Around the offices in KION North America’s South Carolina headquarters these days, the word “complete” has become popular when describing what’s different at the Summerville location.
2019-09-16
In late spring, the management team happily announced what it had been working to do for the past few years: the industrial truck supplier was now able to offer a complete line of trucks to meet all the needs of its customers in both the North American and South American markets. No longer were they just a “high-end niche player” catering to customers with very specialized needs. “For the first time, we can now call ourselves a complete OEM supplier, able to offer customers any kind of truck they need,” beamed Michael Gore, Vice President of Sales for KION NA. Not only are they able to offer a more diverse selection of trucks to the local markets, but they can also offer customers the warehouse solutions of fellow KION brand Dematic.
“Because of the previous limitations, in terms of what we had to offer, we could not always participate in leveraging synergies and relationships with the other brands within our Group,” explained Gore. But that has all changed now. The sales experts at KION NA no longer rely solely on selling trucks when visiting a customer; instead they sit together with them and consult on the best ways to move a product from one location to another. It is now all about offering a broader scope of options and solutions.
Chimed in Vincent Halma, President at KION NA, “We think of it as having turned on a switch and we can now shine the lights on the latest and newest products and technology on the market, and we can also talk to the customer about integrated software for asset management and mobile automation. It means a lot more flexibility and ‘upgradeability’ for them.”
“For the first time, we can now call ourselves a ‘complete OEM supplier’, able to offer customers any kind of truck they need.”
“At our international key account customers, their purchasing departments are now global and they want global solutions instead of local ones. With our new complete portfolio, we can now participate in worldwide RFQs (requests for information)” added Gore.
When asked how important the teaming up of expertise and capabilities are to Dematic customers, Hasan Dandashly, President and CEO, commented, “Together, we now offer the most advanced range of equipment – from manual to hybrid to fully automated solutions – something that the markets over here have not seen before. In addition, the full fleet of trucks can be integrated with Dematic IQ’s software suite, including our Sprocket/Linde Connect solution.
Providing perspective on how different the world is for both KION NA and its customer base in both the Americas, Dandashly offered this: “Increasing product coverage of around 5% to now 85% in the overall warehouse segment, KION NA finds itself entering a completely new market in the industrial truck segment. With Dematic’s large customer base and a very solid automation and software infrastructure, KION NA can leverage both existing customers and prospective customers.”
With their vision for new local offerings now complete, Halmas summed it up best: “For our customers in the Americas, we are the warehouse!”
“For our customers in the Americas, we are the warehouse!”
