In this issue of our magazine we introduce Macro Italy, a company that’s quickly marking its presence in the Middle East. Richard Hoepfner, Head of RHT-Consulting – the exclusive international marketing representative for Macro, believes the market in the Middle East or GCC countries has been dominated in recent years by a handful of brands and intends to change that by providing an additional choice with a superior environmentally friendly sweeper with unique technical features and excellent performance. He speaks about their business operations, expert solutions and services, and expansion and business strategies, in an interview with Clean Middle East.

Could you summarise the history of Macro since its creation to the present day?

Macro was founded in 1991, grounded on its founders’ experience in the field of electrical wiring and metal structures. Its evolution in the complexities of metal processing was facilitated by collaboration with multinational companies operating in various sectors. This led to significant investment in machinery and equipment, in order to guarantee very high precision and quality at lower costs in respect to manufacturing complexity. In addition to producing complex frames and metal components, an important multinational group in the cleaning industry also asked us for help in assembling the machines. This turned out to be an opportunity for Macro to gain expertise in resolving set-up issues relating to dies for plastic components, optimizing assembly lines, and advising customers on the best solutions regarding both execution and operation.

Could you tell us what led the shareholders of Macro, born as a metal engineering company (specializing in structural work, production and assembly of industrial plants), to produce, over the past two years and despite the crisis, finished products, that is, a line of professional cleaning machines? 

The expertise we gained in the production of finished machines, as I mentioned earlier, led the company to consider the possibility of creating its own products that are not in competition with its customers.

What were some of the first machines made?

The first machine was the M13 multipurpose vehicle, approved in its 5 basic structures in April 2009. Next we created the S30D, mechanical vacuum sweeper with computerized electronic controls and a diesel engine, approved in February 2010. Then came the model S30G, mechanical vacuum sweeper powered by compressed natural gas, approved in October 2010, followed by the models S45RS and RG, diesel powered mechanical vacuum sweeper with hydraulic controls, approved in July 2011. Finally, the Clever S01, the most compact scrubbing machine in the market with an onboard operator, unveiled at Pulire 2011 in Verona, in May 2011.

How has Macro established its sales network to work in the field of professional cleaning?

For the street sweepers, a market segmentation was carried out in order to find the best partners for pursuing focused sales supported by an excellent after-sales maintenance service, a necessary condition for establishing long-term relationships with key customers. For the Clever, our compact scrubbing machine with an on-board operator, which is beginning production right now, we will try to involve “classic” retailers in the cleaning sector so as to avoid damaging overlaps and creating pointless competition in the same territory, which would only be detrimental to the product and end up debilitating both sales and technical support.

Now that the first generation of agents and dealers in the industry is reaching the end of the cycle of activity, what difficulties did you face while creating the sales network?

To tell the truth, very few. Today, entrepreneurs who have been in the cleaning industry for years are passing on their experience to the “new recruits”, new recruits who are well trained from both the sales and the technical perspective. Every day they have to help their clients “perform” in order to maintain high levels of quality with ever more flexible and advantageous contract proposals for the purchaser of the service and/or product/machinery. Consequently, these young entrepreneurs have quickly realized the great potential of the Clever, a truly innovative machine that offers high performance at a very low cost. In addition, the decision to offer our machine certainly does not affect the loyal relations between the retailers and our competitors as the Clever is going to fill a gap in the current scrubbing machine offer. As proof we can refer to the numerous compliments we received from important colleagues during the presentation of this machine in Pulire 2011, something we found truly gratifying.

 You acquired expertise in plant engineering to provide customers with efficient and qualified assistance. Has it been possible to transfer this expertise to the professional cleaning sector?

Certainly, it’s in Macro’s DNA: The word “service” has an absolute value and therefore it is at the heart of every project.

In after-sales services does Macro have a plan to provide customers with scheduled maintenance or condition-based maintenance for the machine?

Scheduled maintenance is indispensable for ensuring continuous, full-value operative functionality, especially when managing street sweepers. Of course, to do this you have to start at the design stage, bearing in mind the technologies required for building state of the art machinery. Macro offers itself as a partner who can ensure both an external service and specific training for users: the goal is to keep the machines we manufacture in the best working condition. There are training courses and technical updates scheduled annually that are open to the technicians of our dealers and our major customers.

Is Macro focused only on the domestic market or on the international market as well?

We strongly believe in the domestic market, which often helps in difficult times such as we are experiencing, but without missing the opportunities that international markets can give us. Clearly street sweepers have generated great interest in all those countries where attention to urban cleanliness is growing, and goes hand in hand with the need to reduce air pollution: In these areas, our S30 sweeper, fuelled by methane with a particulate filter for vacuumed dust, guarantees outstanding performance. With regard to the Clever, which is a new concept of compact professional scrubbing machines with on-board operator, the interest is truly without limits.

Amongst its programs does Macro also provide training courses for sales staff?

Of course, and they are also scheduled annually. Training is the basis of success for selling anything, but when the competition gets tough (often due to the incompetence on the part of certain competitors for whom the thermometer of success is determined by a lower selling price) then preparation and competence are essential.

What other machine models does Macro expect to make, in the short term, to expand its catalogue?

At this year’s ISSA/Interclean, in addition to Clever in its assorted configurations, we unveiled two other scrubbing machine models which represent a complete innovation in the cleaning sector, reminiscent of what was done with the Clever. The new Snappy is a scrubber with a 100-litre capacity, and the other machine is Super, which is a ride-on machine with the same innovative features of Clever. We will continue to enhance or further develop the features of the S45 by introducing some of the positive features of our high-end S30 machine, but we will still remain competitive with the S45. We will also develop further the S30G, particularly considering the fact that in future all major cities in Europe will only specify CNG machines in their tenders, which will make it mandatory to offer only CNG models. We are on track to introduce new developments and are looking at alternative drive systems such as the efficient and versatile electric drive system.

Tell us about your activities in the Middle East and your business plans for this region as well as others.

I have been in the waste handling and street cleaning equipment business for more than 30 years and have dedicated my professional activities to the vacuum sweeper industry for over 20 years, with worldwide responsibility in management position. When the Kuwait Municipality Tender was first published in 2010, I decided to search in the industry for a premium mechanical suction sweeper, especially since I knew which equipment and with what results had been delivered in 2005 within the previous tender.

Based on customer references, I quickly found Macro of Fiorenzuola d’Arda, Italy. During my first visit to the factory itself I was greatly impressed, not only because of the very modern factory with the most advanced machinery. It was the mentality and entrepreneurial forward thinking spirit of the Macro people that attracted my attention – and last but not least – it was the top of the line sweeper product with state-of-the-art technology that completely convinced me. I have worked for so many years for the leading manufacturer of vacuum sweepers and can immediately notice when another product presents outstanding features.

After my initial discussions with Macro I soon realized that I had found a manufacturer with an impressive sweeper, but still at the beginning of being widely introduced on international markets and consequently not yet known everywhere. This was a challenge for me and therefore I established my own consulting and marketing company to promote Macro sweepers in key international areas. Right from the beginning (not only due to the Kuwait Municipality tender) I decided to focus on the Middle East market, in particular the Gulf States.

The Kuwait tender was cancelled in 2010 and re-tendered in 2011. As a result of our dedicated work in Kuwait we were able to sell 11 units of the S45 model range. These sweepers are now being delivered to the final customer in Kuwait. It has always been my philosophy that before selling the first single unit to a customer you must have a qualified distributor with full after-sales responsibility. That is the case in Kuwait and we are continuing to set up our network in the GCC region. This also the case in the UAE and we are extremely proud that after having demonstrated a Macro sweeper to Dubai Municipality as a key customer they have purchased the first 2 units, but only after comprehensive tests.

We have continued to demonstrate in other markets while we are establishing our distributor network here. Our commitment to the Middle East Market is total, proof of which is our participation in the Clean Middle East Pulire exhibition with our own exhibit, and in addition a representative office shall be opened soon in the region. We are targeting with our sweeper product not only municipalities, but in particular our key account private contractors, industrial customers (e.g. cement industry, oil refineries etc). We shall be marketing the full range of our sweepers, not only the now well known S45 series, but also our high-end product S30, with both diesel and CNG engine.

RHT-Consulting is the exclusive marketing organisation for Macro in the entire Middle East, Turkey, CIS countries (the first sweeper will be delivered to Kazakhstan), Southern Africa, part of Latin America and above all now Central Europe. We have just established distributors in Spain, France and Scandinavia. The first Macro sweeper will be delivered to a prime municipal customer in Norway before the end of 2012. We are now well established and represented in South Africa and shall deliver the first sweeper to the mining industry. Our distributor in Peru has been most active and able to sell in excess of 6 machines. Among the other markets covered with sales results is South Korea. In his concluding statement, Hoepfner said, “The market in the Middle East region or GCC countries has been dominated in recent years by basically just 2 or 3 other brands and we fully intend to change that by giving the customers another choice with a superior sweeper that presents unique technical features, excellent value for money, a superior life cycle and efficiency, and these machines are built for outstanding cleaning performance and operator comfort. Last but not least, they are environmentally friendly.”