Miguel Oseguera and Matthias Kauffmann’s cooperation with Stihl usually involves sealing solutions for electric tools such as chainsaws. But their latest business discussions have focused on high-pressure cleaners – and put a spotlight on healthcare.
Miguel Oseguera, Global Segment Director, Power Tools, and Matthias Kauffmann, Global Key Account Manager, Power Tools, were puzzled at first. In November, they invited three engineers from Stihl, one of its customers, to visit the Freudenberg Sealing Technologies (FST) facility in Schwalmstadt. Upon arrival, the Stihl employees looked a little unusual: All three had mustaches.
It was for a good cause. Stihl is taking part in the global “Movember” campaign. The term is a combination of the words mustache and November. More and more men around the world have been wearing a mustache during the month of November as a sign of support for a campaign launched in Australia. Its goal is to publicize men’s health issues, including the prevention of testicular and prostate cancer, psychological ailments and suicides. The campaign aims to increase awareness of these problems. It also encourages men to stay alert to symptoms, treat complaints with seriousness, and take advantage of options available for early detection. It is similar to the “Pink Ribbon” campaign for women, which promotes awareness of breast cancer and solidarity with women affected by it.
Stihl enlisted its products in the cause, supporting the “Movember” campaign with a slightly altered title, “Mow-vember.” The emblem of the Stihl campaign is a lawnmower with a large mustache.
“Right after our meeting at the Schwalmstadt plant, as a sign of solidarity, I trimmed my beard into a mustache, even before our joint business dinner that evening,” Kauffmann said. That struck a chord with the Stihl employees. He and Oseguera were quickly invited to a “Mow-vember” photoshoot a few days later at the Stihl headquarters in Waiblingen in southern Germany.
A Feeling of Being Part of Stihl
By then, Segment Director Oseguera had also reshaped his beard for the occasion “On that day, we were scheduled to be there anyway. So it worked out great,” he said. “The whole campaign symbolized our tremendous cooperation with Stihl. We were the only outsiders who were invited to attend the photoshoot. The customer-supplier relationship is so good that we are almost considered to be part of Stihl.”
That comment goes to the heart of the relationship. With one of its new products, FST has managed to break into a business segment at Stihl: high-pressure cleaners. “Until now, we have primarily been providing Simmerrings to seal crankshafts in Stihl’s two-cycle motors,” Kauffmann explained. A few years ago, the customer added high-pressure cleaners for home and garden use to its portfolio. FST and Stihl has now entered a development partnership to work on the equipment’s second-generation – and has now been awarded the series-production order for u-rings with wipers as well as O-rings.
The new FST solution is a “typical Schwalmstadt hydraulic approach” with u-rings and wipers. It replaces an HNBR tissue seal with a separate PTFE backup ring from a competitor. “We are now providing Stihl with a single u-ring design, optimized for the application and made of a newly developed HNBR elastomer material,” explained Kauffmann. The advantages of the new solution include easier handling, cost-effectiveness, longevity and better performance.
The order could open the door to other applications for Stihl high-speed cleaners. The reason: The customer plans to enter the professional cleaning market. Here the equipment performance would generally be higher than for the consumer market. The sealing technology for professional equipment faces significant challenges – but FST already has solutions in hand that it developed for the professional lines of other customers. As for these other manufacturers, they could, in turn, benefit from the seal just developed for Stihl. This is where Sales’ ability to “cross-sell” comes into play.
