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ERF has the formula for customisation
Page 17
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With the departure of Foden manufacturing to Leyland. and ERF to Munich, you could be forgiven for thinking that the truck industry had totally deserted the Sandbach area. But there's one outpost where, although no actual manufacturing takes place, the skills acquired during most of the last century are still put to use. Colin Barnett reports.
II While the main part of the virtually brand-new ERF factory near Middlewich—five minutes from the M6 on a good day—looks for a new tenant as a distribution centre, one wing covering 4,500m2 is very much alive as the ERF Vehicle Modification Unit (VMU).
Operational since September 2002, the VMU directly employs 50 technical and five white collar staff, out of the 200 employees remaining at Sandbach. The remaining employees handle ERF sales and admin functions, together with a small engineering and materials team able to support the VMU. Manager Adrian Maddock answers to ERF's UK sales director Des Evans on the admin side, while technically the unit comes within the aegis of MAN engineering boss Dr-lng Karl Viktor Schaller.
The answer to the question "what does the VMU do?" is simple—anything that needs to be done to a truck between the German production line and the British and Irish end user, And, despite the ERF badge on the wall, and the fact that most of the staff are long-standing ERF workers, MAN products are as welcome as the local badge. The split is currently 7030 in favour of ERF, but that proportion is evening up.
The equipment available to the VMU workforce is impressive, helped by the fact that it had the pick of the manufacturing equipment left behind when production ceased. Among the facilities is a paint booth large enough to accommodate a fully bodied eightwheeler.
Capital costs
Much of the work is connected to the fact that the ERE brand still holds around 80% of the petroleum transport market. Many logistics providers are also buying Pet-Reg tractors for general purpose work.
While some may never be used with a tanker, the extra capital cost is considered worthwhile for the added flexibility. This type of vehicle was exemplified by a batch of tractors for TDG awaiting collection, together with some drawbar prime movers for Firmin Coates.
Many of the largest operators now require vehicles to be delivered on a turnkey basis, with full livery, taxed and number plated ready for the road, and this P01-type work accounts for a significant proportion of the VMU's throughput.
While the group's dealers have complete freedom of choice to decide where to source their conversions and modifications, it's no secret that the VMU's direct access to the factory's technical information—and to its component buying power—makes it difficult for third-party operations to compete. There are direct computer and CAD links to Munich, and all modifications are fully engineered, carrying the normal 24-month vehicle warranty. The relationship with OEM suppliers also means that conversions can be to full line-build standard. Just one example is that the VMU tits fuel tanks supplied by SAG, which provides tanks that are identical in construction to standard units, but for custom applications. As a result, a total of 880 litres of fuel capacity can be squeezed onto a 6x2 Lite tractor in two tanks. It can also provide dual-fuel and hydraulic tanks.
Buy-back deals
Not every vehicle is fresh off the production line, though. The versatility of the VMU means that used vehicles can also be handled. One example is that numerous 4x2 tractors, returning from buyback deals over a period that has seen the market demand shift to 44-tonne capability, have been transformed to 6x2 format with either 19.5 or 22.5in mid-axle conversions. In fact, axle conversions of various types are popular, with 150 Hendrickson 19.5in kits fitted in the unit's first five months of operation.
This just scratches the surface of what VMU does. Other work in hand durIng our visit ranged from prepping ER F's 'Christmas tree' CV Show truck, through fitting fully-powered dual-height fifth wheel couplings to installing chemicalresistant noir fitted floor mats to tanker cabs. The unit's stated target is simply to meet the modification needs of all MAN and ERF dealers, and on the evidence of our visit, it seems to be succeeding.