MENSCHEN PARTNER A decisive part of service is excellent spare parts availability. Eric Bahle is in charge of the store in Cham. The silage harvesters also achieve respectable sales figures. A throughflow of machines for service that has given the 15-head workshop team in the dealership invaluable experience concerning the make. “Currently in our sales region there are ten BiG M and ten BiG X machines running, and we service them all. Also, because the greater proportion of the bought-in used machines are technically overhauled in our workshop there is very little about the respective technology that we do not know about now. For this reason, I see us now as a real Krone competence centre for the south”. Such competence is also appreciated by international buyers and telephone advice is called for from far further away than Bavaria. PERFORMANCE HAS ITS PRICE A good quality standard has to be paid for, however. Thomas Breu says this has to be propagated in local business deals, too. He takes his mechanic hours payment calculation as example. “I am in the happy situation of having a team with skilled members that are uniformly highly qualified and just as highly motivated. This not only applies to the workshop, but also in all other departments. This standard of performance needs a just reward and this means the dealership needs the appropriate margins in order to pay them. I see 70 Euro net per master craftsman hour in agricultural engineering as not too high. After all, the service is exactly what the customer needs and we have given enormous sums out for training and further education courses to maintain these standards. Just look at the charges in the car sector”, advises Thomas Breu who, alongside his farm machinery business also runs a car sales facility and is therefore in the position to make these comparisons 1:1. “We have clear arguments for the service charges and are quite willing to back those up. In the end, however, our arguments are widely accepted, at least mainly”, is his experience. On the same theme, Thomas Breu argues that other services, such as agricultural contracting work, would do well to consider charges to farmers. “What is 200 Euro per chopping hour with a silage harvester when considered against the real price of such a machine? What actually happens is that the contractor is partly paying for his own machinery operations while working hard for his customer. I am convinced that the future-oriented farmer also accepts this. In other countries, in Ireland for example, this has long been the case. There, farmers recognise that they cannot themselves invest further in mechanisation if they want to stay profitable. Therefore, even where I might appear to be damaging myself, I will not do business at any price. All of us in this sector have, after all, only a single chance if cash is to be earned”, is his credo. Further on the theme of cost pressures on the farmer and farm contractor, Thomas Breu thinks ahead in other respects – and identifies possible parallels to other sectors that could be followed. For instance, in the methods now applied with commercial vehicles or private cars. “Who can say what alternatives to purchase and credit financing might not be much more sensible? Full service contracts represent a top-class option in farm machinery too, where one is really prepared to compare realistic full costs. Unfortunately, many customers apply completely wrong dimensions here, to their disadvantage. Even the sale of defined usage units of a machine is imaginable, for example leasing on a hectare basis instead of an hourly one. I think that suitable solutions are available. It’s just that one must be ready to rethink the situation – and to consider everyone involved so that the calculations are financially viable for all. Here, the farmer still has many opportunities, but must be willing to consider them. I do believe that I can see such a rethink beginning. And that’s why I see a very good future here for the agricultural machinery sector”, concludes the Cham dealership owner. Under management of master craftsman Zangl, 14 mechanics and apprentices are employed in the workshop. 52
Krone-Holding SENIOR MANAGEMENT EXTENDED The Bernard Krone Holding SE & Co. KG expands its senior management team. Alongside current chairman of the board Alfons Veer (r.) and Bernard Krone (2nd from l. managing partner), now also Dr David Frink (2nd from r.) joins as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Krone Group businesses. Dr Frink takes responsibility in the group for strategic and conceptional development and operational areas (finance and accounting, controlling, taxation, M&A, IT/organisation as well as legal affairs and human resources). Through expanding the top management team, Krone adapts professionally to challenges facing the agricultural machinery and commercial vehicle divisions, especially with regard to the company’s increasing internationalisation and expansion. “We are very pleased to welcome such an acknowledged expert in the segments finance, production, logistics and IT as Dr Frink”, said company owner Bernard Krone. Dr Frink was previously CFO at Gerry Weber International AG. Following training in banking, Rhineland-born Dr Frink studied business administration, graduating at the RWTH Aachen University, before joining Schiesser AG and then moving in 2009 to Gerry Weber International AG where he was appointed to the management board in charge of finance, production, logistics, IT and personnel. EasyCut B 950 Collect LIGHTER BUTTERFLY At Agritechnica, Krone launched a butterfly mower combination without conditioner but with single swath collection via horizontal merger augers. Without a conditioner, the machine is substantially lighter and also less power is required and therefore fuel consumption is lowered. The new EasyCut B 950 Collect has 9.45 m working width and is especially suitable for mowing on slopes or on surfaces that cannot carry too much weight. In focus with this mower is gentle handling of forage with limited feed loss. Depending on crop and working conditions, working rates of up to 14 ha/h are possible. Notable ease of operation aspects come with the new butterfly mower combination. The driver can choose between three forage depositing systems: central swathing, extra wide distribution or partial width distribution, all selected easily and comfortably from the tractor seat and on the move. Robust 45 cm diameter merger augers are positioned directly behind the mower bar and transport forage loss-free and without damage to the centre. In combination with the EasyCut F 320 front-mounted mower, a very uniform swath can be formed. Exemplary following of field surface is guaranteed by the DuoGrip mounting system. On top of this, the mower combination is equipped with steplessly adjustable hydraulic suspension. 53
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