![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/fst-sw-2023_3-1200sq_0015_logos-hidrover-stal.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nHidrover is the largest cylinder manufacturer in Brazil. Its customers include leading construction and agricultural equipment manufacturers. FST was only too happy to do business with this key supplier in South America. \u201cThe market in fluid engineering and hydraulics is very conservative. Customers mainly put their faith in tried-and-tested products. Hidrover had unfortunately been wedded to the competition at that point,\u201d said J\u00fcrgen Besser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Besser, Vice President, Global General Industry (GI), is responsible for business development in regions that \u2013 often for historical reasons \u2013 cannot be clearly categorized based on market segments in FST\u2019s \u201cGI world.\u201d \u00adSwitzerland, with its Z\u00fcrich Service Center, is one example. Another is Brazil, where FST\u2019s sales operations are located in a joint sales office in S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A customer focus and the persistence of local Sales GI employees Charles Santos De Lima and Juliana Gon\u00e7alves Veiga are the main reasons that FST was able to win a contract worth millions from Hidrover. \u201cWe were able to establish trust,\u201d Besser summed up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For one thing, trust was built up on a personal level with regular customer contacts and visits. For another, FST provided problem-solving expertise on a technical level. \u201cWe solved specific technical problems for \u00adHidrover,\u201d Besser explained. He also cited speed and services that extended to the commercial side of the business relationship. It certainly didn\u2019t hurt that the end-customer, John Deere, is one of FST\u2019s top customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reducing Costs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Speed, service and problem-solving expertise: Each aspect is a precondition for effective cooperation among local staffs in various regions, the Sales GI market segment and the technical experts at the Lead Center. This made it possible for FST to reel in another major contract in the same market segment, this time in Turkey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FST did not get the business in the first round with Stal (G\u00fcrmak), a manufacturer of gas springs for shock absorbers. The prices that the customer required could not be achieved at the planned production volumes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it was possible to reduce production costs \u2013 and the prices to the customer \u2013 at higher volumes. Instead of giving up, the Sales GI staff in Turkey \u2013 Sedat Yurdakul, Necmi C\u00fcheylan and Erdal Uysal \u2013 turned to market analyses and phone selling, meaning they contacted the potential buyers identified in the market analysis. It worked: They found other interested parties for the hydraulic seals and sealing systems that Stal (G\u00fcrmak) was envisioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The concept of \u201caccumulating production volume to reduce prices\u201d gained traction and was a factor critical to success. But it wasn\u2019t the only one. The order required an internal company partner to produce the hydraulic seals cost-effectively. This is where Freudenberg-NOK India (FNI) came into play: It produced the seals in Basma. Employees from Sales and the lead center, that is, from \u00adTurkey and India, jointly visited the customer \u00adin-person to take care of the technical and commercial details.<\/p>\n