6 official partners went to Japan for the ultimate KITO experience
This November, some essential KITO partners changed their typical agenda of meetings and exhibitions. Together with KITO EUROPE Managing Director Martin Rothe, Manager International Key Account Martin Fuller, Executive Sales & Supply Chain Assistant Ryota Takagi and Customer Service Representative Monika Reum they visited the home of the world quality leader for cranes and hoists. Tokyo, Yamanashi (location of the factory) and a multitude of cultural highlights were on the program.
Konnichiwa, Tokyo!
The first day of the trip already started with a highlight. A total of 6 important partners, including Joe de Angelo, Sales Director at KITO Chain Italia and Maarten van Egmond, Sales Manager at VAN LEUSDEN from the KITO Group, met in Japan’s capital. The first get-together of all participants took place at a traditional Japanese dinner. KITO CEO Yoshio Kito welcomed the group and announced the schedule for the next days – numerous impressions and wide information should await the visitors. The official program started directly the next morning with a meeting concerning the global business and the progress made in Europe at the KITO CORPORATION office in Tokyo. Later the group had an extensive sightseeing tour in Tokyo including a traditional tea ceremony.
The heart of KITO CORPORATION
On the same day the group was supposed to get much closer to the real “KITO experience”. Final destination was Yamanashi, KITO manufacturing plant, which is located about 120 km away from Tokyo. The KITO site could be visited on the following day during a two-hour factory tour. All participants got insights on the manufacturing process and learned details about the premium products that are part of their everyday work. This hands-on experience was enriched by interactions with KITO employees about product plans for the future. The guests were excited to share their thoughts and expectations for the launches – and a more intense bond was created than if new products were presented on pictures or presentations. At the evening dinner, the participants further discussed what they had seen the day at the factory.
At last, the partners were able to experience Japanese sites to the fullest by visiting once-in-alifetime postcard motives Mount Fuji, Oshino Hakkai and Tokyo Skytree, the second largest building in the world.
Was the trip to Japan for the guests as expected? The official statements of the KITO partners speak for themselves:
Federico Amati, Manager at FAS SpA (Italy) attaches great importance on the long-term partnership between KITO and his company. The trip has allowed him to compliment the cooperation:
“KITO is by far the best chain hoist factory worldwide, but I wasn’t allowed to say it out loud in the past, because I am directly involved in the business.”
Federico Amati, Manager at FAS SpA
Even better, he was allowed to look into the future now: “The day I am not selling KITO anymore, I will explain the market the enormous difference between KITO and the many toy-hoists.”
Marcus Curry, Managing Director of George Taylor Lifting Gear (United Kingdom) stands in a more than 35 year cooperation with KITO Weissenfels. Safety features with extended durability, professionalism and technical support are key aspects for him to choose which hoists and chain products his company supplies.
“It is a pleasure working collaboratively with KITO Weissenfels sharing ideas and products to support customer needs with a constantly changing and ever improving market demand!”
George Taylor, Lifting Gear
Christian Røyem, General Manager at Industribehov AS (Norway) sells hoisting equipment mainly in the offshore industry and therefore has following claims on premium products: durability, cost efficiency, reliability and availability. Do KITO products follow these? They do! “KITO is the world’s #1 hoist in cost efficiency, let us keep it that way.”, says Christian Røyem before the business trip. And he knows what he is talking about, as his company collaborates with KITO since the 1970s!
Hjalti Holm from Max Fodgaard (Denmark) manages the Crane Department and declares: “It’s a privilege to be a KITO dealer!” Wow! This statement comes from a wide experience. “When I started in the crane business in 1997, we bought KITO hoists for tough applications, when our own brand couldn’t handle the tasks. Now, I am Product Manager since 2013 at Max Fodgaard and KITO is a trusted partner. KITO sells hoists where everything has to be perfect and good is not good enough.”
Max Fodgaard CEO Erik Schmidt shares this attitude: “KITO is a brand you’re proud to have in your portfolio!” He describes market leader KITO with long lasting quality, safety, low maintenance costs, easy maintenance as well as trusted and traceable distribution channels.
KITO is a brand you’re proud to have in your portfolio!”
Erik Schmidt, CEO Max Fodgaard
Meili from Switzerland is distributor since 1967 and so Ronny Dällenbach (Buyer) has a heritage story to share: “Meili is the eldest distributor of KITO in Europe. Louis Meili, the founder of our company many times told us about the moment he first saw a KITO hoist. Mr. Kondo from KITO visited him in Switzerland with a little suitcase. The moment he opened the suitcase he was persuaded that this hoist will be the trendsetting manual chain hoist and he was right. The CB hoist meanwhile in third generation is still the benchmark worldwide. KITO products are often a life time investment!”
Maarten Van Egmond works as Sales Manager at VAN LEUSDEN in the Netherlands and belongs officially to the KITO family as his company was acquired by KITO in 2018. Nevertheless, he has an own opinion on KITO hoists: “Solid design, necessary safety features and a wide applicability are the core values of a premium hoist.” And KITO products own these. “We were directly convinced from the quality the moment we started working with KITO.”
