bielefeld and Lingen, where we recently recruited
three new members of production staff. Expertise
in hydraulic components is provided by Helmut
Jahnert, who supports the branches. A permanent
industrial installations team is also an essential requirement
for the Osnabrück group, so as to keep
the FLEXXPRESS colleagues free and not dilute the
rapid-response concept.
HYDRAULIKPRESSE:
Are there any ideas about expanding production
operations?
Christian v.d. Veen:
At the Agratechnika 2007 agricultural show in
Hanover, HANSA-FLEX exhibited its products and
services as a system partner to agricultural machinery
manufacturers. We are undertaking collaborative
discussions with all of them, and we are also
IN CONVERSATION
familiar with the requirements of manufacturers
who are routinely bringing out new combines or
beet harvesters for world markets – those are the
kinds of dimensions to which we are adjusting in
order to provide our customary levels of service
quality in that sphere.
But let me make it clear once again: We are aware of
our responsibility in terms of our partnership with
our customers. We must always keep the promises
we make. Our goal remains to attain high levels of
customer satisfaction, and we are working inten-
In conversation: Christian van der Veen, regional manager from the Osnabrück group
sively on it. We are coming up with new ideas, new
concepts, and above all we are recruiting new staff
and integrating them into our teams so as to manage
our growth efficiently and safeguard quality.
HYDRAULIKPRESSE 13
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