Sequential, customised success

The Schwarzmeuller Group is a global company and one of the largest ‘one-stop’ suppliers of premium commercial vehicles in Europe. It continues to see strong growth particularly in the long-haul sector and is leading the field in its ability to produce tailor-made, highly efficient and cost-effective commercial vehicles. The introduction of ‘sequencing’ has added to the company’s competitive edge. Philip Yorke reports.

The Schwarzmeuller Group was founded in the late 19th century as a blacksmith’s workshop in Austria. It has grown to become a global, broad range supplier of commercial vehicles and is still owned by the same family that started the business over 140 years ago. Throughout the Group’s long history, it has been renowned for its notable innovative solutions and ability to produce well engineered, reliable and cost-effective commercial vehicles.

The most important sectors for Schwarzmeuller’s Commercial vehicles are those of long-distance transport, the construction and

oil industries, and the recycling and timber industries. The company continues to see double-digit growth and projected sales volumes this year are expected to top 9,500 vehicles.

The Schwarzmeuller Group currently employs more than 2,200 people and in 2016 recorded sales of over 340 million euros. In addition to state-of-the-art production facilities in Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary, the company has a pan-European service support network of more than 350 sites.

Growth in product customisation

Almost two thirds of all the commercial vehicles manufactured by the Schwarzrmeuller Group involve customised design and assembly. This figure represented around 5,500 vehicles in 2016. At a recent press conference held in Hanover, Germany, the Group’s CEO, Roland Hartwig said, “A vehicle isn’t customised for cosmetic reasons. Optimising a vehicle for a particular application makes it more cost-effective”

For Schwarzmeuller, ‘customising’ means more than selecting from a range of standard fittings. It involves specific features that are required by the customer and require additional engineering work. Even the company’s standard range of vehicles includes eight product groups with 135 different types of vehicle.

Hartwig gives the example of an extendable low-loader that was created as a prototype in close cooperation with the customer and subsequently formed the basis for a wide range of low loader applications. Schwarzmeuller vehicles are typified by their light-weight construction, great flexibility in the range of possible applications, robust construction and driver safety. “Our aim is to provide our customers with the best vehicle for each working environment” added Hartwig.

Increasing market share

During its last fiscal year, Schwarzmeuller improved its sales volumes in every major market that it serves. In Austria its market share was significantly enhanced, with Germany seeing very strong growth and a 20 per cent increase in sales over 2015. However sales in Italy confounded predictions with a massive 50 per cent increase compared to 2015 figures.

At the same time, more vehicles were produced in 2016 for the construction industry, mainly tippers, but also low loaders. Germany was the company’s focus market in which many construction vehicles including the box-body semi-trailer, was specifically created for the German market.

Record investments

The Schwarzmeuller Group plans a record investment of more than 9 million euros in 2017. In the current planning phase, running up to 2020, the group will have invested a total of over €30 million. These investments will be utilised to further automate manufacturing processes and introduce smarter production-flexibility options at the three European production sites.

Furthermore, the company is building a new, purpose-built spare parts centre in Wels. Hartwig also announced at the Hanover conference that the number of vehicles manufactured annually, will increase from almost 9,000 in 2016 to over 9,500 in 2017, which represents an increase of 7 per cent. This year Hartwig also plans to achieve a turnover of €380 million, which is an increase of 11 per cent over the previous year.

The company predicts that the proportion of customised vehicles produced will grow significantly to reflect market demand, with a rise form 60 to 80 per cent by the end of the current 2020 strategy period.

As the innovation and technology leader in the premium market, the company sets the benchmarks and is considered to be the manufacturer of choice for customised transportation solutions.

Sequencing means greater efficiency

At the Schwarzmeuller Group, sequencing is the new production model. Hartwig explained, “We are switching to a very modern but very complex production model that will allow us to produce customised vehicles in considerably shorter throughput times.”

For the company this means massive changes to the manufacturing and assembly processes. The so-called ‘sequencing’ of the entire process chain is rare in the industry and is adopted only by premium manufacturers. The central issue here is the quality of the employees. It is increasingly difficult to find the right expertise, and therefore the company’s in-house training programme has received a major boost. Hartwig plans to complete the implementation of these significant changes by the end of the current year. n

For further details of the Schwarzmeuller Group’s latest innovative products and services visit: www.schwarzmeuller.com