On growth trail after new line investment
Mar 12 2009 by Graeme King, The Journal
Tom Macallan, managing director of, Scmitz Cargobull, said: “The standard procedure is one product per production line, but now we are going to make five or six products, it’s not viable to have one line for each of those.
“This single line is a first for the company across Europe and a first for anyone in the UK.
“We have gutted one line and built a new manufacturing facility. Orders allowing , we could make 5,000 or 6,000 units per year.
“There is an impact on staff - some areas will go down in numbers, some will go up. For instance, we are expanding rapidly in the after market, but with being more efficient in manufacturing, we need less people there, but more engineering and technical staff.
Mr Macallan admitted the state of the economy made trading difficult, but said expanding into new areas gave Schmitz Cargobull new opportunities.
He said: “The whole market is very, very difficult, with Europe more difficult than the UK. We are seeing an average 30% downturn, but we have the chance to enter new markets with new products.”
The company’s new regional business centres have been designed to offer everything from repair and service of trailers to selling second hand units, refurbishment and sales of new units.
This single line is a first for the company across Europe and a first for anyone in the UK.
