Nearly a year to the day after it was first announced Hauhinco would acquire the longwall mining equipment division of Caterpillar, the company has emerged with a new name with roots into its 100-plus-year history.
The company will now be known as Hauhinco Bergbautechnik, or HBT, and it has a number of high-level action items it wants to collectively achieve as it kicks into gear, beginning with a focus on the customer.
That mission includes a number of prongs, from lower communication barriers and improved contact and communications to building and strengthening its India and China joint ventures.
Its other key action items:
- Improve contact and communication from HQ to regions
- Build and strengthen customer service teams
- Build and strengthen our distribution channels
- Consolidate and move Wuppertal into Sprockhoevel
- Consolidate and move within Luenen
- Increase capacity/improve the process in Automation
- Increase product offerings, including legs and cylinder production
- Focus and improve on-time deliveries
- Place HTD and shearers with strategic customers
“Within the next few months, we are still working with TSAs and support from Caterpillar. We are working very hard to become independent from those services. You will see this, especially on the IT infrastructure side,” HBT said.
“Your and our customer’s safety is our utmost concern. We commit to safety and health as a way of life.”
Heading up the main management of HBT will be Christopher Koslowski (CEO/COO); Carsten Prochnow (corporate CFO); Volver Weiss (ops CEO); Dirk Schulze Schencking (pumps CTO); Jay Armburger (CEO HBT Americas and CTO Longwall and Automation); Kevin Parsons (CSO and CEO of HBT Australia); and Jeorg Walden (CIO). Longtime Hauhinco leader Ron Osselborn will serve as HBT Americas COO and president.
“We thank you for your patience and great efforts, and the Team from CAT for the relentless efforts to make this happen,” the group said.
“We understand that we are largely in an ultimately declining industrial sector. Yet, there is a wealth of opportunity in this very industry, for us to grow and prosper. Nonetheless, we transform our company and create new pillars of growth and opportunity, without neglecting where we come from.”