|
        
|
|
Executive Hire Show Review: Winning production Husqvarna Construction Products devised its Executive Hire Show stand to convey several important messages to our industry. It certainly succeeded, as Alan Guthrie reports. Promoting your company’s re-branding to one of your core customer bases is a big enough task on its own. As we reported in the last issue of EHN, Husqvarna Construction Products is the new identity within the Swedish Husqvarna Group for several professional products brands of building equipment, including Partner, Dimas and Jonsered. This was obviously a key message that the organisation wanted to inform hirers about at the Show. However, it also took the opportunity to promote a host of new products and accessories, to look back at important equipment milestones in Husqvarna’s history, and to give a real-life insight into the manufacture of one of the company’s most popular hire products. Some ingenious stand design was needed to incorporate the many different elements – so much so that visitors were handed a small map to orientate themselves and avoid missing anything. The most innovative aspect of the display was the mini factory set up at one end of the stand. This was staffed by Susanne Olovsson and Hans Svenningsson, technicians from Husqvarna’s Swedish production facility who flew over especially for the event. During the Show they assembled no less than 100 K750 power cutters to exactly the same standards as observed at the normal factory. Visitors saw how modular construction techniques help to isolate and reduce HAV, as well as the environmentally friendly benefits of the two-stroke engine technology employed. These are the first, and very likely the only, Husqvarna power cutters to be manufactured in the UK. After the Show they underwent strict quality inspection at the company’s facility near Gloucester before delivery to a long list of hire customers, including Brandon, Charles Wilson, GAP, HSS, Hewden, Keyline, Nixon Hire, Speedy and West Skelston Services, amongst others. The K750 addresses specific Health & Safety and environmental issues, such as HAV and emissions. A patented air filtration system extends service intervals and the exhaust muffler incorporates a larger intake system, allowing the engine to run 25% more quietly. Indeed, the K750 was the winning product in the Safety Zone at the Show. Nine nominated products from eight different manufacturers were displayed, and hirers voted for the one that had made the biggest impact on Health & Safety in our industry. Other areas of Husqvarna’s stand highlighted additional new products. The K650 Cut-n-Break has been developed for quick and economical deep cutting into walls. Featuring two parallel 230mm-diameter blades, it cuts either side of a segment of material, which can then be broken out by using the special tool supplied. Maximum cutting depth is 400mm. Several new floor saws were also displayed, ranging from the lightweight FS 305 to the self-propelled FS 520, along with a new diamond blade with kite-shaped segments, designed for fast cutting and low vibration. Also shown was the DM 230 hand-held drill motor, which has a water-cooled gearbox for longer life and can be used for wet or dry drilling. On another section of the company’s stand, fitted out as a hire showroom display, Husqvarna promoted a new range of accessories and workwear that can be sold at the point of hire, including hard hats, hearing protection, protective glasses, respirator masks, gloves, boots and other items. Elsewhere, several display cabinets showed significant Husqvarna products from earlier years, highlighting the manufacturer’s on-going development. These included the company’s original diamond tools from 1937, its first power cutter developed in 1958, and the first one-man chainsaw from the following year. These tools are normally on display at Husqvarna’s corporate museum at its Swedish headquarters and had been shipped over especially for the Show. With such a diversity of products and equipment to accommodate on the stand, considerable planning and co-ordination was required. This was particularly so on the K750 production line, where components were placed at one end and travelled through three work stations before being badged and boxed ready for despatch. The smooth running of the stand, from initial build-up until the end of the exhibition, led Executive Hire Show Events Manager, Alex Brain, to select Husqvarna as the winner of the Award for Exhibition Excellence. In scooping two awards at the Show and devising a truly innovative stand display, the company set a high standard for others to emulate. • T
0113
395
6850 Executive Hire News › Archives › March 2007 › Executive Hire Show Review › Winning production
|
