HOW PRODUCTION REFLECTS MOETEFINDT QUALITY
“20 YEARS LATER, WE KNOW EXCACTLY WHO DID THAT TRAILER AND THE QUALITY CONTROLS ARE ENSURED THROUGHOUT”
From humble beginnings in the former East Germany, Moetefindt trailers has grown to establish itself as one of Europe’s industry-leading manufacturers of bespoke-engineered trailers used by race teams, grocery sellers and everything in between.
With CEO Jens Moetefindt overseeing a revamp of its production facilities, the family-owned company has gone from strength to strength and served notice of its ambitions with the opening of a state-of-the-art production plant near Hamburg in 2015.
Where previously manufacturing took place across several different locations, the decision to bring the entire process in-house has consolidated the company’s well-founded reputation for build quality and reflects the efficiency characterising Moetefindt trailers on the road.
“Until 2004, Moetefindt was a company that only produced hand-made trailers,” says Jens.
“We had a system of building a trailer where it had to be taken out to another place for painting and then out again to apply the finishing touches like the lighting, electric winch and tarpaulin, but now we can complete a trailer from start to finish without it leaving the premises.”
After the highest-quality materials are selected, cut and prepared, each trailer must undergo four stages of assembly before it can be signed off and painted. A project manager is assigned to ensure that the customer’s individual requirements are met at every stage, from initial consultation to final product, and all with a forensic attention-to-detail.
The so-called ‘one man, one trailer’ solution provides an unrivalled level of accountability and guarantees a premier product that is worthy of the company’s 35-year heritage.
“Each stage has one leader who looks after the production and has to tick every point he has done,” continues Jens.
“It is documented who has done this, so 20 years later we exactly know who did that trailer and the quality controls are also ensured throughout the different production steps.”
But that’s not to say the production line has entirely replaced the work of skilled craftsmen – far from it. The individual touches that cause a Moetefindt trailer to stand out from the crowd are always applied by hand and the engineers are passionate about making the end product even more refined, optimising innovative new techniques to make trailers lighter, stiffer and easier to use.
“These people are proud of what they’re doing, because they can stand next to the product and say, ‘I built this, this was me’. Therefore the quality gets better because the people involve themselves in trying to develop it and out of that the product has got better from year to year.
“When you see a Moetefindt trailer that is five years old, it is basically the same outer shape, but there are so many little improvements. It’s something we can really be proud of.”