KJ Hydraulics - Partner in the Faroe Islands since 2006

KJ has been N.C. Nielsen's business partner on the Faroe Islands since 2006. In 2014, the company expanded its Linde facilities in Thorshavn and inaugurated a whole new department with a floor space of 1,400 sqm. N.C. Nielsen’s connection to the Faroe Islands goes back to 1979. The original partner Nord Trukk was acquired by KJ in the mid 00s, and KJ has worked determinedly since then on becoming the preferred supplier of fork lifts to Faroese companies. However, it was not an easy beginning. Briefly after the acquisition, the financial crisis also hit the Faroe Islands, but the initial difficulties have been overcome a long time ago.

- We chose to reassess the price of Linde forklifts and spare parts compared to earlier in order to get more volume in our turnover, explains Jan Brixen Sørensen, the day-to-day manager of the KJ department in Thorshavn, which is the focal point of Linde sales and service on the Faroes.

This strategy was a success, which the recently inaugurated modern department in Thorshavn clearly proves. Now, the department employs 10 service engineers, of which 5 only work with service and maintenance of Linde forklifts. The team also includes 2 office employees who keep track of service agreements, spare part orders, orders of new or used Linde machines, etc.

- We have four times as many people on the job as our competitors, says Jan Brixen Sørensen, pointing out that spare parts are an area where the focus on volume has really produced results.

- We have goods delivered three times a week. This means that we can sell spare parts such as batteries and tyres cheaper than everyone else, simply because freight constitutes a smaller part of the price. The other forklift distributors usually order from one time to the next and therefore have higher freight costs. We now see that people with other forklifts also buy spare parts from us.

Cooperation pays off

KJ's success in forklifts is very much related to the fact that the company already had its foot in the door in many places due to a wide selection of solutions for fish farming, industry and contracting, among other things. But, as said by Jan Brixen Sørensen, "we would not have achieved our strong position in the market without N.C. Nielsen". The close cooperation for example means that KJ is able to meet all wishes regarding renting agreements.

- I am very impressed that N.C. Nielsen can for example get a 16 ton forklift up here for rental with a day's notice, concludes Jan Brixen Sørensen.

FACTS:
3 departments in Kambsdalur, Thorshavn and Fuglafjord
Approx. 90 employees

Read much more about KJ here