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James Jenkinson became the new head of customer services at Farrel Ltd. in Great Britain in March 2013. Before that he was sales manager at a smaller technical firm. His CV was also enhanced by the eight years spent in Germany at ThyssenKrupp in Essen. Jenkinson was especially impressed by the strong growth seen at Farrel Ltd. over the last five years. ‘That gives us breathing space to grow in the core areas and also optimise customer services decisively,’ says the 53-year-old from Wales confidently. He will use his role in this segment in future to help create a broader basis to ensure that ever more customers receive adequate spare parts, customer service, and technical and sales support. ‘We must be able to keep pace with the strong growth in new installations and adapt our service accordingly. There is definitely still room for us to optimise the content of our technical customer service and expand it by continuing to add services which meet future needs. That is a challenge which especially appeals to me.’ In his role as head of customer service, Jenkinson sees himself as responsible for all areas positioned downstream of sales: setting up and commissioning new systems, supplying spare parts, carrying out all assembly activi‑ ties and repairing, overhauling and reconditioning used mixers. ‘My job as manager is thus wide-ranging – but at the moment I am primarily concerned with establishing a good customer service team for Great Britain, mostly due to the fact that our customer service network is continuing to grow throughout the world.’ The 53-year-old is married to an author of children’s books and has two sons aged 14 and 16. Jenkinson lives with his family in North Wales. The family loves nature and they regularly spend their holidays hiking in Scotland.

After completing his degree in Pakistan, Ali Akbar moved to Stuttgart to enrol on a Master of Science programme – after which he joined Harburg-Freudenberger in the Siegerland region where he currently works in the automation department. He is thrilled with the opportunity to be able to get involved in product development with a high degree of customer contact. ‘I really like my job, because it gives me a unique chance to hone my technical expertise and social skills in equal measure,’ says the married Pakistani from Lahore. His specific job is to attune products to the special needs of the customers, enhance them on the customer side and train customers how to use them. ‘Any machine is ultimately only as good as its operator,’ says Ali Akbar with a wink. ‘It’s an incredible amount of fun being able to support the users to ensure that they get the best out of the equipment.’ In addition, the 30-year-old is also involved in enhancing the increasingly more efficient control software, and it is something he does with passion: ‘For me, passion means continually working on producing the best products and services for our customers,’ says Ali Akbar. He has a clear opinion on the various companies coming together to form the HF MIXING GROUP: ‘There is often no clear concept when companies merge, but at the HF MIXING GROUP the big plan is discernible, although perhaps not yet in every little detail. Naturally such processes always involve change for some departments and individuals, but in the case of most mergers there are ultimately benefits for everyone, evident in aspects such as being in a stronger competitive position, saving money as a result of synergies in technology, procurement and capacity, and when it comes to product development and securing the long-term success of the company. The benefits can already be seen in the case of the HF MIXING GROUP.’