Celebrating Partnerships and Pioneering Spirit

From the 10^th to 14^th of June, PALFINGER invited partners and employees to Salzburg, Austria, to a comprehensive one-week program of jointly exploring challenges and potential under the motto “Building your way forward”. The perfect backdrop for celebrating what sets us apart from the competition: strong and reliable partnerships with customers, suppliers, dealers, and employees. Join PALFINGER MARINE for a look back on our contribution to this celebration of value creation and future success.

The marine break-out session

PALFINGER MARINE is proud to have contributed significantly to the groupwide event. The Marine break-out Session, part of the Global Sales and Service Conference on the 13^th, introduced Klaus Schreiber, our new VP Sales & Service at PALFINGER MARINE, to attendants. Those included 30 dealers from 14 nations worldwide. Moreover, an overview of our latest product developments, such as the new PK 6.501 M foldable knuckle boom crane, was provided. The following World Café split the audience into groups to discuss topics that are currently most relevant to the maritime technology industry and explore market potentials before the hosts shared the common findings.

To loosen up the agenda a little, PALFINGER invited a total of 3,200 visitors to try out land and marine-based solutions in an indoor and outdoor Action Park. As part of this exciting side stage, PALFINGER MARINE encouraged its partners and all other attendants to visit an on-site VR station that was originally designed for training purposes to test their skills as wind crane operators. The VR station also entailed a second application set in an aquaculture environment. The outdoor action park featured a fun fishing game involving the PK 6.501 M crane.

Getting a feel for the practical side of our solutions surely inspired many ideas discussed during the subsequent World Café.

World Café – discussing the present and future

The findings of the World Café session were shared by a number of esteemed PALFINGER MARINE colleagues. Bernd Huemer, Global Sales Manager, summed up the group findings in favor of basic, simple, and reliable solutions capable of performing efficiently in rough environments. He also highlighted the potential for the expansion of our deck equipment portfolio for the aquaculture industry with products offering excellent price-performance ratios and lifetime service. Franz Schnöll, Head of Global Marine Product Management, shared the audience’s common view of PALFINGER as a company that embodies quality and technology, not least due to our partners’ top commissioning abilities and support in terms of maintenance and spare parts.

Speaking about how PALFINGER MARINE could innovate in terms of service to exceed customer expectations and enhance customer centricity, Guilherme Felix, Head of Global Marine After Sales, highlighted an increasing need of 24/7 automated online support and VR training opportunities identified during the brainstorming sessions he hosted. He also shared findings that anticipate a demand for smart inspection processes, again tied into an automated platform that reminds customers of necessary, periodic inspections. Jarle Sørstrønen, Product Line Leader Marine Solutions, echoed Guilherme’s statements by highlighting the expected emergence of remote service systems and predictive maintenance. With the fast progression of AR/VR technology, it will be essential to tap into its potential. These leaps in technology will ultimately result in remotely operated boats and remote access to handling solutions – and the need for them is strong.

PALFINGER MARINE considers itself in an excellent position to harness all of the above potentials in close collaboration with customers, partners, and employees.

Shaping the future together

The week-long event program, which started on the 10^th of June with the traditional get-together during the PALFINGER Extended Global Team Meeting to discuss and determine priorities, continued with the official Supplier Day on the 11^th. The Global Sales & Service Conference from the 12^th to the 13^th allowed us to present our vision and strategies, while the Your Future at PALFINGER Day on the 14^th presented our organization as an attractive employer for fresh talent. The program was capped off the same evening with the legendary PALFINGER Summer Festival for employees.

The week proved invaluable in unearthing and assessing future trends in the maritime technology industry and all its stakeholders. The findings of the event provided us with key insights into the path forward. PALFINGER MARINE prides itself in listening to the needs of customers and partners, developing new solutions that meet the real demand. The insights will serve as a blueprint for our employees in their tireless efforts to optimize the efficiency and safety of our marine solutions.

Follow our progress in developing new ideas based on customer and partner feedback right here in the blog segment of our website. We are already looking forward to sharing the exciting new projects inspired by this highly successful series of events.