Schiller explains OneTadano strategy

In April 2021, Tadano Ltd. announced that all the group’s cranes would be unified under the Tadano brand name. The goal, the company said, is become No. 1 worldwide in the lifting equipment industry. Since then, Tadano has been implementing this plan – known as the OneTadano strategy – globally, while also focusing resources to facilitate stronger capabilities for customers, according to the company.

Ingo Schiller, president, Tadano America Corporation

As part of this strategy, Tadano said it is bringing greater efficiencies to its entire value chain by improving business activities in North, Central and South America including Brazil, as well as the Caribbean, under a unified structure that would be called the Pan-American Operations. As part of this plan, commercial operations for the US-produced telescopic boom crawler crane lineup – sales, marketing, parts, service and training were moved under the Tadano America umbrella.

Under this global brand harmonization, Tadano said it will bring more than a dozen new crane models to the market in the next few years. Rollout of these products will start at bauma in October of 2022 and ConExpo in March of 2023.

Tadano’s brand unification comes with the slogan “Your passion. Our DNA.” In an interview recently published by the company, Tadano America President Ingo Schiller said this promise means much more.

“Cranes are more than just a product we sell,” he said. “They are the passion and lifeblood of our customers. We often hear from our customers and employees that cranes run in their veins – that cranes are inherently part of their DNA. For Tadano, every single lift that is performed in the field is just as important to us as it is to the customer carrying it out. No other manufacturer is as undividedly focused on lifting equipment as we are, and this goes both for our company as a whole and for each individual member of our team.”

He said that since its acquisition of Demag mobile cranes, Tadano has been able to rely on the unrivalled know-how of its companies, which are incorporating their biggest strengths into each product.

“Tadano is thrilled to be showcasing our first product with this combined DNA, a two-axle crane, in January,” Schiller said. “It will come equipped with the IC1-Plus control system, the standardized cab, and numerous features that will be found on all upcoming Tadano models.”

Schiller also explained the OneTadano strategy.

“OneTadano is taking the best solutions from Tadano and Demag, and combining them into joint new products,” he said. “Our entire team works day-to-day to make sure our customers are happy and to lead Tadano towards its goal of becoming No.1 worldwide in the lifting equipment industry. We realized that in order to achieve both of these goals, we had to realign our operations and restructure our organization to maximize the benefit for our customers. We chose the term “OneTadano” for this transformation process internally to reflect what we strive to bring to our customers: a single brand that combines the best innovations of two leading lifting equipment companies.

One of the biggest changes through the OneTadano strategy involves the production of AC cranes, he said.

“In the future, the carriers will be made in our Lauf, Germany production facility - which in years past focused on carrier development; the superstructures and booms will be made at our facility in Zweibrücken, Germany,” Schiller said. “By distributing the main components between these two centers of excellence, we will be able to eliminate duplicate production, testing, and delivery structures. We refer to this process as OneProduction, and it will ultimately result in shorter throughput times and, accordingly, shorter lead times.”

Schiller said Tadano is amid an unparalleled innovation push.

“It’s well known that we made the promise of launching more than a dozen new and solidly innovative machines in the next few years,” he said. “In this past year alone, we have launched three new GRs, including the industry-leading GR-1000XLL-4 and the incredibly popular GR-1300XL; five new all-terrain cranes, including the AC 5.120-1, which has a long wheelbase ideally suited for markets such as California and the western part of Canada; and two telescopic boom crawler cranes, the GTC-1600 and GTC-2000. In addition, we’ve rolled out the IC-1 Remote telematics system that enables customers to access relevant crane data from fleet management headquarters or even a mobile phone.”

Another focus of Tadano’s innovation push is the development of technologies that are environmentally friendly. The Tadano Group has set for itself the clear goal of reducing CO2 emissions from its business activities worldwide by 25% and from its products by 35% by 2030, as well as becoming carbon neutral by 2050. This includes, for example, the option of operating our vehicles with alternative fuels with reduced CO2 emissions, as well as the E-Pack, which makes electric, zero-emission, low-noise crane operation possible.

Schiller said that service is a also important to the OneTadano strategy. 

“To ensure that we can bring the same level of support to all of our customers, we equip our team with robust skills and knowledge covering our entire product line,” he said. “Since the Demag acquisition, we have been implementing rigorous cross-training programs so that one service technician will be able to help with all concerns.”

He said Tadano will be reinforcing its on-site customer service and offering new services such as maintenance packages, remote services, and online training courses.

“Another important item for us is our plan to comprehensively digitalize our customer service operations all the way from resource and assignment planning to billing,” he said. “Needless to say, integrating our companies in terms of service is also an important aspect that customers will benefit from noticeably.”