PALFINGER Japan – a strong showing for EPSILON

To mark the official launch of the new PALFINGER organisation in Japan, Keita Aoyama (PALFINGER Japan) and Makoto Ishikawa (Maruma Technica) spent a week at the EPSILON innovation centre in Elsbethen near Salzburg.
Here, they attended an intensive and, above all, practice-oriented training programme at EPSILON. In addition to the already well-known benefits of the EPSILON forestry and recycling cranes, they mainly learnt about the country-specific innovations specially designed to cater for the increased market presence in the world's fourth-largest island state.

Market-specific developments for the benefit of customers

One such feature is the servicing of a new, more compact hose finisher with a threaded connection, which will allow for shorter hose assemblies. This was implemented in response to, firstly, local requirements and, secondly, the needs of the islands' residents. The lower seats with shorter seating surfaces also ensure ergonomic seating positions for smaller drivers.
Customers are also increasingly demanding greater protection against adverse weather conditions. Therefore, in response to this often-expressed customer request, the mechanical EPSCAB cabin was unveiled for the first time ever to a large, non-European audience at this year's N-Expo in Tokyo, Japan's biggest recycling trade fair. The trade fair presence, organised by Maruma Technica, this year focused on products designed to allow safe and comfortable working conditions over the winter months and showcased, in addition to the enhanced M120Z88 crane, the optimised M110Z96 CAM together with the mechanically controlled EPSCAB.

Good service is just as important as innovation

With all this customer-oriented innovation, it quickly becomes clear why the local employee training concept also needed to be adapted and intensified. After all, for PALFINGER, the key thing is that the employees can fully deploy their know-how in time for the market launch and so give the right answers to customer queries.

Next stop: the PALFINGER service team goes to Japan

To achieve this ambitious aim, the training programme will of course be rigorously pursued in the future, too. Following an initial introduction at EPSILON and intensive, individual training for the two engineers, they are now required to lead further in-house training sessions in Japan, thereby giving them the opportunity to instantly apply and communicate their new-found knowledge.
The next training cycle is meanwhile scheduled for the second half of the year. The PALFINGER training centre team will be making a special visit to Japan to swiftly train up a large number of employees on the latest innovative products. This lays the basis for an innovative market presence in Japan. We would like to thank the entire Japanese team for their tireless commitment and we are looking forward to following future developments in the Land of the Rising Sun.