Palfinger
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Established in 1932, the company has for many years been among the leading international manufacturers of hydraulic lifting, loading and handling systems. As a multinational company group with its headquarters in Salzburg, Austria, PALFINGER has production and assembly sites in Europe, in North and South America as well as in Asia. Innovation, further internationalisation and diversification of products and services form the strategic pillars of the corporate strategy. In line with this, PALFINGER today stands for innovative lifting, loading and handling solutions at the interfaces of the transport chain. The company’s main guiding principle is to make customers throughout the world more successful. As world market leader in truck-loading knuckle-boom cranes and hookloaders, worldwide number two in transportable forklifts as well as forestry and recycling cranes and unrivalled European technology and market leader in railway applications in the high-tech sector we today face the challenge of operating close to the customer worldwide.
The core product is the truck mounted knuckle-boom crane. The company is the world market leader in this segment with close to 150 models and a market share of 30 percent. In hookloaders too (PALIFT and GUIMA) PALFINGER is the world’s biggest manufacturer. Over the years the product portfolio has been steadily expanded with products such as the CRAYLER mounted forklift, the RATCLIFF and PALGATE tail-lifts, the MOBILER container transfer system and the BISON truck mounted aerial work platform. In addition, the company develops innovative solutions for railway applications, bridge inspection and recycling. Cranes for use in agriculture, forestry and other off-road applications complete the product range.
On the world’s market for hydraulic knuckle-boom cranes the PALFINGER Group is regarded not only as the market but also as the technology leader. This position is impressively confirmed by the three crane series “Performance”, “Advantage” and “Compact”, as well as by the latest innovations such as the DPS (Dual Power System), the standard inclusion of return oil utilisation, the POWER LINK PLUS reverse linkage system and the integrated stability control system ISC. To maintain this leadership in future, more than 2 percent of sales revenue is invested in research and development. Around 97 percent of the products are exported to 125 countries worldwide.
With over 1,500 sales and service outlets on all five continents PALFINGER is always close to the customer no matter the location. This worldwide presence results in an optimal pre- and after-sales service tailor-made to the needs of each specific market.
A global business, however, also requires a global structure. Since the beginning of 2004 the PALFINGER Group has been operating within a new organisational structure which supports the strategy of controlled growth. The Global PALFINGER Structure defines as the key goal that the enterprise can operate optimally in the various geographical markets. In operational terms PALFINGER is run with Area Sales Divisions and Product Divisions: Initially Europe, North America and South America were defined as the independent market areas. At the beginning of 2006 the Area Asia & Pacific was added as a further Sales Division. This new structure ensures that decision-making is flexible, speedy and decentralised at local levels, making PALFINGER dealers and most particularly the end customer more efficient and effective.
Around 64 percent of the PALFINGER Group is owned by the PALFINGER family and around 31% is in diversified holdings. In connection with a share repurchase programme PALFINGER AG acquired 5%. Since June 1999 PALFINGER has been listed on the official market of the Vienna Stock Exchange. Since mid-June 2000 the shares of PALFINGER AG have also been traded on the OTC market of the Stuttgart, Berlin, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt stock exchanges. Since March 2005 PALFINGER AG has also been listed in New York.
In 2005 the company generated total sales revenue of EUR 520.0 million (EBIT 65.1 million EUR) with a workforce of 3,326 people.
