Nilfisk was founded in 1906 by the Danish engineer P.A. Fisker. Today the company is a world-leading provider of professional and consumer floorcare equipment, vacuum cleaners, and high-pressure washers and has a stronghold here in the UK and Ireland. More than 90 percent of sales target professionals, while the remaining 10 percent of the business is focused on consumers.
National Account Manager W&L Specialist at Nilfisk
Dean Warren, National Account Manager W&L Specialist at Nilfisk Ltd spoke to Warehouse & Logistics News.
What are your best-known products/solutions/services?
As a cleaning manufacturer Nilfisk caters across most if not all industry wide sectors. Nilfisk is a leading supplier of cleaning solutions in the UK’s Warehouse and Logistic sector and leads in the material handling division. Success in 2023 has been high, our best year yet and we look forward to watching a continued trend of growth in the year ahead. Nationwide service and maintenance solutions play an important part of why Nilfisk continues to grow in this industry with a compelling service offering. Partnerships with our customers continue to be strong, with trust; a robust product portfolio and sector expertise helps consolidate our customer relationships.
Our customer focused approach ensures we always have a full understanding of the customers’ requirements and applications and deliver robust proposals and tenders to match those requirements, offering customers peace of mind.
Nilfisk floorcare solutions dominate our product offering including Scrubber dryers and sweepers and we are now seeing growing interest in our industrial battery-operated vacuum systems, as well as autonomous floor cleaning solutions. All of which are available to meet the different demands of our warehouse customers’ needs, despite their company size.
How is your industry sector performing?
In the past 20 years Nilfisk has long been a preferred supplier of choice for the materials handling sector providing cost effective and innovative solutions with well supported service and maintenance packages.
Which industry sectors are your customers in and which ones are growing fastest?
All sectors where cleaning applications are required from vacuums to combination machines, robotic autonomous cleaning solutions – now a growth area addressing cost efficiencies and labour shortages. As mentioned above, the Warehouse and Logistics sector is performing well and is a leading sector for Nilfisk.
Which areas of your business are the best performing?
Floorcare and industrial cleaning solutions continue to lead across our product portfolio, and we see this continuing alongside our customer-centric product development and innovation plans for 2024. Our service and maintenance packages for national, regional, and local customers provide a unique and competitive offering which is second to none in the industry. The total up front commercial service and maintenance costs provide peace of mind, and operational control for our customers.
What sets your company apart as a supplier in your category?
Nilfisk has a diverse product portfolio offering a no compromise cleaning solution and leads the way with nationwide service packages across all segments. We talk service but more importantly we deliver against our service commitments and Nilfisk customers support this mantra.
What are your most recent product innovations?
The VHB436 Lithium-ion powered industrial vacuum. Promoting mobile vacuuming with a 2 or 3 battery version suitable for all warehousing and DC requirements. New innovations are planned in this category in early 2024.
What are the major trends and developments affecting your category and your customers?
Nilfisk has a modular range of ride-on scrubber dryers with a vast range of scrub deck types and sizes offering the customer a perfect size machine regardless of application. Incorporating Lithium-ion power technology where required continues to be part of the product development plan and is currently available across the floorcare range. With feature rich product functionality – including ECOFlex and SMARTFlow – technology supports our sustainability drive by reducing the depletion of the environment’s natural resources.
How were business levels in 2023 compared to previous years?
Nilfisk has performed well throughout 2023, and we are looking at positive commercial end to the year. In 2023 we have had our best sales year yet in the warehouse and distribution sector and we are already driving sales into 2024.
What is your strategy for succeeding in 2024 and how do you plan to grow your business?
Driving towards our sustainability targets is a long-term goal and is at the core of our business plan 2026. It is rooted in our business strategy and thereby integrated across all our activities. We strive towards sustainability priorities based on material topics, human rights, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Product innovation and development planning drives the commercial success at Nilfisk, our new generation of products will lead with sustainability and customer-centric innovation. Developing our service-as-a-business is a key part of the strategy which embodies our customer-orientated services and maintenance approach with products and customers.
Can you tell us about any areas where you’re currently making technical advances?
Nilfisk has committed to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and set targets to significantly reduce direct and indirect carbon emissions from operations, and emissions from the use of sold products. And the adoption of a circular economy model – reduction, re-using, recycling resources, and developing our take-back initiatives – taking back equipment at end of life supports our commitments.
Do you invest in staff training and development?
New and existing skills development is ongoing, our induction programme delivers a strong foundation to new recruits and Nilfisk University is our learning management solution that employees can access and add to their own training and development plan with an interface to managers to conduct performance reviews and grow opportunities, all of which are at the heart of Nilfisk’s culture.
What is the company’s commitment to social responsibility?
CSR plays a vital role in the future of our business. Our core ambition is that a systemised and cross-functional sustainability effort – in which we can do more than just comply with environmental policies and pressures but go beyond – is continuously linked to Nilfisk’s core business and strategic priorities. This approach allows us to create a competitive advantage, strengthen our reputation, strengthen our relationships with all key stakeholders, and support business growth. It also ensures we can build on what we are doing right, acknowledge what we do wrong and make needed changes, and challenge ourselves to be as innovative as possible.
Are you helping customers boost the level of automation in their business?
The adoption of robotic cleaning solutions including scrubber dryers are certainly impacting large area cleaning within a warehouse environment – high volume repetitive tasks taken over by robots are increasing productivity and lowering costs.
How future proof are your solutions?
Nilfisk are consistently releasing new products packed with innovation and driven by feedback from our customer base. Our customer-centric product planning process is central to future proofing our position in the industry.
What exhibitions are you exhibiting at in 2024?
Interclean 2024, IWLEX NEC 2024, IMHX in 2025.
How would you sum up your company in three words?
Professional – committed – quality.
NILFISK LTD
01768 868 995
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