German GSE manufacturer TREPEL continues to grow, with a new chief steering the ship
Philippe de Soyres, sales manager at Tauberbischofsheim, Germany-based GSE supplier TREPEL Airport Equipment, spoke to Airside International at the recent Airside Event in Brussels about the changes taking place at the company.
In January, a new managing director took the reins – Carsten Schimkat taking over from Klaus Pfeiffer. The introduction of a new chief didn’t mean a new broom for TREPEL, however, as the change had been planned for some time. Indeed, de Soyres confirms, the transition had been mooted as long ago as seven years previously, when Schimkat joined the firm. Moreover, he had for some time been involved in all of TREPEL’s strategic planning and operational decisions, so there has been no radical overhaul of company policy in the months since the 1 January change at the helm.
TREPEL has continued to focus its work on loaders, its traditional area of business, as well as pushbacks, which it has been supplying for about seven years now. And business has been good, especially for the latter equipment, these past couple of years. “We are selling more pushbacks now than we could ever have hoped,” de Soyres observes.
Sales of TREPEL aircraft tractors into the US have been particularly impressive, with major US airlines acquiring numerous Challenger 150, Challenger 280 and other units. “We listened carefully to their requirements – which differ somewhat in America to those of handlers in Europe – and were able to meet them,” de Soyres says.
Such has been its success of late that the company’s engineering facility is running at pretty much full capacity. Over the last decade or so, TREPEL’s facilities have increased markedly in size, by as much as perhaps 50%, de Soyres recalls, but the process continues. The latest extensions will see expansion of the paint workshop and building on recently acquired land next to the existing TREPEL facility that will offer a new, dedicated customer training area.
Improvements of the TREPEL product lines also continue, driven in part by customer requirements as well as by the evolving regulatory environment. With regard to the former, more and more clients are once again asking for electric GSE, spurred in part perhaps by greater cash flow now that the recession has – at least, for most – passed and by the fact that diesel engines are becoming more complex and more expensive as a result of the introduction of more stringent environmental regulations.
Demand for electric loaders in Scandinavia is currently particularly strong, de Soyres points out, due in some part perhaps to airport authorities there having the willingness and finance to provide sufficient on-ramp charging infrastructure for electric GSE.The more stringent safety conditions required by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) with regard to a ‘no-touch’ policy for GSE and the new composite aircraft types (notably, the B787 ‘Dreamliner’ and the A350) have caused TREPEL to look to add both new proximity sensors and automatic braking systems to its loaders. And the more demanding environmentally-friendly emission requirements laid out in Europe and the US are also driving TREPEL to reassess the engines in its GSE, another not inconsiderably expensive challenge that has to be met.
Alongside a strong order book and the ongoing expansion of its production facilities, it’s a busy time for the new CEO, for de Soyres and the rest of the TREPEL team.
