Fruehauf is back at the top of its game
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Eighteen months after it went into administration, trailer manufacturer Fruehauf is back again under new ownership
Words / Images: Will Shiers
BRITISH TRAILER maker Fruehauf has been in the news a lot, and not always for the right reasons. The past few years have been turbulent to say the least, and with rumours and confusion abound, MD David Snodin is keen to set the record straight.
He explains that two months ago Fruehauf was purchased by Iain McKeand, and stresses that the new owner has no connection with former owner Wordsworth Holdings (which went into administration in March 2010).
The board now consists of chairman and director McKeand alongside directors Snodin and Terry Whyman.
Quality
Since the latest purchase Snodin has spent a lot of time on the road, visiting both suppliers and customers, and keeping them abreast of the changes.
He says the relationship with suppliers directly after the 2010 administration was dificult, but all are now supplying again.
“I’ve been listening to what customers have to say, and asking them what they want from the new Fruehauf,” he says. “Improved quality was the number one thing.”
Snodin admits that under the Wordsworth Holdings regime, the quality of the trailers was allowed to slip (when CM reported on its demise in March 2010, some customers reported issues with peeling paint), but this is something that the new management team has been working hard to tackle. He says one of the key ways this has been done is by improving the line of com
munication between the salesmen and the factory. In the past, new trailer handovers often took the best part of a day, but now that customers get exactly what they ordered, this has been reduced to about 30 minutes.
“Some customers complained about warranty issues, so I appointed a warranty manager,” he says. According to Snodin, the move has paid dividends, and “reducing some of the previous quality warranty issues has in turn resulted in a long term commitment for future orders.”
Sales
Another Snodin initiative has been to bring the sales team in-house, no longer using agents Newton Trailers or DG Taylor Commercial Vehicles. “But this decision is always under review,” he adds. He also rationalised the number of salesmen employed.
“The customers wanted to talk to people who knew what they were talking about. We now have the right sales team in place,” he says. The ‘right team’ consists of Brad O’Hara, who Snodin says is not only knowledgeable, but also well respected within the industry, and former MD of United Trailers Kevin Pell. “He has been instrumental in helping us to expand our product range.”
New products
As well as improving product quality, Snodin says Fruehauf has plans to increase its product range. He believes the writing is on the wall for tipping trailers, and says they will eventually be killed off by health and safety legislation. He thinks the future is in ejectors, blowers and walking loors, and these are all products that Fruehauf is investing in.
The company has recently launched a new design of ejector, which has side walls made from 50mm aluminium plank, doing away with the need for posts on the outside. Snodin says the resulting smooth-sided trailer is not only easier to clean, but vastly more eficient too. He explains that Wasteaway, which took delivery of one of these new ejector trailers earlier this year, has found it to be 1mpg more eficient than competitors’ products.
The future
Snodin says he is impressed that so many of the irm’s key customers remained loyal to the irm while standards were allowed to slip, but acknowledges that it did lose a number. But having seen irsthand the standard of the trailers that are being produced, a large percentage have now returned, he says. “Because of our customer-irst philosophy and quality improvements, we’re enjoying repeat business with customers such as Agribulk – it’s replacing its entire leet and we’ve got all of the business,” he says.
In Snodin’s opinion, now that the quality has improved vastly, it’s easy to understand why so many customers are returning. “There are distinct beneits to buying a Fruehauf. It has a number of unique selling points, including being the most robust design in the market relative to its weight. And it is lighter than the competition, so there are payload beneits. The residuals are high too.”
He believes Fruehauf has turned a corner, and is conident about its future. It has new products in the pipeline, has an eye on the European market, and an order book in excess of £5m from now until the end of the year. n