Sales of Kalmar’s new Contchamp Generation F and Contmaster reachstackers, introduced in September 2002, have outstripped the company’s projected sales targets in their first year on the market.
Per Rosengren, product manager of Kalmar reachstackers, said: “Both Contchamp and Contmaster have been performing extremely well since we introduced them last year. Sales are well ahead of our targets all over the world, exceeding our expectations by almost 40%.”
Rosengren said that orders were up not just in the traditionally strong European market, but also in the USA and Africa. Kalmar has received a total of 15 orders for the Contchamp Generation F in Africa, from bodies such as the Namibian and Kenya port authorities.
Meantime, orders have come in for the Contmaster from terminal operators in South America. Fernando Cruz, Kalmar’s sales & services manager in Sáo Paulo, said that in the past year his office had received orders for more than 25 Contmasters from a number of terminal operators in the country.
While the machines have brought in some new customers, Kalmar has also recorded a large number of orders from existing customers, including Sweden’s Rail Combi, which is now buying only Kalmar brand reachstackers for its operations. Cuypers of Belgium has ordered two Contchamps, while Unikai has also ordered two units for its river terminal in Wörth, Germany.
Seeking to promote the reliability of the machines, Rosengren said: “We developed the new models with inherent maintenance support in mind, so that customers would easily be able to undertake general maintenance activities themselves. The controls and diagnostics systems in the new Contchamp are easily accessible and easy to understand, which means that operators do not need reachstacker-specific skills but just standard technical know-how to service and maintain them.
“We’ve also been delighted to see that the machines’ performance reliability has been excellent. Warranty issues and after-sales costs have reduced significantly with the new models, which really does speak volumes for their reliability. Although it’s still early days, we expect this reduction to continue and look forward to the knock-on benefits it will have for our customers.”
Both models are equipped with low emission engines that meet 97/68 EC Stage 2 and US EPA Tier 2 standards. The Contchamp comes with a 12-litre Volvo Penta, which is also more fuel-efficient than the older 10-litre unit. The Contmaster comes with Scania DI12 or Cummins QSM11.
Service intervals have been increased to over 500 hours in the new models, resulting in increased operating times. This has been achieved by several detailed changes to the servicing arrangements. For example, the number of lubrication points has been reduced, the boom is now lubrication-free, and all servicing operations are undertaken from just one side of the truck.
The high cabin and the layout of all control devices are designed to contribute to better driver comfort and enable the operator to get more done during the working shift. Higher throughput is achieved via faster driving, operating and lifting speeds in all conditions.
