Roel Nizet, CEO of Iveco Magirus
The new face of fire appliance procurement
Published: 27 April, 2011
Roel Nizet has found that vehicle procurement has changed completely since the onset of the recession, and it is still not clear what the exact consequences will be for fire brigades all over the world. Iveco Magirus is based in Ulm, Germany and manufactures high-tech fire appliances for every part of the globe. Ann-Marie Knegt reports.
“In the early years of the downturn the fire vehicle manufacturing industry was not really affected, as municipal fire brigades still had the budgets from the years before. From March/April 2010 we noticed a decrease in our order intake, mainly caused by a cease in acquisitions from Eastern Europe. Russia for instance had always been a sustainable market for us, so we needed to balance this loss out by becoming stronger in other markets,” explains Roel Nizet, CEO of Iveco Magirus, the international fire appliance manufacturer based in Germany.
Roel explains that procurement officers today are questioning whether past purchasing behaviour was correct. In Roel’s experience fleet management is planned very well in many countries, where people hold on to a fleet for a standard time of 15 years. On the other hand there are countries where the firefighters have to wait until they receive funding before they can purchase their appliances.
Generally, there is a split between developed nations and those countries which are still in development phase. Although, the latter are now suffering enormously because they are behind economically, their economies will accelerate when the economy rebounds. On the other hand, in wealthier countries – such as in Northern Europe – the sensitivity towards procurement has increased, and this means that the acquisition of vehicles will see an increased involvement from procurement officers as opposed to being the choice of a single fire commander.
Although Iveco Magirus manufactures a clearly differentiated range of vehicles on a commercial chassis, the average firefighting technician on the specification committee expects his vehicle to be personalized to a high degree, says Roel.
“I do however believe that the increased sensitivity towards procurement will change this. We as a manufacturer want to standardize our vehicles as much as possible because it is just not viable – time, money – to fulfill every single request from customers. Fire trucks are like fingerprints at the moment, all are different. It costs us a lot of engineering capacity to achieve this level of personalization, but the market is currently not recognizing that this drives up prices. We have to ensure that the sustainability of the company is not endangered by these requests.”
Roel believes strongly that the answer lies in developing state-of-the-art technology in a modular format so the blue print of a truck is fit-for-purpose, and therefore Iveco Magirus decided to invest heavily in research and development, to create added value for the customer. According to Roel, the more differentiation a company can achieve, the more successful it will become. “Without the drive for differentiation there are only two arguments left based on which firefighters will buy trucks: personal relationship, and price.”
“The philosophy in US-driven markets is different from the rest of the world, as much of the industry is still based on historical tradition. Even though we have standardized products in Europe and Asia, the vehicles built by the main players in this market are very different from each other, meaning that the general structure of the industry differs greatly. We build on commercial chassis, and because we are part of the Iveco group, we prefer to build on Iveco chassis as much as possible, because it provides us with distinct advantages in production lead times, while keeping control on the modifications that are generally requested.”
Iveco Magirus manufactures all its own components and parts, and aims to incorporate the most modern technology into its vehicles, as well as implementing a CanBus system onboard instead of having wiring everywhere. Iveco’s modular body construction,for instance, the Alufire3, for instance was developed when Roel noticed that the company was becoming too reliant on the delivery times of chassis and cabs, and as the company was only able to start the bodywork once the chassis arrived in the factory.
“We decided that the superstructure should be built independently from the chassis, and developed a sub-frame in a modular way, so the bodies could be adjusted accordingly. This new way of thinking enabled us to develop a simplified DIY (Do it yourself) superstructure, which consists of aluminium plates that are screwed together.
“The modularity of this concept makes a unique proposition to our customers as it enables individual modification, but keeps the cost down at the same time.”
The new Dragon 2 crash tender, introduced at Interschutz 2010, also has modularity at its core being, and the team went back to the drawing board and started the design from scratch. Roel explains that it was easier to start from the beginning again in order to create a product that stood out from the crowd. “We started with the design of the 8x8, because it is technically the most complicated vehicle. For the 6x6 we simplified the design of the 8x8, but were still able to maintain superior response capacity.”
The traction system on the Dragon 2 8x8 is driven by two 600HP Iveco engines and two transmission systems connected to a power divider. One of the engines also provides power to the pump (10,000 lpm), and this means that the pump can be engaged while driving to the incident. This revolutionary system enables the pump flow to start while breaking on approach to the fire, saving valuable response time.
Sales & Marketing Manager for Iveco Magirus, Claudio Catalano, explains that when the vehicle is in raw mode the two engines are dedicated to driving the truck. “When you approach the fire, one engine is disconnected to drive the pump, and the other engine drives the vehicle forward. This is much more advanced than any other power divider solution on the market, because it enables more independent pump functioning regardless of vehicle speed and truck operation.
“We have the capability to install the same driveline on the 8x8 and the 6x6, and this has enabled us to build a super 6x6 that carries more water and is much faster than required by NFPA standards. NFPA states that a crash tender should have an acceleration time of 25 seconds, and our vehicles accelerate in less than 25 seconds. While an 8x8 is normally less fast than a 6x6, due to its larger size and higher weight, we have been able to build vehicles with similar capabilities and a full synergy of components, which we see as a significant advantage.”
The water tank on the Dragon range is made from GRP, the body is made out of aluminium, and in order to create a lighter weight the cab has an aluminium subframe with integrated fibre glass. Claudio adds that from a safety and structural perspective they had to hold back on the fibre glass, but in order to create something that looked good at the same time, a pure aluminium cab would have ended up looking like a square box. “I think we have achieved the perfect compromise between safety, a sound structure and a stylish design. Obviously, performance and capabilities come first, but firefighters still want their truck to look good, and we built the Dragon range from scratch with all our own components. They are all off the shelf units, making it very easy for the customer, and offering a massive benefit in terms of maintenance.”
The new Dragon range comes with the option of left, right and middle steering. Middle steering offers better visibility, but Claudio and Roel both emphasize that it is down to individual preference, and that the specifications around the world are all different.
The US is an area where specifications are altogether different from anywhere else and Roel admits that while he is certainly not closing his eyes on this market, it is still unmarked territory for Iveco Magirus, as the company does not have a presence there at the moment.
“We see a future opportunity to enter the US market with our expertise in special vehicles. For instance with our ARFF vehicles we could assist in helping develop a better chassis. I am not necessarily talking about cabs, because they make better cabs in the US than we do. We feel that we could really help our partners in the future with our available technology. We are not in a rush and we do not want to make mistakes. Many people from the US have showed an interest in what we do as a vehicle manufacturer, but I am keen enough to keep our intellectual property in-house. In the final stages we will decide who we will partner up with, because to enter the US successfully, we have to co-operate with a company that has a seriously good network. Without that you will always fail,” concludes Roel.
