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XtraBlatt issue 01-2016

  • Text
  • Krone
  • Machinery
  • Forage
  • Straw
  • Farmers
  • Agricultural
  • Menschen
  • Dairy
  • Maize
  • Contractor

MENSCHEN PARTNERSHIP

MENSCHEN PARTNERSHIP Right up at the top of his sales hit list stand the mowers from 2.80 to 3.20 m, mainly as front/rear mounted combinations, or also the 3 m front mower, mostly without conditioner. Second place has been conquered by the Rotor self-loading forage wagon. But two BiG Ms are operating in his area as well, naturally for contractors. Krone has a 50 % market share for its round balers in Austria. With the big square balers, Erwin Bögl can sell a maximum of two per year. GOOD REFERENCES “In a region where traditionally strong competitor products were based it was difficult, in the beginning, to interest customers in buying forage harvesting machinery ‘made in Germany’”, recalls Erwin Bögl. “In those days we held a lot of demonstrations. After the first sale successes, I then worked intensively with reference customers. In other words, I always referred interested potential buyers to customers that already worked with Krone machines, a strategy that has brought very good results for many years now”, he says, pulling his reference list out of a drawer as evidence. In total, Land & Technik deals with around 1,000 customers in an area between Grieskirchen and Passau. Most are farmers, but increasingly contractors feature as well. Currently, the sales area is expanding, he says. Limits are only imposed by distance to workshops. For customers, this factor is important. Land & Technik is based at the Münzkirchen location and it’s here that all new machinery is delivered and where the used machinery is dealt with. This is also the location of Moser’s workshop with the Kasbauer facilities 6 km further down the road. Customers like their new machines to come straight from the workshop that will carry out the servicing. And this is what Land & Technik arranges. The Kasbauer workshop employs 14 and the Moser facility has a staff of six. Farmers in the Land & Technik sales area run units from 20 to 40 ha on average with a high proportion of grass and forage land and milking herds of 30 to 40 cows. Often, the farmers are part-time. And what’s the market like right now? “In years when the milk price is 40 c/l, farmers built new housing. Nowadays, with less than 20 c/l being paid, there`s not a lot of cash left over for machinery buying”, points out Bögl. Growth, on the other hand, is expected by him from the contractor sector. In any case, you’ll search in vain for worry lines on the faces of Erwin Bögl and his partners. In the past, there have also been problem years, reflects Bögl. But even in difficult times, this enterprise, unique in Austria and winner of an innovation award for cooperation, has the secret of survival. The target of the three partners was independence regarding service and sales. “And this is what we have achieved”, concludes Edwin Bögl, not without pride. 1 The highlight of 2015: meeting of 16 Krone Rotor forage wagons that had been sold over the previous two years. 2 Edwin Bögl works a lot with reference customers for winning new sales. 1 2 44

Franz Hohberger HIS 100 th BIRTHDAY The farmyard manure spreader Optimat was a best seller for Krone over decades. Its developer, Franz Hohberger, recently celebrated his centenary. Krone produced the farmyard manure spreader “Optimat” into the 1990s. In four decades, a total of around 200,000 units were pulled off the production belt. A real success story. Among those behind this success is Franz Hohberger (pictured 1st row, 5th from r), who celebrated his centenary in March. From 1957 until 1981, he was employed by Krone as master craftsman, and later special master craftsman. Together, the engineer Bernd Deupmann and Franz Hohberger developed the Optimat. Hohberger family members were joined by the Krone family in congratulating the centenarian, as well as many former colleagues. As special highlight, the Krone choir “Die Optimaten” sang a birthday song – performed live in front of an Optimat model that was especially driven in front of the Hotel Krone for Franz Hohberger’s 100th birthday celebrations. 45