Expanding Our Service for Brake Components in North America

As mass transit expands in North America, hydraulic brake systems made by HANNING & KAHL are gaining importance. This positive development of brake business called for systematic expansion of the services offered for HANNING & KAHL‘s hydraulic brake systems and adaptation to local circumstances.

As things stand

HANNING & KAHL has operated a service station in Bridgeport near Philadelphia to provide services on the North American market since 2002. Our local base has already accelerated response times and facilitated customer assignments in North America. At the moment, the H&K team in Bridgeport predominantly coordinates and performs services for infrastructure and signalling products, and also for brake systems.

The challenges

The challenges include the long transportation distances between Germany and the USA, complex customs clearance, significant time differences and Buy American requirements. To meet these challenges we have progressively expanded our service subsidiary and adapted it to local requirements. Our goal is to optimally supply North American customers with HANNING & KAHL services and spare parts for hydraulic brake systems. We consider it our duty to be a competent service partner who caters for individual customer requirements and offers best possible service solutions.

Opportunities for the future

Fulfilling this objective also calls for intensive and regular internal communication between headquarters in Oerlinghausen, Germany and our subsidiary in Bridgeport, USA. I travelled to Bridgeport at the beginning of March 2020 to discuss future joint procedure with our colleagues and to elaborate solutions for the systematic enlargement of the service subsidiary. The handling of operative processes was just one of the topics on the agenda. We also looked at the feasibility of repair work in Bridgeport, optimal service equipment and systematic enlargement of the workshop. By optimising services and response times, HANNING & KAHL believe the service location in Bridgeport can look to the future on a stronger footing.

We would like to say a big Thank-You to our team in Bridgeport who represent HANNING & KAHL in North America far away from company headquarters in Oerlinghausen, on a daily basis in a very committed and professional manner, and who are best equipped for the future.