In Spring this year, ITW GSE merged its various brands under one banner. The various ground power units (GPUs), pre-conditioned air units (PCAs), cables and hoses carrying the well-known names of AXA Power, Hobart, Houchin, Military and J&B Aviation have since April all been marketed under a unified ITW GSE brand
ITW GSE now markets all its products under the one name, but within four simple product segments – power, air, cables and hoses.
At the time of the branding change, Poul Elvstroem, vice president of global sales & marketing for the company, informed: “Moving from a local to a global supplier, a single brand strategy is the natural step in order to streamline our market approach and to reduce global customers’ confusion.”
He continued: “As we unite around our corporate vision to supply the cleanest, most reliable and cost-efficient GSE systems to the aviation industry, we will continue to focus on what we do best.
“We are turning our product numbers – used every day at airports worldwide – into proper product names. Like the name of our latest product, the all-new battery-powered ITW GSE 7400, which signifies a bold step into a cleaner future. Because ‘clean, reliable and cost-efficient’ is where our future lies, and we are proud to march towards it as simply ITW GSE.
“It’s all about connections,” he concluded, going on to explain to Airside the history behind the change. “We started the consolidation of our GSE business back in 2011. The brands of AXA Power, Hobart, Houchin, J&B, Military were all owned by Illinois Tool Works (ITW); however, the affiliation to ITW was not visible to the market, as our branding and logos were not connected.
“This sometimes led to confusion over ownership among our customers. We decided to streamline our marketing material starting with the logos, that all had the same topography – but kept their initial colours. To each brand logo, we added a tail-shaped ITW GSE logo in front to show that we belonged to ITW. At that time, we decided not to go for a single brand strategy as the brand equities were very strong, and nobody really knew who ITW GSE was.
“Last year, we decided to take the next step on the journey and we became simply ITW GSE as of April of this year. This will make us appear as one strong player in the market and any confusion over the same product being sold in multiple brands will disappear.”
The reaction to the change has been a healthy one. “As we are still the same company, the same people, selling the same products, customers and business partners have generally reacted very positively and many have said that it makes a lot of sense to streamline the portfolio. Another comment has been ‘why only now – this could have been done before’.”
Building on success
The change in brand positioning seems to have been made at a good time for ITW GSE. “ITW GSE ended 2017 with a strong performance in the GSE industry,” Elvstroem observed in the Spring announcement. “This is among other [things] a result of the constant trimming and adjusting of our organisation to fit the market demand.”
He added: “We have expanded our market coverage and strengthened the sales force – mostly in North and South America, but our offices in Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific have also welcomed new colleagues to their teams.”
And looking to the move towards marketing all products under the single name, he said: “One of the objectives of the branding process has been to make the customer journey less confusing and smoother.
“ITW GSE will concentrate its efforts on the common platform range, ie all those products that are equipped with the same easy-to-use display. Those are the ‘400-series’ from the ITW GSE 1400 units over the 2400 – 3400 – 4400 to the most recent 7400 unit.
But also our cables and hoses, formerly sold under the J&B brand, will be better integrated.”
Looking back over 2017, ITW GSE listed a number of major orders that it had secured during the year. These included GPUs, PCAs and cable retrievers at Algiers Airport and GPUs for Russia’s Platov Airport. Deliveries included PCAs and GPUs installed at New York La Guardia Airport and PCAs, power coils and GPUs installed at Minneapolis-St Paul Airport.
Plus, a multi-city programme of deliveries for United Airlines saw a number of PCAs installed at Cleveland, Portland (Oregon), San Francisco, Newark and Chicago Airports.
In addition, the project to serve the all-new IGA Istanbul New Airport project was also said to be “on track”. During 2017 ITW GSE began delivering the 147 2400 power coils and 114 3400 PCA units that have been ordered. As of March, approximately 25% of the products ordered remain to be delivered over this summer; all the equipment will be installed and ready for the opening of the airport’s initial opening phase in October.
Look ahead
As for the rest of this year and beyond, Elvstroem expects a strong 2018 in terms of sales. “We will, among other things, intensify the introduction to the market of the new 7400 battery GPU – a ground-breaking GPU.
“Based on an ITW GSE 2400 solid-state converter powered by Nissan Leaf battery packs – both proven technologies – the benefits of the ITW GSE 7400 are obvious. And we have high expectations for this product which is ideal for gates without 400Hz supply. It’s just clean and pure and silent as our 2400 GPU.”
ITW GSE’s 7400 battery-powered GPU featured prominently in the Buyer’s Assessment of the Spring issue of Airside International, and, says Elvstroem: “The 7400 unit will definitely change how airports think about ground power. This clean and green product is ideal for gates without fixed 400Hz.”
He explains: “It offers great flexibility, zero emissions, silent operation and comes with a warranty that is far beyond what we know from the engine market today. For airports wishing to reduce their carbon footprint and to improve the working environment of their staff, the solution surely is the all-new battery-powered 7400 GPU. Already now, we are experiencing great interest [from companies wishing to be] among the first customers to receive this new product.”
