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Leading the charge

DUTCH MANUFACTURING SPECIALIST, VALX, HAS BEEN ENHANCING ITS AXLES AND SUSPENSION PORTFOLIO SINCE IT STARTED BUSINESS 10 YEARS AGO AND SHOWS NO SIGN OF SLOWING DOWN. THE OEM COMBINES THE FLEXIBILITY OF A RELATIVELY SMALL COMPANY WITH THE MANUFACTURING POWER OF THE LARGEST AXLE BUILDER IN THE WORLD.

Fleets across Europe are turning to VALX for durable, state-of-the-art axle and suspension systems.

VALX has reached an important milestone, its 10th anniversary. “Our axle has proven itself over and over again over the years and we are ready to take our business to the next level,” van Willigen said. “We have re-written our mission and vision statement and to be honest we only had to finetune it a bit to make it fit for the next 10 years. We still strive to offer the lowest Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) in the industry.” In addition to its core axle and suspension offering, VALX is committed to maintaining its market position as a leader in the electrification of axles and other components. “We were first to market with an electronic landing leg and an energy recovering trailer axle.” Since day one VALX has offered the option to assemble suspensions, brake cylinders and ABS for trailer builders. This, according to VALX Sales Director, Martin van Willigen, makes the supply chain leaner, enabling the business to ship axles directly from China and other parts of the Netherlands. “This process reduces stock value for the trailer builder because they can mix-andmatch components to produce specific trailer combinations,” he said. “This option is particularly popular in export markets such as Russia, Turkey and South Africa.” Looking forward, VALX has started working towards its 2025 strategy, ‘Taking Charge’. “The strategy continues to focus on VALX having control and accepting responsibility for our product,” van Willigen said. “It is the foundation of what has made us successful in Europe, and our loyal customers appreciate our personal, no-nonsense approach, which differentiates us from our competitors. Our mission is to save our customers money as well as lead the way with electrification.” VALX has set some ambitious targets for the following five years. “We cannot disclose any detailed information yet” van Willigen said. “We want to achieve our growth targets by further penetrating the classic nine-tonne market in Europe and diversify into other markets and products.” High on the Dutch manufacturing specialist’s agenda is its digital transformation. “We will soon launch a TCO Calculator to show how much end-users can save by using our product,” van Willigen said. “Later this year will also launch a Product Configurator. By answering only 20 questions the right product will be configured for the application, usage and area and the customer will receive their quote in minutes. We call this CPQ (Configure-Price-Quote).” In light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, VALX has adapted its operations well. “Axle manufacturing at FUWA in China was at full capacity early March and because we always carry plenty of safety stock, we were never affected,” van Willigen said. “Our operation in the Netherlands continued assembling axles and suspensions during the whole period. Our operation in Spain had to be closed for two weeks due to measurements taken by the Spanish Government.”