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Slow, steady and inexorable..
Page 14
Page 15
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"Our policy is to offer a product that': got the benefit of manufacturin: in numbers."
Ron Camfield
• Anyone who underestimated the impact of Schmitz' purchase of York's old larelaw plant must surely be regretting .1 now. A decade later the German manufacturer holds a 40% share of the UK -,-efer sector and has its sights firmly on 'Pe curtainsider market. Its plans for F iirope, never mind the UK, are certainly ambitious. Last year Schmitz' turnover f lit a record E654m, and it predicts that by the middle of 2006 that figure will have grown to €1.02bn.
Can it do it Schmitz Ca rgobull's UK sales and marketing director Ron Camfield has no doubts. "Absolutely. That's the group's structured plan—to focus on market requirements and the industry. This is not pie in the sky. Schmitz holds regular senior management meetings focussing on market requirements and what they're going to be in the future."
Astonishing
Even with his experience Camfield admits: "I find it astonishing. My background is in the service and rental industry, previously as group fleet director for CTR buying thousands of trailers, so my understanding of the manufacturing industry is pretty well developed."
The capital equipment leasing busi
ness is one where the sharehold crack a pretty mean whip. Howe Camfield stresses that the "jam tod mentality is a world away from Sohn' long-term approach.
"Schmitz is not concerned by a c dend situation," he explains. "It's bee 'Schmitz family company' for more ti 100 years and has the longest serv group of main board directors. We've continuity; we've had it for years—er the 'junior' directors have been with company for over 20 years!"
Schmitz' UK sales charge took when it bought Harelaw. Since then completely re-engineered the workshc and manufacturing process to the pc where its output is very close in specifii lion of a German product. And 18 mon1 ago it invested more than £4m in a n curtainsider line on the same site.
Schmitz' dividend' has been its 41 share of the UK reefer market. No me achievement, considering the state the trailer market over the past coui ears. "Trailer manufacturing in the has traditionally followed a seven* cycle of boom and bust. For the : 2-3 years we've been at the bottom he dip but now we're beginning to le out of it. We started to turn the ler this year and are seeing things le," Camfield reports.
gendary
I Schmitz has 40% who has the rest? ay & Adams, then the likes of itracon and the importers like reau and Lamberet—but that's it." It's sible that the legendary Scottish man;hirer may not have taken the original val of Schmitz particularly seriously. 'They certainly do now," says nfield. though he has nothing but
pect for his "G&A is a super prodand an excellent competitor. But where NIn is that we're a fully integrated menu.urer--the biggest in Europe."
According to Schmitz' own figures it that crown last year, having overen General Trailers in overall sales Jrnes, with KOgel and Krone following third and forth place. "That's etching things for G&A, whose custer base is primarily in the UK," s Camfield. "That's not saying anyig derogatory about them, but y are a UK manufacturer. The Schmitz ifer is an international product within trier Europe."
For the record, the UK operation ivers 10% of the company's turnover, The Schmitz reefer has particular benefits, he adds: "The Ferroplast panel design does give us a weight advantage, and we'll continue to engineer the product. No-one can say that their trailer is perfect: you have to constantly look at manufacturing and getting more from the trailer product."
While its reefer sales growth is undeniably impressive, Schmitz is now pursuing the UK curtainsider market—a sector where 90% of buyers are domestic hauliers. It's an issue Camfield is alert to: "The UK is the oldest curtainsider market in Europe and operators have the biggest experience of them. That's why we've decided we would build curtainsiders here. Our policy is to offer a product that's got the benefit of manufacturing in numbers, but also takes note of the local market."
Market research included visits from Peter Schmitz, board member in charge of engineering and product development. Camfield reports: "He put his welly boots on and went to talkie more than 20 operators including one-man bands and big companies to get an insight into what they wanted. We've come up with a UK product."
Production only started 18 months ago but Schmitz is planning to have a 20% share of the market by the end of this year. And while reefers still deliver the biggest profit per unit, Caulfield says the curtainsider market will ultimately pro duce the biggest revenue: "We'll sell up to two curtainsiders for every reefer."
Schmitz Cargobull UK aims to build up to 2,500 trailers this year; approximately 1,000 reefers and 1.500 curtainsiders out of a total annual market that's bobbing along at about 14,000 new units a year.
Replicate
Meanwhile, Harelaw is clearly well equipped to meet the return of the market—but if it booms, can it cope? "We have the ability to replicate exactly the manufacturing plant with the same again," says Camfield. "We are able to double our production of curtainsiders—we could build 2,000 a year now from existing facilities."
He's equally bullish about where Schmitz wants to be in five years: "We want to grow our market share...we want to have 40% of the market on ALL types." That's a gauntlet that Montracon, SDC, General Trailers and, of course, Gray & Adams are sure to want to pick up.