LINDE HYDRAULICS The sound of success

A teamwork concept boosts profits for a Canfield motor and pump plant.
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
CANFIELD -- It's no secret when the sales staff at Linde Hydraulics lands a major deal -- they let their co-workers in on the victory by ringing a brass hand bell.
Frank Cobb, president and chief executive of the Western Reserve Road hydraulic motor plant, had the hand bell installed just outside the sales department and asked employees to ring it for sales of $25,000 or more.
And the bell has been ringing a lot these days at the Canfield facility, a North American subsidiary of Linde AG, headquartered in Wiesbaden, Germany.
Linde Hydraulics designs, customizes, sells, services and rebuilds pumps, motors, valves and transmissions. Its products are used in the forestry, mining, oil drilling and carnival ride industries.
Caterpillar, Deer and Tiger Cat are Linde's biggest customers, Cobb said, often paying $20,000 for a single new motor adapted to their specifications. Even remanufactured versions sell in the $14,000 range.
Records
Workers hit a new, one-day sales peak this month with a $500,000 Tiger Cat deal.
The plant reached an all-time monthly sales record in March, shipping more than $2 million in products. April sales were a little slower, but totals for the year are already 20 percent higher than last year, Cobb said, and May looks like it will finish even higher.
Overall sales were up 19 percent in the first quarter, while the industry in general saw sales drop 4 percent or more. In 2003 the local facility reported a 6 percent sales increase, while industry sales in general dropped 6 percent.
Cobb rewarded the plant's 51 employees for exceeding plant sales projections by serving up a New York strip steak dinner in April, and the work force feasted on barbecued chicken and ribs this month.
"I know I'll probably have to pay off again in June," he said, half joking. "We're already thinking about what we should serve."
Reason for growth
Part of Linde's sales growth can be attributed to improvements in the forestry and oil and gas exploration industries, Cobb said.
But more than that, the Linde Hydraulics president believes the plant's new emphasis on making employees feel more involved in the company's success or failure has boosted its bottom line.
Cobb joined Linde Hydraulics six years ago, but he began promoting a teamwork environment when he took over the top position in November 2002.
The first step was evaluating all aspects of the operations, looking for ways to reduce waste.
Enlisting help from sales employees, the company reduced travel and entertainment expenditures by 30 percent. Linde's North American sales force has bases in Chicago, Canada, Texas, Minnesota and West Virginia.
He asked workers to forecast product needs more carefully to avoid use of high-cost air freight, and the result was an 80 percent reduction in shipping costs.
Employee health insurance was another big expense. The company switched from a self-funded plan to a group plan with a major health-care provider and reduced its costs substantially, but the company continues to pay 100 percent of workers' premiums.
The bell and the celebratory dinners are also part of the effort to involve employees, or team members as they're known at Linde, in the success of the company.
Cobb writes workers a monthly newsletter reporting on the plant's sales and profits.
"Everybody here knows what our profits are," Cobb said. "Employees recognize that you have to make a profit to stay in business. It's a team effort. It's not my company, it's not Linde's company, it's OUR company."
Alterations
Linde motors and pumps are manufactured by the company's German parent, but local workers alter the basic models to meet customer specifications in the United States and Canada.
"There are maybe 3,000 ways these motors can be altered," Cobb said. "These are not assembly line positions; they require a lot of skill and experience."
Outsourcing of jobs to other countries has eliminated many industrial jobs in the United States, but it's not a concern for Linde's Canfield operation, the president said.
Linde AG already has a forklift plant in China to service its customers there. There's no way the local plant's work could be transferred overseas, he explained, because shipping would be too time consuming.
The globalization trend is actually an advantage for Linde Hydraulics, Cobb said. Its parent company is already well-positioned in Europe, so officials are targeting North America as a major growth target. Linde Hydraulics will be an important part of that growth strategy.
vinarsky@vindy.com