Phil Clark National Service Commercial Manager and Matt McClurg National Service Operations Manager at FBS-Hörmann, tells Warehouse & Logistics News about the amalgamation of the Fen-Bay Services and Hörmann service teams to create one team operating out of the Welbourn site.
With the coming together of the Fen-Bay Services (FBS) and Hörmann service teams, what are the main changes that will take place?
Phil: The biggest change will be the relocation of the existing Hörmann service office from Coalville to Welbourn. That will mean that we now have just one large and experienced team – with over 102 service engineers, along with around another 30 installation engineers. They are supported by a back-office team of up to thirty-five staff. To put that in context this now makes us the largest service operation within the loading bay industry in the UK. This will allow us to provide a full 24/7, 365 days a year service and maintenance offering for all of our big key accounts, distribution centres but also for the retail market.
Our aim has been to put together the quality of the Hörmann product with the experience and expertise of the service offering that FBS have been offering key accounts up to date.
What does the amalgamation mean in terms of investment, growth and opportunities that may have not been available before and what does that mean for the long-term stability of the company?
Matt: For FBS it is definitely a step in the right direction. Not only does it increase our capability in terms of numbers of engineers and back up staff but it also helps in terms of bringing together the overall capabilities of the two companies. Importantly it makes us a better employer as we can now offer a more comprehensive overall benefits package for our employees. It also gives us the investment to bring engineers through the Hörmann training academy, whereas previously FBS used a third party resource.
Phil: If we are talking about the fundamental investment we are well on the road in terms of investing in our staff, the engineering and the training. Around four years ago Hörmann started a training academy which sets the standard that we want to adopt for our whole engineering team. It allows us to demonstrate, install, service and prepare all our products at our Coalville site. Since the merging of the two companies we have since added the following to our product offering; double deck lifts, scissor lifts, gates, barriers and perimeter protection. So not only can we provide a genuine full site service offering which is a full 24/7, 365 days a year, clients can now be reassured that the engineers attending have been trained to the Hörmann standard which is second to none.
How will the amalgamation affect the team but more importantly what will it mean for existing and potential customers and for the set-up of the new team in terms of size, service levels and levels of expertise?
Phil: There should be a seamless transition for Hörmann customers. For the past 18 months since the acquisition, we have been working collaboratively so clients should not see any difference with the on-site people, just a better, faster response. For FBS customers there will be little or no difference. FBS have always provided a very high quality service offering, being very proactive with their customers and quick to react. I guess there is always room for improvement and with the new set up we are certainly in pole position to make any improvements necessary.
FBS-Hörmann
Will there be a re-branding under one FBS-Hörmann logo?
Phil: Yes, Fen-Bay Services will be trading as FBS-Hörmann, which will go live from April 3rd. This will mean the whole of the engineering team will be in blue FBS-Hörmann workwear with the new FBS-Hörmann logo. There is an existing fleet of vans that will all be re-branded in the blue joint livery and over time that will become a standard platform. The building at Welbourn is currently having new signage installed all round. So, it is a 100% rebrand.
What is unique about the FBS-Hörmann range in terms of service team, specialist loading bay equipment, scissor lifts and perimeter protection?
Matt: Together with Hörmann, we are now a national service coverage company that can cover all assets across the board. From a product perspective, I don’t think there is anybody else in this industry that provides what we offer now. Whether it be Hörmann industrial doors and loading bay products, Transdek loading pods, mezzanine goods lifts, scissor lifts or perimeter protection systems.
Phil: Our phrase at the minute is from concept to completion and beyond. Essentially it is the creation of a new building from the installation of new kit and maintenance thereafter, but also the ability to provide tailored solutions to suit very specific customer requirements. Without naming customers, we are currently working with a major premium brand to look at their vehicles and over time, work to revamp and redesign their buildings, which is what we are doing with a number of their new sites. We are working closely with the client to provide solutions for not only now but also 20 to 30 years in advance, which our extensive range of products and considerable joint expertise allows us to do.
Would it be fair to say FBS loading systems are mainly for retrofit or legacy installation whereas the majority of Hörmann systems are for new build projects?
Phil: Historically, that would be correct. Hörmann are predominantly the choice for new build, with FBS being the choice for retail, and replacement end user works. Putting them together allows us to do both new build retail, big sheds but also the replacements for the end users. The collaborative FBS-Hörmann can do everything.
What sort of project advice or support are you providing for clients at the moment?
Phil: There is a major high-end retailer for whom we are going through a lot of revamping and replacement of products on their back-end loading bays. We are working with another retailer that is also doing the same, as their fleet has changed substantially from a fixed deck trailers to a moving deck trailers. We are working with a product portfolio of double deck lifts, scissors, telescopic dock levellers so that we can provide a long-term, cost effective solution.
We have other major retails clients who have acquired a number of older dilapidated buildings and we are revamping the entirety of those sites to suit their vehicle fleet. Between the Hörmann and the FBS team we are working collaboratively to support both existing and new customers.
Over the past couple of months we have be also been holding a series of Discover the Hörmann Difference days. We have invited clients into Coalville to come and see the difference we can make to their projects not just the product ranges they can source through Hörmann and FBS but also everything else that we offer that make us stand out from the crowd.
FBS-Hörmann
0800 533 5817
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