"We don't sell products, we sell solutions"

Customized options are extremely important for Linde. How long have they been part of the portfolio offered by Linde and Suffel?

Klaus Müller: We have always offered customised options, but demand has risen sharply in the past few years. They now account for up to 40 per cent of our new orders. This is because customers have to cut costs and optimise their processes – and they can do this by employing trucks and warehouse technology that are perfectly tailored to their requirements.

Linde is improving its 'Business Excellence' with the customised options process. Why is this revision necessary and what is the objective of the process?

KM: We need to make improvements so that we can respond to enquiries and process orders more quickly.

FC: It generally takes eight to ten weeks to manufacture a Linde truck, and a further six weeks for a customised option – assuming it is already available and doesn't have to be newly developed. Until now, lead times were sometimes more than a year. This was not in line with the market and it was, of course, difficult to communicate to customers. We are now aiming to deliver modified warehouse equipment, as well as modified trucks, from our French plant in Châtellerault in just 14 weeks.

What would you still like to achieve?

KM: Our aim is to become the best in the industry and to achieve a clear advantage over our competitors. We want customers to be able to optimise their processes. This is why, in future, we want to sell solutions, and not products.

FC: We hope that lead times will be significantly reduced and that we will be able to sell more trucks at competitive prices. If we want to secure customer loyalty through customised options, it is particularly important that we meet delivery times and ensure the reliability of deliveries.