Recent changes to senior management have dictated focus of STARCO, in a move to further strengthen both the daily management of the company and its strategic future development.
Family-owned STARCO Group has evolved to become Europe’s largest supplier of tyres, tubes and wheels for both the aftermarket and OEMs.
Upholding a passionate and trusting relationship with all of its suppliers, partners and customers, the Group has continued to grow from strength to strength as it enters its 53rd year of business.
Working out of five manufacturing units, STARCO is a well-established brand in Europe that is gaining traction around the world as it implements a global strategy to accommodate further market growth in order to gain a significant footprint on the world map. “Our vision is to become the global market leader in special wheels,” the Company added.
This year, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and majority shareholder for 25 years, Peer Ejlersgaard, handed over the executive responsibility for the STARCO Group to Richard Todd and Karsten Petersen. Ejlersgaard remains a working part of the senior team, becoming Chairman of the board. He will be joined by a new board of exceptionally-qualified directors in a move to further strengthen both the daily management of the company and its strategic development for the future. “Under the leadership of Peer Ejlersgaard, the board of directors will support and guide the new management and focus on the long-term business strategy of the company,” says the company website.
With Todd as CEO and Karsten as Chief Financial Officer at the helm, the new strategy for 2015 promises to keep focus on core business areas and activities, with the goal to harness and harvest the considerable investment in human, engineering and infrastructural resources that STARCO has made in recent years. By aligning the whole Group to these core activities, the two senior officers demonstrate their long-term commitment to the Company.
Moto Park 2015
After appearing at the Moto Park trade show in Moscow earlier this year, STARCO proved just how many applications its products can have. “With the company’s strong presence in regional markets, combined with comprehensive product ranges backed up by specialist engineering and sales expertise, STARCO customers may be forgiven for assuming that we are a specialist company serving their segment alone,” highlighted the Company.
“But, as events such as the Moto Park 2015 trade show demonstrate, STARCO – given the company’s global manufacturing, purchasing and long-established engineering expertise – is able to serve the needs of a wide range of applications worldwide, without losing the ability to offer specialist knowledge, service and availability to all customers.”
Requests for STARCO wheels have been known to come a little out of the ordinary, with Polish cinema camera crane manufacturer MOVIEBIRD selecting its wheels for a mission-critical cine-production application that has delivered mobile cinematography for a selection of Hollywood’s award-winning international feature films.
“By closely working with manufacturers of machinery, we want to show that we are an innovative company that defines the standards in our markets and to this end, we will leverage the knowledge, creativity and leadership within the STARCO Group to benefit our customers,” confirmed the Company.
Besides this somewhat niche market, the Company normally services five key market segments: internal transportation such as wheel barrows; horticultural machinery from domestic lawnmowers to golf carts; agricultural machinery; trailers and caravans; and industrial machinery. From the smallest wheelbarrow tyre to the largest agriculture or industrial wheel, STARCO keeps a high level of stock on demand for immediate delivery.
Creating value
STARCO’s ethos is to create value so the Company can maintain its desired market-leading position and by understanding the market through the provision of innovative, better-performing products, the Group hopes to maintain the trust and confidence of customers; and in turn, enhance its assembly line and logistics capabilities.
Moreover, the Group has utilised its base in Western Europe to extended operations into Eastern Europe and Central Asia in recent years. “Whether you are a customer, supplier or partner, you have access to more than 30 STARCO assembly and distribution companies throughout Europe and Central Asia, our manufacturing facilities worldwide, and five decades of experience and understanding of the special wheel and tyre market,” said the Company.
Given that the Group is committed to building its assembly operations as close to customers as possible – or even within the customer’s own manufacturing facilities – there are immediate benefits and logistical advantages to working with STARCO. “For OEMs, no order is too large; and for the aftermarket customer, no order is too small. We guarantee an efficient supply of goods along with comprehensive logistics solutions; two elements that are as much a part of the service as the wheel components themselves,” emphasised the Company.
Those looking for a more bespoke wheel can rely on the Company’s in-house engineering team, who meet specification requirements in the most efficient way possible as the Company further explained: “Often, the optimal design does not already exist – therefore, we develop new solutions that will suit the customers’ needs and add even more value to the final product.
“Not only do we develop the product, but we also develop fitting machines and logistical systems to satisfy even the most stringent supply chain requirements.”
In line with this comes an open-minded attitude to innovation and a focus on re-evaluating and improving product safety and reliability in the future. “Innovation implies finding new solutions to old problems. The perfect wheel has not yet been invented…but there’s no harm in trying! Through our tried and tested methods and materials, we remain critical of our own efforts, and we strive to continually develop and improve our products,” the Company concluded.
