|
|
|
|
|
  |
|
|
||
| A Force to be reckoned with When Landforce launched their range of woodchippers and shredders at the APF show in 2000 they promised a lot! A new British manufacturer in the market looked set to shake everyone up and seemed bound to make an impression, swiftly taking some significant market share. Strangely, this didn’t happen and the company plodded on for the next six years, achieving only mediocre sales. Now, with a new sales and management team in place and the phased introduction of a new range of products for the European market, things are starting to change. Euro Arb visited the company’s’ Grantham factory to see what these changes would mean. The first thing that strikes you when you arrive at the factory is the sheer size of the company, Wordsworth Holdings, of which Landforce is a part. The company operates a number of engineering firms under the group structure, including Landforce, Stanhay Webb and the recently acquired Fruehauf aluminium trailer manufacturing business. It is clear that the company has a wealth of engineering expertise to draw from. In fact it employs more than 450 people purely on the shop floor. So with the benefit all of this experience, and the obvious corporate strength behind it, why is it that Landforce machines have failed to make a major impression on the market? The answer probably lies in the timing of their market entry. If you are bringing out new products at a time when the market is very active, and back in 2000 there were over 30 chippers and shredders available, you have to be prepared to play a long game. In addition, the end users of the products were by that time well educated in what they were buying. It was, and still is, very much a buyers market. Another problem that the company had was that its products had more that just a passing resemblances to another well known British manufacturer, which led to some considerable confusion in some quarters. Sales were, shall we say, patchy! In the past six years Landforce have not settled for being simply minor players though. A constant process has been ongoing to make their products more reliable, better-constructed and great efforts have been made to promote the various models on individual strengths. This is now delivering some significant results. For the first time the Landforce range has its own identity and prospective clients are taking note of the unique identifiers, from the use of the Deutz range of diesel engines to the over-sized jockey wheels which were specifically added to aid movement by hand. This was as a result of direct customer feedback; the company listened and then acted. The new machines that are coming off the production line are light years away from those of two or four years ago. This is one factor that has helped the company increase sales, in no small part by adding extra machine to customer fleets and securing replacements from others. Another factor has been the realisation of how important a piece of kit the chipper is to the tree surgeon. It was this realisation that led to the implementation of the ‘4 hour promise’, Landforce undertake to attend to a broken down machine within 4 hours of that breakdown being reported. The imitative is being rolled out countrywide. Landforce are confident that their growing network of dealers and agents will be able to fulfil the 4-hour promise. The additional appointments of regional sales managers to back up these dealers and agents will complement the dealers, giving customers another point of contact. The company is also launching a number of new products throughout 2006. The roll out begins in April with the unveiling of the PTO range and the intention is to make two product launches at the APF show. Firstly, a new lightweight 6” machine will be shown for the first time, which will replace the chip 165 model; and secondly the Landforce stumpgrinder will be making its debut. It is also planned to launch later in the year a range of professional mobile shredders aimed at the local authority market, although at the time of writing dates could not be confirmed. The shredder project has come as a result of a close cooperation with Lincoln University, which looked into the various uses of waste wood including woodchip. The project looked at the processing chain in relation to composting, burning and waste reduction amongst other criteria. The company aims to continue this relationship, having gained much insight into the mechanical and logistical requirements in this area. After visiting the site and touring the factory it would seem that Landforce are ready to make the breakthrough and become a major player in the domestic market. Sales seem to bear that out. Increases month on month are being recorded constantly and product range is settling down. If you are in the market for a new machine, then Landforce should at least be on the list of those to try. Visit their stand at shows around the country; they just might be what you’re looking for. |
|||||
