Not the usual stock response
April 1st 2007 Renouned for product quality in Germany,Hako's UK arm aims to double its turnover to 20m within five years.With three new floorcare models hitting the market, a team of 43 mobile engineers on call and a million pounds of spare parts in stock, the growth curve is steepening.Brendan Coyne reports In the last 10 years the Hako group has almost tripled its turnover, an indication that the German parent company is doing something right. Hako UK managing director, Stuart Taylor, puts it down to product quality. Most firms make the same claim, but Hako was one of the first in Germany to achieve ISO 9001. It designs, develops and manufactures in-house (including a very high percentage of component manufacture) and, says Taylor, is recognised as a "world leader" in the use of rolled PE plastic (consulted on it by the likes of Linde, Jungheinrich and even Porche). So what does that mean for the specifier and end-user? According to Taylor, it means the ability to harness years of development in genuinely innovative machines.He points to the new EMAScompliant B70 scrubber drier by way of example.Two years in the making,Taylor says not rushing 'just another machine' to market has allowed engineers to get the machine working optimally, from both an environmental and productivity perspective. The macines may be advabnced, but Taylor admits quality alone will fail to win customers."Thirty years of local service provision has taught us a few things: flexible packages, a rapid service response and the highest possible level of first fix are key to success,"he explains."We aren't as big as some of the others in the UK, so we have to be sharper because we're dealing with big businesses which expect 'big business' levels of service." To deliver it, Hako's relatively small team of 43 engineers needs rapid parts availability, which is why the company holds 1m (ie 10 percent of its turnover) in spares: "We can't afford not to fix it first time, that's what sets us apart from our competitors.," says Taylor."We have one of the highest if not the highest first fix levels in the market, despite being very honest with our first fix measurement." Quality product and service isn't a difficult concept, but it's surprising how many companies in every industry fail to deliver. Taylor says with a healthy parent honing the products and the UK arm delivering the back-up, Hako's growth targets are well within reach. Fortunate, then, that the building next door to its Northampton facility has just become vacant To find out more, call or visit cleaning-matters.co.uk and type the enquiry number below into the search bar to send your enquiry direct to Hako. B70 Scrubberdrier To meet EMAS (Environmental Management and Audit Scheme) requirements, Hako had to ensure both the machine's environmental performance and the actual production methods employed to build it are also eco-friendly.The result is reduced components and therefore more rapid, energy-efficient assembly; a paint process which produces zero harmful emissions, is sovent free and 100 per cent recyclable; and a machine which, at the end of its life, is over 50 per cent recyclable. In terms of machine performance, the B70 can clean up to 3,200m2 per hour – and does this using 25 percent less energy than previous systems. Hard wearing components also keep operating costs down. Finer details, such as the use of a neoprene squeegee (which lasts up to 16 times longer than rubber); nodules inside the dirty water tank to break up foam and protect the vacuum turbine; an easy to replace seal; aluminium brush head and fast brush changes thanks to a quick release system demonstrate the level of thought invested in the machine.An intelligent dosing system, brushes and water that stop when the machine is at a standstill, variable battery running time according to application and an on-board charger underline the wisdom of taking longer at the R&D stage. The B51 Battery Burnisher A cable-free, battery-powered, low-noise polisher, Hako's head of retail sales, Paul Sandiford, says the B51 is a "massive productivity"machine: "It cuts cleaning time by a factor of five, achieving up to 1,600m2 per hour – when our competitors talk about square feet – and its 2000rpm motor means you can achieve a low gloss over massive areas very quickly." He says a trial with a major retailer quickly became a sale when a 1200m2 polishing job that formerly took seven hours was reduced to one and a half. The 1800 LPG For large areas that need sweeping and scrubber-drying, the Hakomatic 1800 LPG combines both roles in one machine without compromising performance in either aspect. In sweeping mode, a powerful hydraulic sweeper unit with large main broom and two side brushes give a total working width of up to 1,920mm. When it switches to scrubber-drier mode, the unit has a working width of 1,270mm. It features a 380 litre volume clean water tank and 400 litre dirty water capacity. The maintenance friendly machine can clean over 12,000m2 per hour and delivers major cost savings compared with two standalone machines. More articles from Hako Machines Limited: | 
