Recently, LTG AEROB® Filtration Solutions GmbH (a company of the WEIS INDUSTRIES group) has found themselves to be part of a classical customer-supplier relationship that has evolved into a very fruitful partnership. Several years ago, LTG AEROB started to pool and develop its service business.

A special challenge of this process was the spare parts service and its market penetration. In the course of time, the company gained a wealth of valuable experience. The effect of various marketing activities, reactions of customers or suddenly emerging challenges – all of these factors contributed to the extensive service know-how of the corporation, along with some wonderful additions to the staff.

The reactions of LTG AEROB customers to the changes and improvements of the service business were all-around positive and encouraging. One of the company’s biggest and most important customers, AZO GmbH & Co. KG in Osterburken, witnessed this development up close and personal and was facing some of the very same challenges. AZO develops, engineers, produces and installs technically sophisticated pneumatic material handling systems for various products and industrial sectors. As a key customer of LTG AEROB, the company requires (and receives) excellent product quality and service. At the same time, due to market developments and customer requirements, AZO also focuses on sharpening its own service profile and has created a new operational division for this reason. Both LTG AEROB and AZO employ highly qualified specialists, particularly on the technical side.

Now, the order of the day was to train professional service experts as well. The parallel developments in both companies gave rise to the idea of regular communication between the two companies’ service divisions. Thus, the customer-supplier relationship developed into a true partnership in which both sides are constantly learning and benefitting from one another. In regular intervals, the LTG experts meet up with the AZO experts and other service specialists from the WEIS INDUSTRIES Group to exchange ideas and experiences.

The meetings are for talking about current trends, new requirements, the sharing of ideas, but also leave room for informal talk and simply the strengthening of business ties. Openness and mutual trust are the fundamental precondition for the added value these meetings have for the participants. The similar challenges in both companies create an atmosphere of cooperative learning. This regular exchange results not only in improved cooperation and mutual profit, but also in the creation of a positive emotional bond. The experience clearly shows that substantial changes do not only come from big innovations, but also from the many small impulses that, in the case of AZO and LTG AEROB, lead to a cooperative partnership with each other and the respective customers, thus resulting in tangible benefits.

Hubert Sajonz