Arnold MD: It's the final bill that counts!

In addition, their aesthetic design provides a strong sales pitch for the sales force. It is obvious that such qualities come at a price. However, the value does not become apparent until a scrupulous cost/ benefit analysis is performed, which takes into account the entire value-added chain and service life. Managing Director of Arno Arnold GmbH Wolf Matthias Mang talked about Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and the criteria for the selection of protective coverings and their suppliers.

 Managing Director of Arno Arnold GmbH Wolf Matthias Mang

What is the current situation in your core protective covers business?
Wolf Matthias Mang: "Orders from our customers in industrial plant construction and the machine tool industry are now perceptibly improving across a wide front. We are benefiting from this trend. That being said, the need to economise is still being felt. Buyers of bought-in components are focusing more strongly than ever on the price. And there are an increasing number of providers that can produce cheaply. There are a number of them, especially overseas, who are churning out protected covers as mass produced goods. Shaping metal sheets is no longer a special skill. But that is not enough to create protective covers that offer maximum customer benefit. We regard ourselves as consultants, development partners, project facilitators and service providers. We are a premium manufacturer of protective covers. It is this combination that offers our customers many cost saving additional benefits. These benefits can only be obtained by those designers and purchasers who are able to look beyond the pure purchase price that we have to demand for our products. The final bill is what counts!"

Your sales argument is based on the TCO for short, which is the total cost of a product over its entire service life?
Wolf Matthias Mang: Exactly, that is more than ever an important aspect, especially as the budgeting horizons are getting ever shorter in many companies! Anyone who saves on a complete as possible cost-benefit analysis before making buying decisions, almost always ends up comparing apples with pears. Obviously it is more time consuming to determine the TCO than simply to compare purchase prices. But without determination and comparison on the benefits of a product, cheap can end up being rather expensive – and not only for the manufacturer but also for the end user.

You make the effort to perform careful comparison and emphasise on customer benefit. But how can protective covers generate customer benefits?
Wolf Matthias Mang: The purchase prices are only one variable in the total cost account. Protective covers for guide rails and workspaces are indispensable, especially for modern CNC machines. Covers with less than optimum designs limit the performance, ergonomics and the reliability of the machines. For this reason, they should be integrated so that they are perfect in terms of design, function and even appearance in every new design or development. Equally important for machine makers is simple and rapid assembly as well as minimum inventory costs, i.e. just-in-time delivery. Users expect their machines to perform their duties in a functionally reliable and durable way with the minimum of maintenance, and if the machines do break down that they can be repaired as easily and rapidly as possible. And they expect this performance over many years. Off-the-peg protective covers, i.e. standardised articles cannot fulfil these criteria as a whole.

Could you be more specific about the associated costs and saving potentials?
Wolf Matthias Mang: "Gladly! AnAir Jordan