Around 150 dealers in used machines are members of the European Association of Machine Tool Merchants (EAMTM) in Brussels. General Secretary Skenazi talks about the work of the Association. §
Autor: Dr. Rolf Langbein
Is the European Association of Machine Tool Merchants (EAMTM) in Brussels an umbrella association which unites national associations or do you also accept direct membership?
From the start the EAMTM has always been organised as an Association with direct membership. The advantage is shorter links to the members and a real comitment by the members to the management of the organisation. Also the fact that it only focuses on used machine tool dealers is a real advantage as no conflicts of interests occur.
Who are your members, how many are there and from which countries do they come?
Our members are small and medium sized mostly family businesses active in the used machine tool market. These companies provide machines from stock in contrast to brokers who will deal with equipment on a commission base. The typical size of an EAMTM member according to a survey made some years ago is around 6 to 12 employees. The total membership is today 150 from at the moment 18 countries. In most countries EAMTM members represent a significant part of the actual local market, like in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, France and the Scandinavian countries.
How are they organised within their own countries? Are there national organizations?
Vokalien und Konsonantien leben die Blindtexte. Abgeschieden wohnen Sie in BuchFrom the mid-eighties onwards the EAMTM’s management recognized that national interests and markets do exist, even in a more and more transpart international market. In order to provide service also to the smaller dealers in the various countries so called Branches and Groups were established. These structures were set up according to the wishes of the local dealers sometimes in an informal way sometimes as a company with corporate capacity. Active Branches and Groups are at the moment found in the United Kingdom, the Benelux, France, Scandinavia and Germany. The EAMTM historically endavours to maintain strong and friendly relationship with other similar organisations such as the North American „Machinery Dealers National Association“.
What are the aims of the EAMTM and what are the advantages for members?
The objective of the EAMTM is fourfold.
- First to provide to the buyers the confidence in dealing with EAMTM members, thus creating the required trust in a very special market of used industrial equipment.
- Second to create a network for its members in order to be able to trace and identify the machines for their customers.
- Thirdly to assist members in their marketing efforts and image-building.
- Finally to defend the interests of the trade in general for example towards national and European authorities.
The advantages to the members are developped in view of those objectives and include for example networking events both nationally as internationally and the collective marketing tools, like for instance the recently relaunch of the fifth version of the EAMTM database under the domainname www.machinedeal.com.
Your members agree to abide by an ethics code. What does this entail and what do you do in the case of abuse?
The Code of Ethics, similar to the one of the North American MDNA, is a guarantee to trustworthy trading. In other words machines are offered under clear title of ownership and correct description. Should conflicts arise between buyers and EAMTM members or between EAMTM members an Arbitration Committee composed by senior members of the Assocation will evaluate the complaint and propose solutions by mediation. In the case of a clear violation of the Code of Ethics the Association can terminate the membership of the accused member company. Please note that the EAMTM can not intervene in complaints against non-members nor in cases were legal steps are already in process.
For many years you have had an international portal for used machine tools containing more than 20.000 items. Who keeps this portal up-to-date and who pays for it?
The EAMTM on-line database is now at its fifth edition since the year 2000. It is multilingual and searchable database exclusively presenting machines for the metalworking industry from our members. The site operates without commissions or special fees by the users. All EAMTM members can enter their stock on-line as a service included in their membership. The site is owned and financed by the Assocation. The new version which is now ASP.net based (after initial version in Coldfusion and in Joomla) is as quated by a IT business analyst a „nice, clean and lightening fast site“. As mentioned earlier to assist local markets, spin-off sites have been created in France (www.machines-outils.com) and in the United Kingdom (www.MachineDealUK.co.uk). Since the implementation of the site last year December we have noted that the site finds its way on the internet in an excellent way reaching more and more visitors. After now four months the level now exceed by far that of the earlier versions.
There are also other portals, e.g. from the FDM and the USETEC, not to mention the dealers who have their own home pages with their own offers. What is your opinion of this wide range of choices?
The EAMTM fully understands the motives of the recent co-operation between the German assocation and the organisers of the international exhibition for used equipment. The EAMTM will in the near future evaluate this situation carefully in order to determine whether this move is in the interest of its members.
What do your members think about warranties? What do they offer to their customers?
Guarantees depend strongly from company to company. Our advise is to discuss this at the moment of purchasing machines. A trend to take back machines within a reasonable time frame in the case of serious technical problems or certainly to intervene to resolve problems with the equipment bought is noticed among EAMTM Members. They can also provide technical support when installing the machines. •
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