Meet KLINGER’s Sales Partners!
The majority of our customers have already been in contact with our sales partners: Those are the companies who support us in marketing our products and promoting our services. All of them act as resellers, providing expertise and onsite services. Still, some of them go far beyond that, and market products they diligently manufacture under the KLINGER license. In this series, we bring a few of our international sales partners out from behind the curtain – to give you an idea of the important work they do.
International sales partners mean many advantages for our customers:
- shorter delivery routes
- faster delivery
- flexibility
- local production, cutting or assembly as a sustainability measure
- reliability even in times of global supply bottlenecks
- service in the local language
Contacts mentioned in the article:
Motion New Zealand Ltd, 1 Vestey Drive, Mt Wellington, Auckland 2022, New Zealand
Popular culture knows New Zealand for its striking landscapes and adventure tourism, but industrial experts see its deeper virtues as well: as an isolated island cluster deep at the edge of Oceania, this country excels at self-sufficiency. Mark Forster, Executive General Manager at Motion, points to the manufacturing industry as an example: “You don’t get vast quantities of a particular type of machinery, you get small quantities from every geography all around the world. You have to be a bit of an expert in everything. That’s why we’re so keen on keeping that product specialization, because there’s so much to know.” Brent Freeman, National Sealing Manager at Motion, adds, “We’re so far away from everyone that New Zealand has this attitude of ‘We can fix it ourselves.’”
New Zealand’s industry overcomes challenges
This independent spirit is clear in their sheer variety of offerings: with six brands covering a wide swath of engineering consumables and components, Motion has built a strong reputation over many decades. But when a long-term industry peer Terri Pomana, Country Manager New Zealand at KLINGER Australia and reached out, Motion realized they still had a gap to fill: gaskets. Their Seal Innovations division was one of New Zealand’s top providers of rotary and pneumatic seals, but their product portfolio was incomplete. As Mark says, “Partnering with KLINGER was a great opportunity for us to enter the gasket market.” With established customers across multiple thriving industries, including the petrochemical, wastewater, and agricultural sectors, Motion was perfectly positioned to offer a wide variety of KLINGER gaskets to the New Zealand market.
Just in time
According to Kevin Woolley, Managing Director at KLINGER Australia, the timing was just right when this partnership blossomed in early 2020: “We didn’t have the coverage that we needed. We needed somebody that could support our products, not just commercially and logistically, but technically as well. When I spoke to members of the team back in the early days, they knew their subject. It was an easy fit for us.” Brand-specific training progressed smoothly, since the Motion team was already well versed in sealing products. In turn, KLINGER remains responsive, as Brent explains: “We’ve had lots of technical inquiries, and the support we’ve had from the team in Perth has made us look very professional when dealing with it, and that builds customer confidence.”
An authentic fit
Motion and KLINGER each have a long history of superior quality and pristine logistics, both of which are key factors in this market. Because counterfeit product is an ongoing problem, traceability and failure testing are a high priority for New Zealand customers. A close working relationship allows these sales partners to ensure that only authentic materials enter the supply chain, protecting both customers and the brands. According to Brent, “The reason this has worked so well is because of the relationship that we have, being able to be open and honest. That’s what made this venture work well, and will continue to work well into the future.”
