Since the introduction of Grimme machinery in Ireland, the farm machinery manufacturer has gone from strength to strength and as the company moved to a brand new premises in Stephenstown, Balbriggan, Co Dublin, a new chapter begins.
In 2016, Christoph Grimme turned the sod on their newly acquired site at units 6 & 7 in Stephenstown Industrial park, Balbriggan. The new building now consists of a retail Sales Department, Service workshop, Parts Depatment and ancillary offices as well as including customer and staff car parking, display areas, wash down area, small plant room and wash room.
Grimme employs over 2000 people around the world and their machines are sold in over 120 countries by local dealers. The company has its own subsidiaries and service agencies in their target markets Belgium, China, Denmark, France, Great Britain, India, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia,Turkey and U.S.A.
The name Grimme stands for innovative potato technology. No matter if separating, planting, cultivating, harvesting or storing of potatoes, for more than 70 years the red machines are renowned for high quality and high output in the potato sector. And since 2003 they have added innovative sugar beet technology to the product range in their traditional company in Damme, Germany.
Almost 150 years ago Grimme has developed from a small forge, to a leader in potato and sugar beet technology. Grimme works for decades now, close together with the local dealers and exports in over 100 countries around the world, with their own service and sale subsidiaries in some countries.
Grimme Ireland Director Barry Baker admitted that these were exciting times for the Irish franchise since their move into their new premises last August.
“This is a bigger premises that we are now in. We are located in the Stephenstown Industrial Estate. We have made a commitment to the Irish farming community to offer them the best service possible and we feel we are doing that,” said Barry.
The Grimme brand practically sells itself as the product is renowned for reliablity, strength and durability as Barry revealed that the technology of the products was advancing all the time.
“The last two years have been very busy, sales wise and this year is no different. There is a massive interest in our products, especially this time of year as farmers upgrade before the season really begins.”
The German headquartered company has been building potato harvesters with the product range now including 1, 2, 3 and 4-row trailed harvesters as well as 2 or 4-row self-propelled harvesters, plus a full range of potato and vegetable equipment. The machines available can work in the many various conditions around the world and this is why Grimme has daughter companies through out the world.
“Quality is the key word when it comes to sales, but we place as much of an emphasis on our aftersales as we do sales. There is a big repeat customer base here and it is our job to ensure that they are satisfied with the service we provide both before and after a sale.
“Although there is a core of machinery that we manufacture, the technology is improving all the time and basically this is to the farmers’ advantage as they can get increased productivity with less downtime. We all know the time constraints in the farming industry and how weather dependent it is.”
This family run business also manufacture handling equipment for the potato industry with the likes of Receiving Hopper, conveyors, store loaders, web graders and box fillers available.
Grimme offers by far the widest range in beet technology also that includes 6-row defoliator, front topper or tractor trailed beet harvesters are available. The self-propelled product range has 20 or 30-ton bunker capacity, six-row Oppel wheels or 6,8 or 9-row walking shares in its portfolio.
There is also a wide range of vegetable technology and through their subsidiary ASA-LIFT, Grimme have developed efficient, gentle handling and ground protecting machines for the industry.
Barry paid tribute to the team in Dublin which is headed up by Cecil Morgan.
“Jamie Doyle is our service manager, he heads a team of 4 engineers, Colin Fox, Steven Rodgers, Jack Flynn & Padhraic McArdie all factory trained, Michael Hutcheson supports Cecil in the Sales Department, Maeve Larney & Eamonn O’ Neill looks after the spare parts department, also based in the office is Pat Kavanagh, they are all extremely valuable members of the Grimme Ireland team.”
Looking to the future, it is all about the customer for Barry and the rest of the team.
“We have service vehicles on the road which are fully equipped and each holds specialist testing and diagnostic equipment as well as spare parts. Our fully trained service personnel allow reduced diagnostic time for in season emergency breakdown repairs. We also offer customers pre season appraisals on their equipment with a discounted parts and labour prices in order for them to have their machines in top condition for the coming season. We would have in the region of €800,000 worth of genuine parts stocked at our headquarters all year round.”
Grimme Ireland
Unit 6&7
Stephenstown Industrial Park
Balbriggan,
Dublin
Tel: 01-8433440
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 6 No 2, March/April 2018
