18 July 2022, 11:02
In a time where making long-term forecasts and planning are hardly possible, JCB is not only successfully moving forward, but also finding innovative ways to get closer to its customers: this spring, the British manufacturer launched its first platform that gives clients the opportunity to buy JCB machines online, and made large investments in hydrogen-powered equipment. About all this and more, we spoke with Frank Zander, the General Manager of JCB Deutschland who shared with us his thoughts on what the JCB culture is all about and what is the next big thing that the company is working on.
Florentina Chiriță: You have been the General Manager of JCB Deutschland since 2013. How was the JCB journey been so far for yourself? What are the achievements that you are most proud of?
Frank Zander: My journey at JCB has been very exciting and the time flew by. JCB is very innovative and always working on the next big thing. You need a lot of puff to keep up with this pace, but once you get into it, it doesn't let you go. We have built a strong team and work hand in hand with our dealers. That's why I enjoy my job twice as much. I am very proud of how much the number of customers in Germany has grown and how many are now convinced JCB customers who are returning buyers because of their positive experience with our machines and our service.
The icing on the cake for me so far has been the move to our new German headquarters in Frechen near Cologne. Here, we give our customers the opportunity to test machines live, we have great facilities for events, and we were able to create optimal possibilities for our training centre. Our local employees also enjoy working in the new office.
Florentina Chiriță: Right now, the market and current political developments confronts the construction machinery business with major challenges…
Frank Zander: Unfortunately, these effects are currently affecting many sectors and, as a result, construction companies are of course also feeling the effects and have to pass the consequences on to their customers. Everyone who currently has a private construction project knows what I am talking about: uncertain delivery times, sharp price increases and cancellation of existing contracts.
We are currently in a period in which many factors together influence the market so much that long-term forecasts and planning are hardly possible. The poor availability of semiconductors, the long closure of the port in Shanghai, the price increase of raw materials such as steel – JCB uses quite a lot of steel – and the greatly increased freight costs due to the increase in fuel prices. All this affects us as a manufacturer not only directly, but also our suppliers and their supply chain. Production planning as we used to do is hardly possible with these many uncertain variables - and we as JCB still have the advantage among machine manufacturers that we produce many parts and components ourselves.
Florentina Chiriță: JCB offers a wide range of products. Do you see this as a challenge or a benefit?
Frank Zander: Both! And that's exactly what I like! We don't just offer our customers a specialized machine, but our machines accompany them in their entire daily work and despite this diversity, we are, for example, the market leader in the telescopic loader sector and, with the Fastrac, have brought a truly exceptional tractor onto the market, which is far from standard and is used in a variety of ways in different sectors. Innovation is in our blood - ever since Joseph Cyril Bamford invented the backhoe loader - but customer orientation is what sets us apart.
Florentina Chiriță: In addition to conventionally powered machines, JCB was one of the first major manufacturers to launch electrically powered machines.
Frank Zander: We set the standard for ourselves to be first movers when it comes to alternative drives. We are convinced that, depending on the area of application, the frequency of use and the application environment, there will have to be precisely tailored drive concepts in the future. For some circumstances, the diesel engine is still inevitable, but we see a very large potential for electric drives, especially in the compact segment, and in general the topic of hydrogen will gain in importance, especially as a drive for heavy machinery with high energy consumption.
Our E-Tech range is 100% electric with zero emissions, makes no compromise on performance and also makes much less noise. With the JCB Powerpack, we have created a way to charge these machines on site. Our Teletruk, a forklift truck with a telescopic boom instead of a vertical lift mast, and scissor lifts currently complete our range of electric machines. But we are far from finished here!
With hydrogen, we are researching another alternative type of drive ourselves. A hydrogen- powered JCB backhoe loader was recently used in the Queen's Jubilee parade. JCB has invested £100 million in the project to produce highly efficient hydrogen engines and currently has a number of prototype machines on test that run on hydrogen.
Florentina Chiriță: JCB has recently launched JCB Store - the online platform that allows customers to search and buy JCB equipment from their local dealer. What was the idea behind launching this innovative service and how has it been received by the JCB customers?
Frank Zander: Year on year, we are seeing a shift in the way customers interact with JCB, with more and more starting their buying journey online: 2021 more than double the number of machines being sold through customers starting their journey online. Many customers are not available during a “traditional” working day – offering an online solution allows customers to interact at a time which suits them. Furthermore, the next generation of our customers grew up, using Google and Amazon to search for products and also buy them directly online.
There is no barrier anymore. During Covid and the limited possibilities to meet customers in person, it just made sense to launch an online platform with a limited number of products. This step proved that there is an appetite for our customers to buy and interact online, we are therefore developing on this platform – who was recently updated to a new version - with a fully integrated dealer solution, starting with our machines for the construction industry.
Source: LECTURA Verlag GmbH