Standa is a hydraulic braking system that has been around for 15 years, used by most of the major truck and lorry manufacturers. It has been very reliable, but has perhaps lost its way and key customers are starting to specify other systems in their trucks. The reason for this is that there has been little in the way of product development. Until now!

New Standa Plus has been developed, which uses polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) to prolong the life of the system. PTFE is a very slippery coating that reduces friction wear dramatically (in the household it is used on non-stick pans). The use of this coating in hydraulic systems is revolutionary.

The PTFE coating is a major advancement for the product type, as it will prolong the life of the system by up to 50 per cent (independent tests by Hydromatics Testers Ltd).

The reason the new PTFE coating is so special is that up until now it was impossible to get the PTFE to stick effectively to the piston metal. This was due to the fact that the hydraulic fluid would find any imperfections in the coating, and there were always some, and this would cause the PTFE to separate from the metal of the piston. The Standard Hydraulics R&D team have discovered a new process, using liquid nitrogen as the solvent for the PTFE, which delivers a blemish-free coating. The added bonus is that the coating can now be applied to both pistons and cylinders.

Thus the system becomes virtually friction free and New Standa Plus is now guaranteed for a minimum of 15 years – longer than the lifetime of the average truck itself and certainly up to 50 per cent longer than the competition’s products. The New Standa Plus PTFE coating technology is patented as ‘SuperPTFE’. As such, it cannot be directly copied by any other hydraulic braking system manufacturer.

The advertising that will run for the product in the technical press is based on the concept that New Standa Plus is built to last longer than the trucks.

Task In the role of sales representative for Standard Hydraulics you are required to put together a sales pitch to purchasing teams at potential new customers. You will need to convince the prospects to switch from their existing hydraulic system to New Standa Plus. You should assume that you will make a PowerPoint presentation to the buying group, which will consist of the Manufacturing Director, Production Manager, Technical Designer, Financial Director and Managing Director. You would be advised to include something for each of them to be impressed with. You should use the information given about the product to form the basis for your sales pitch. In your sales presentation you will need to communicate the following:

● The Standa hydraulic braking system has been radically improved by the addition of PTFE

(polytetrafluoroethylene) coating to the hydraulic pistons and cylinders.

● The name of the new system is New Standa Plus.

● The effect of the product improvement is that it dramatically prolongs the working life of the bearings.

● The company is a leading-edge manufacturer of hydraulics. You might consider using the corporate claim/slogan ‘Standard Hydraulics, the new Standard in Hydraulics’.
Source: Written by Andrew Pressey, Lecturer in Marketing, University of East Anglia; Neville Hunt, Lecturer in Marketing, University of Luton.