atELiEr mÉcaNiquES
atELiEr mÉcaNiquES doStErt a comPaNy carEEr cLoSELy LiNkEd WitH PaLFiNGEr Ateliers mécaniques Dostert has served as primary importer of PALFINGER products in Luxembourg for 40 years – a success story written by a tradition of innovation.
CRANE Passion | Dostert LUXEMBOURG TECHNOLOGY TEMPLE: THE NEW DOSTERT COMPANY PREMISES FROM FRANZ DOSTERT OFFERS LOTS OF SPACE FOR SERVICE, SALES AND MODIFICATION. THE EXTENSIVE SPART PARTS WAREHOUSE IS LOCATED IN THE UNDER- GROUND HALL. For Franz Dostert, true meaning has just been given to the ancient Greek philosophical saying "everything flows". Special hydraulic solutions define his working life, which has closely linked him to PALFINGER for 40 years now. Ever since his childhood, the Director of the family business Ateliers mécaniques Dostert has been acquainted with the mechanical and hydraulic business of his family. So it's no surprise that the likeable company boss enthusiastically got to work as a qualified journeyman at the designer's desk and workbench in the historical workshop building located in Hunsdorf, a small town of 8,000 residents, when he was just 16 years old. At the young age of 21, he took over management of the company from his uncle who had fallen ill, and this was the year that the first PALFINGER crane made its entrance. Franz Dostert can still remember his first rendezvous with the Austrian crane very well. The extremely talented mechanics expert immediately recognised the technical finesse of the first PALFINGER crane and has since served as primary importer of the Austrian products for Luxembourg, which currently has a population of around 500,000. In the beginning, five to six cranes were distributed to the customers each year, whereas now around 35 PALFNGER cranes, numerous truck-mounted forklifts and hookloaders leave the historic halls in Rue Franz Dostert. Together with his son and Junior Director Charles, 35, Franz Dostert also deals with special customer requirements, modifications and chassis adaptations. PALFINGER has always been the designated partner of choice for the 61-year-old company Director. He believes that the Austrian-Luxembourgish alliance is unbeatable, in terms of both the technology and people. "The global PALFINGER family is unique. There is a genuine friendship among the dealers – it's not all just about the shareholder value!" says Franz Dostert, affirming the values of the long-standing alliance. Making an appearance at the EMEA Sales Conference in Luxembourg A partnership now stretching over 40 years links PALFINGER to our Luxembourg dealer Franz Dostert. Together with the fact that the Dostert company moved into a new building this year and that PALFINGER was optimally branded in a lighthouse project at the same time, this was reason enough to make an appearance at the 2014 EMEA Sales Conference in Luxembourg. The opening ceremony for the new Franz Dostert workshop was without doubt the emotional highlight of the event. In addition to a heartfelt speech given by Management Board member Wolfgang Pilz, old friends and employees gave their congratulations on the anniversary in the form of video messages. Hannes Palfinger and Management Board member Martin Zehnder were also among the well-wishers in the cheerful audience. Of course, alongside this icebreaker on the agenda, the three days of the event also offered a wealth of content and provided the invited dealers with current information about the markets, marketing activities, dealer standards and service projects as well as all relevant information for crane, hookloader, MBB and Epsilon products. Following an extremely compact and informative agenda, a social evening event in Luxembourg old town, a fantastic and above all productive event drew to a close in style. PALFINGER FAMILY MAKE AN APPEARANCE IN LUXEMBOURG: (From left to right) Martin Zehnder, Wolfgang PilZ, Hubert Meschnark, Hannes Palfinger, Franz Dostert, Felix Strohbichler. 15
