Crown continues with investments in Europe to support future growth
Crown is expanding its activities in Germany with three new investments intended to enhance customer service throughout Europe. “Although the world market for forklifts declined slightly in 2012, we were able to further expand our business in the EMEA region. This can be attributed to the fact that in the continuing difficult economic situation, customers are constantly looking for ways to cut costs,” said Ken Dufford, vice president Europe, Crown.
New European headquarters in Feldkirchen near Munich
Crown plans to relocate its European headquarters from Munich to a nearby location in Feldkirchen where the company has acquired a developed commercial site. The move is expected to be completed by the end of this year. With this move, Crown is preparing for continued steady growth in Europe with a clear focus on meeting the needs and requirements of its customers. Since last year, the company has expanded its presence in Europe, opening service and distribution centres in Spain (Madrid), Austria (Vienna) and Italy (Milan).
Expansion of Roding production site
Crown has manufactured its products in Roding, Bavaria since 1986. What originally began as a production site for hand pallet trucks and components now consolidates Crown’s entire European forklift production for the EMEA region and other world markets. For the expansion of its Roding facility, Crown acquired a site on a new industrial and commercial estate, where the company is currently constructing a production hall and a three-storey office building. Construction is scheduled for completion in mid-2014. The existing premises will also continue operations.
“As a family-run business in the fourth generation, our goal is to establish long-term customer relationships that lead to partnerships built on trust and dependability. We therefore espouse the concept of vertical integration in production, enabling us to develop robust lift trucks with a long service life, as well as advanced technologies that promote our customers’ success,” explained Dufford. “A high level of innovation is an important factor for our continued growth. In 2012 alone, we launched nine new products, including the Crown SC 5300 Series three-wheel counterbalance, ESR 5200 reach trucks, ES 4000 and ET 4000 pallet stacker series.”
New parts and service center in Pliening
The new Parts and Service Center in Pliening, also near Munich, rounds off the trio. With this new logistics centre, Crown is tripling its available space. Beginning in October, Pliening now handles spare parts supplies for the EMEA region. From here, the company makes overnight deliveries within its European core markets direct to the service engineers’ vehicles or to final customers.
Dufford concluded, “With these three new investments we are creating the urgently needed capacities to meet the growing needs of our customers for viable solutions designed to advance productivity and lower costs.”
This claim is further substantiated with a string of awards, including three prestigious awards this year: the IFOY Award for the InfoLink® fleet management system, the “Best Product 2013” prize at this year’s LogiMAT for the new QuickPick® Remote and the Design 4 Safety Award at the IMHX 2013 in Birmingham for the WT 3040 pallet truck.
