PERSON OF INTEREST
FAITHFUL FOLLOWING Story by Dave McCoid
Photos supplied
Thousands have trusted their livelihoods – and probably lives – to the Ringfeder brand over the decades. We were lucky to nab VBG Group commercial director Niko Verstockt, recently in New Zealand on a whirlwind visit, for a relaxed and chatty 20 minutes.
H
e’s your typical tall, immaculate, welleducated European business figure, but like so many from his neck of the woods, Niko Verstockt welcomes a low-key and jovial chat. Fifty-eight year old Niko is VBG Group’s commercial director, and he was in our neck of the woods to celebrate the brand’s 100 years in existence and launch its latest and greatest coupling. “I’ve not done much travelling for the past two years, as you can imagine. In fact, this is my first big trip since Covid. I’ve been on the road since 1 July, and it’s now mid-July. The European airports are very stressed, but everyone here is far more accepting of the delays – and just calm.” Niko has spent the past 17 years with VBG Group but began his journey at Iveco, spending seven years at the company after gaining tertiary qualifications in Holland, majoring in truck-specific industrial automotive. From there, it was another seven years at commercial vehicle transport solutions giant HYVA Group, working in the loader crane division, before coming to VBG Group. “I live in Belgium. I’m
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Belgian by birth. Our head office is in Vänersborg, Sweden, our international commercial office and R&D is in Krefeld, Germany, and I am also responsible for the international warehouse in Beringen, near my home in Belgium. “It’s an interesting time in history to be involved. When I started, there wasn’t the international sense and feel there is now. The world has become a village, and I see similar strategies and developments everywhere I go.”
100 years in business In 1922, an engineer named Ernst Kressig, working at Waggonfabrik AG, developed a spring consisting of rings, which the company patented. In fact, the name Ringfeder translates to exactly that, with ‘ring’ meaning ring and ‘feder’, spring – therefore, ‘ring spring’. Back then, R&D work was all about railway wagon buffers – trucks towing trailers weren’t really a ‘thing’. Of course, the next logical step for someone dealing with the wagon’s buffers, were the couplers, and the rest as they say… By the time trucks boomed, Ringfeder was well
in the coupling game. Coupling in the broader sense expanded also, and it eventually supplied all manner of solutions, not just in transport but also in general industry – “anywhere a driving unit needed coupling to a driven unit with the need to eliminate vibration and shock – windmills, generators etc”. In 1997 Ringfeder was bought out by rival VBG Group. “It was truly a case of the midget buying the giant, but they had money to spend, so bought Ringfeder. “VBG was concentrated on the Nordic, Scandinavian, and UK markets – it still is in many ways. It is the market leader in those regions. “The company has three divisions: Industrial Couplings, MCC or Mobile Climate Control, and VBG Truck Equipment. MCC manufactures HVAC units with significant market share in the United States school-bus and military industries, as well as contracts with Volvo Group. “We say that VBG Truck Equipment takes care of everything between the chassis of the towing vehicle and the chassis of the towed vehicle. “Having said that, our automatic snow chains are gaining huge popularity in Northern Europe and America, especially the school-bus market.” At this point, it’s worth
a quick look at automatic snow chains. A horizontal wheel with eight short chains engages with the drive wheel, deploying the snow chains via centrifugal force beneath the drive wheels.” “It’s a really great system that does not require anyone to leave the cab. I’m surprised they’re not a standard fit in places like the ones mentioned above.”
What’s new? “The other reason I am here is the ongoing launch of the new couplers – in particular, for New Zealand, the NZ 50 BNZ MSD, with B designating long handle for this market; NZ is obvious, and MSD, manual safety device. New Zealand and Australia are the only markets in the world with the manual second-safety device being the little wheel that seats and must be pulled out to lift the handle. “There’s nothing worse than crawling deep under the rear of the truck with rain and mud dripping down your shirt. On the new coupler, the second safety is a kind of flip switch located on the same side as the handle. It’s still a twostage process but one you can do with one hand – just flick the safety and pull the handle. It’s also maintenancefree.” “We are also aware of more and more female drivers coming to the industry, so
September 2022
NZT 21
