March 2021

NEWS Duplomatic Group has announced that Continental Hydraulics (Shakopee, Minnesota, USA) and Hydreco Inc (Rock Hill, South Carolina, USA) have combined their activities in North America, becoming a single company able to serve the industrial and mobile market with high professionalism and vision of the future. Duplomatic Group states that the move is an important step forward in its industrial plan, based on the strengthening of technical skills and customer service. Increased presence The merging of Hydreco’s and Continental Hydraulics’ North American operations has jointly increased their presence in the US, creating greater synergies across their distribution network. Duplomatic Group comments that this step might seem like a simple organisational or financial change, but it represents the implementation of one of the pillars of the strategic development of the Group. The synergy between the brands allows the Group to offer a catalogue of products and services capable of satisfying the needs of many companies through a single technology partner in motion control. On 31 December 2020, Continental Hydraulics Inc. acquired Hydreco Inc. Continental Hydraulics Inc. will remain as the only active Corporation for the Group in North America, while Hydreco Inc. will become a division of the same. Both Continental Hydraulics and Hydreco brands and product lines will be fully maintained, in recognition of the value of their highly successful track records in the industrial and the mobile 14 HYDRAULICS & PNEUMATICS March 2021 www.hpmag.co.uk Tyre inflation and pneumatics expert PCL has integrated its e-commerce and distributor portal into the longstanding , providing visitors with a user-friendly, one-stop shop for all product and support services. Featuring a stylish and easy to read layout, the enhanced website has been updated for convenience and ease of use. Distributors and end users will now have a single point of online access to PCL’s products, news, information, account management and order entry services – all in one easy-to-navigate site, containing everything they need to stay well-stocked and up to date. New features include: Find a dealer – allowing end users to carry out a simple search using their postcode or address to find their nearest distributors Click & collect – enabling orders to be collected from participating distributors Refined search filters – providing the ability to filter on attributes such as thread size, pressure rating and hose length Out of stock and low stock warnings PCL comments that, for partners, the website is an excellent tool to help their businesses run smoothly, enabling them to place orders online and access account information; with the distributor portal also providing exclusive access to PCL content, including promotions, marketing material, training, videos, templates and other downloads. Alongside this the website acts as an online catalogue of PCL’s full portfolio. From couplings and adaptors, hoses and fittings, tyre inflation and nitrogen products, to workshop equipment and air tools – all are featured clearly and concisely, listing features and benefits beside high quality images. When the distributor portal was first launched as a standalone site, it was quickly given the seal of approval from distributors, who welcomed the facility to place bulk and one-off orders for next day delivery, removing the need for lengthy, time-consuming emails listing each item by part number. The allocation of user dashboards makes returns, re-orders, price and stock checks, and keeping track of orders on UPS and account balances simple. Its integration into the PCL website aims to help partners flourish. PCL’s sales director, Lee Wright, comments: “The merging of our ecommerce site into our main website has required substantial investment and we are very pleased with the results. It meets our brief of providing a convenient and easy to navigate online facility for all our customer requirements. From a partnership point of view, we are always looking for ways to support our distributors and make the ordering system easier. The enhanced provides invaluable and efficient online access to our cutting-edge products, in addition to comprehensive sales and marketing tools for our partners to help their businesses grow.” PCL merges main website with online product portal Continental Hydraulics and Hydreco Inc combine their activities in North America markets respectively, while leveraging the common engineering excellence, application knowhow and experienced, helpful teams to grow their business footprint in the US. Both divisions’ locations, Shakopee (MN) and Rock Hill (SC), will remain in place, together with all existing contact information. The two customer service teams will now work interactively and interchangeable so that all customer enquiries to continue to be processed quickly and efficiently. Duplomatic Group, headquartered in Parabiago, Milan, Italy, designs and manufactures technology solutions for motion control in multiple sectors. Its three well-established market brands are Duplomatic Motion Solutions for industrial applications, Hydreco for mobile applications and Continental Hydraulics for industrial applications in North America. The Group has an international presence, with production plants in the US, China, India, Australia, Italy, Great Britain and commercial offices worldwide.