Oompah music, German food and equipment displays greeted visitors to Linder Industrial Machinery’s annual Oktoberfest celebration. This year, the events were held at the new branch facility in Orlando, Fla., and Columbia, S.C.
Large tents were set up for Linder’s suppliers to showcase their equipment. Outdoor exhibits included Komatsu equipment; Wirtgen’s milling machines, pavers, compaction equipment and crushing equipment; Etnyre distributors; and Atlas material handling excavators. A demonstration also was held of a Kleemann screening machine.
The event also provided an opportunity for manufacturers to explain the benefits of working with Linder. KoneCranes recently entered into an agreement with Linder.
“Our parent company, KoneCranes is known for the overhead crane business,” said Phil Stevens, KoneCranes. “We have about 60 percent of the U.S. market for that product, so now we are developing the lift truck division in the North American market. Overall globally, we are actually number two in the overall size of the business. We will probably build somewhere in the region of 750 units this year.” Linder is currently renting, leasing, and selling KoneCranes lift trucks ranging from 15 to 80 ton capacity.
Stevens said the support Linder provides is a significant factor in their business relationship.
“It’s a proper relationship based on the fact that they have invested in stock, so we can take machines out for demo and that means a lot. They have also invested heavily in the support side of things because without the support of the machines that can let you down in a big way in this industry. The support system is something Linder invested well into as well. I am more than pleased with the way things are going and the direction we are going into and we expect to grow the business into some other areas as well expanding along with them as they expand their business too. We have kept some areas open for that expansion to happen as well.”
Fil Filipov, owner of Atlas Crane, also took time out from the Oktoberfest to discuss his company, and how it has benefited by working with Linder.
“Atlas is a German company. It has three large manufacturing facilities in Germany. Around 500 people work for the company. We are producing articulated cranes and excavators from 14-ton up to 80-ton with railroad version of it, material handlers with wheeled excavators as well as crawlers.”
“Atlas has been around since 1919, 1918 in Germany,” said Filipov. “It’s very reliable brand. We are well known in the market. My business is mainly Germany and the Euro zone, so now we are expanding into the United States.”
Filipov believes Linder will help his company expand.
“Linder will mainly be handling the material handling equipment. Atlas has a full line of attachments, buckets and everything else that one needs for the machine.”
“We are establishing a very good relationship with Linder,” said Filipov. “They are a super organization. We obviously have to fight for our market share in the United States and we are establishing U.S. required machines, as we all know the U.S. market requires different safety and different configured machines, so we are really working very well with them.”
Linder’s new 22,000 sq. ft. (2,043.9 sq m) Orlando facility, located at 23 Taft Vineland Rd., sits on five acres and includes a service area with six bays. Two overhead cranes service each bay. The facility also includes a 3,000 sq. ft. (278.7 sq m) track shop, a full hydraulic shop with cylinder press, a state of the art wash bay, more than 5,000 sq. ft. (464.5 sq m) of parts storage and office space.
“We are very pleased to see the reaction of the customers to the new facility and the services we are able to provide,” said John Coughlin, president of Linder Industrial Machinery Company. “The complete track shop, cylinder press for hydraulic cylinder repair work, complete wash and recycling capability, the overhead cranes are all the features of a modern facility that lend themselves to meeting our customer’s needs. This facility gives us the ability to go above and beyond what the customer’s expectations are with our factory-trained technicians. The state-of-the-art tooling and facility allow us to be in a very aggressive position from this point forward.”
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