09.09.2004

Mr Snorkel returns

For many years Wim Jansink was the main point of contact for Snorkel in Germany, Holland, Belgium and most of Central Europe. Although working for distributor AB Kranlyft at the time he was a Snorkel man through and through and in latter years looked after most of Europe for Snorkel.

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Bill Jansink back at Snorkel

After difficulties at Kranlyft and the demise of Snorkel, Jansink joined Haulotte in Holland and then when the opportunity arose to join the New Snorkel team that Frank Scarborough has been putting together he took it.

Snorkel has already been working on its base in Europe and has established a sales office at Heli, its long time Belgian distributor and working hand in hand with Heli, Snorkel has established a sizeable spare parts inventory for overnight deliveries throughout Europe. Heli has, along with APS in the UK, maintained Snorkel parts and service support in Europe during the transition from Omniquip, through the plant closures to the re-mergence of Snorkel under new ownership
A small stock of new machines is also on hand in Belgium and will be expanded as the Snorkel grows and as demand for its products returns. In the UK APS also hold new units in stock.

On asked what his plans were to move Snorkel from a niche player to a more mainstream one, (Certain European buyers have continued to purchase Snorkel machines throughout the challenges the brand faced after Omniquip pulled out). “My first priority is to contact all of the old Snorkel customers and let them know we are back and about the support we can now give them and our plans for the future. I want to hear what they have to say about Snorkel going forward” said Jansink “So far I have had a positive response with no negativity, traditional Snorkel customers are happy to see us back”

When questioned on the type of distribution network Snorkel will be building, he said “We are looking for direct contact with rental customers but we will treat each market differently as they are not all the same, some buyers prefer to work with a local dealer while others insist on a direct contact with the manufacturer we will vary our arrangements to suit local conditions”

In a statement similar to the one we reported on after the ARA earlier this year, he confirmed that Snorkel are not in a hurry, “ We do not want to raise expectations and then let people down, we want to do it right rather than fast and to build up a solid reputation”
Jansink estimated the remaining active population of Snorkel machines in Europe at around 2,000 units.