New products, new team and new confidence at Geesink Norba
By admin
The increased focus on the waste and recycling industry is leading to changes in the market – a development welcomed with open arms by Geesink Norba’s new UK Business Director Geoff Rigg who has restructured the business to tackle these new challenges.
Geesink Norba is part of the Oshkosh Corporation, the world’s largest supplier of products for the collection and transportation of waste and recycling materials. In the UK it already enjoys a substantial share of the market and offers the broadest range of refuse collection vehicles (RCVs) – from 7.5 to 32 tonnes – and several market-leading products. But with exciting new products currently being introduced and others in the pipeline, the company needed to change to take advantage of new opportunities.
Geoff Rigg took charge at Geesink Norba earlier this summer after eight years as UK parts and service director. His 21 years’ experience in the industry saw him start as a Technical Apprentice and have taken him through virtually every other role, so it’s hardly surprising that Geesink Norba’s new management team is made up of very practical, hands-on people with a wealth of experience. And the new policy of giving ownership of the business to those involved in it is already paying dividends.
“We’ve always had a great reputation for customer service but we’re still looking to build on our strengths,” said Geoff.
“The restructuring has helped us improve our service – for instance, our flat management structure ensures faster decision-making and our regional sales managers are taking on broader roles to become regional business managers, both of which help our customers get the best out of us.
“The whole team is responding very positively to the changes – we’ve actually enhanced the workforce and introduced several new initiatives which have helped improve the culture. And with exciting new products currently being launched and others in the pipeline there is a renewed air of confidence throughout the business.”
The new products include Geesink’s relaunched GCB 1000 Split Lift which, integrated with the popular GPMIII vehicle, provides greater efficiency than can be offered by third-party lifts. The first of these strong, rugged lifts are hitting the streets of South Lanarkshire now.
The split-lift now has an improved control system which will be introduced to other products in the months ahead and has already been incorporated into Geesink’s smallest RCV, the highly manoeuvrable GPM Mini rear loader, which can be mounted on some of the smallest chassis available for highly efficient, domestic refuse collection. The system allows greatly enhanced control of bin lift speeds and operating parameters and much greater user control of packing pressure and payload.
The Norba MF300 multifraction rear loader is also attracting a lot of attention as increased emphasis is put on recycling and efficiency. The two sealed compartments each have their own compaction and ejector plates for efficient, independent loading and discharge of recycling material.
They also feature the impressive Smart Pack System™ exclusive to Norba which allows control of bin lift speed and other functions independent of the loading weight. By automatically sensing how much pressure is needed to lift and pack, the Smart Pack System has produced the industry’s fastest packing cycles – and has the potential for very impressive fuel savings.
The MF300 can be combined with an MF50 multifraction pod – a rugged and flexible side-loading collector which fits between the cab and the body to provide a three-fraction collection vehicle. The vertical bin lift and two-piece roof are PLC controlled and the water-tight body enables the collection of wet materials while the high discharge position – 1.75m – makes unloading so much simpler.
In addition to these new products, Geesink Norba is expecting to start trials with its new hybrid diesel electric vehicle early in the new year which has already generated plenty of interest.
Geoff Rigg added, “It is an exciting time in the industry. With the public more aware than ever of waste and recycling issues, our customers and potential customers are looking very closely at the products they buy and the service they get.
“At Geesink Norba we feel we are very well placed to take advantage of this with outstanding products, exciting new ones becoming available and the structure to get out there and provide the best service in the industry.”
