BEMU & Zuidberg

The development that Zuidberg has gone through in forty years is largely due to the local dealers. BEMU tractor specialist in Marknesse, the business of Frans and Jan Mulders, has been a dealer from the very beginning. Together with Kasper de Jonge, sales manager at Zuidberg, father and son Mulders look back on this collaboration.

"Before I started out on my own, I already knew Zuidberg," says Frans Mulders. "I was working for a Valtra importer when I first got in contact with them. Wim Zuidberg, one of the brothers of founder Henk Zuidberg, traded his Valtra tractor with us for a new one. He wanted a PTO and front linkage system, which Henk then fitted for him.”

Seven years after Zuidberg was founded, Frans Mulders left the Valtra importer and started his own company, BEMU tractor specialist. "I have worked with Henk Zuidberg a lot. We have always had a good business relationship and were always clear with each other. Even if something wasn't right, we could tell each other. That's how we strengthened each other."

Blind trust
Both companies are now in the hands of the next generation. At Zuidberg, Henks son Jeroen is at the helm; Jan Mulders took over BEMU from his father a few years ago. Jan: "We have both grown considerably, especially Zuidberg. As a result, some things have changed in terms of communication, but the lines of communication are still short. If I need something, I call Kasper and often I have the order confirmation in my mailbox before we hang up. Moreover, the delivery time is met 99 times out of a hundred. I can blindly trust that everything will be all right.”

In return, Jan Mulders helps Zuidberg whenever necessary. Jan: "During a trade fair, Zuidberg displayed a PTO and front linkage system in their stand. To dress it up nicely, they were looking for a tyre and mudguard, but they didn't have those available themselves. So I arranged it for them. Of course, I made sure that they got nice, new stuff, so that it looked neat."

Market demands
Kasper cherishes the cooperation with local dealers like BEMU. "We supply large numbers of PTOs and front linkage systems directly to factories at home and abroad. We can't do without them, but our local dealers are just as important," Kasper says. "We need them to stay up to date with practice; to hear from the market what is needed." Because only in this way Zuidberg can improve its products. "If we get a signal from the field that something is not running properly somewhere, one of our engineers will come over to measure it all. For those contacts, we depend on our dealers."

Measured risks
Because of BEMU there are a number of new products on the Zuidberg price list. "I needed a chain hook set for a Valtra T4, to hang the chain on the front mower. Zuidberg could not supply those, but I really needed them," says Jan Mulders. "Zuidberg then started to draw and design. They found out that, compared to other chain hook sets, it would be an expensive product. Nevertheless, I wanted to buy a couple of them." Sales manager Kasper: "Of course it was a risk for us to actually produce these hooks, since you do not know whether there is a market for it. But Jan agreed to buy five sets; he was convinced there was a market for them. If Jan says that, then I believe him. It soon became clear that he was right. The first five chain hook sets were sold in no time. They are now fixed in our price list. Without BEMU that wouldn't have happened."

“Then you are doing something right”
"But that is also because Zuidberg dares to invest," adds Jan Mulders. "That is why they are where they are today. They are not afraid to make a mistake. Their motto is: if someone else can do it, we can do it, and we do it better. And they live up to that. They have made such tremendous progress in all these years. They really are the best in terms of quality. You are no longer talking about a front linkage system, but about a “Zuidberg”. The brand name has become the product name. Well, then you're doing something right.”

The many years of intensive cooperation between BEMU and Zuidberg is based on trust, guts and commitment. Zuidberg's courage to invest is clearly visible in the bending department. The seventeenth press brake was recently installed there, making our bending department one of the largest in the Netherlands. You will read more about this next time.