This year, Würth New Zealand is celebrating its 35th anniversary having established the business here in 1988. The Kiwi company is backed by parent company Würth Germany – operating since 1945 – and is “well known globally as the largest supplier of fastening and fixing assemblies employing almost 90,000 people,” says Würth NZ’s managing director, David Paterson.
“While Würth New Zealand has grown from just a few sales reps to now over 200, it was initially supplying predominately the automotive industry. The huge opportunities within the construction sector have now seena this division grow rapidly in the past 10 years to now equate to almost half of their annual revenue,” says Paterson.
“Given the Würth Group is the largest supplier of fasteners in the world you can imagine we also have all the latest technology. From this point of view, we aren’t just talking about products and product development. We also have high end e-procurement solutions such as vending machines, all linked seeminglessly to our e-shop and systems.”
Systems are where Würth NZ shines.
“We tailor make systems for our customers to stock the goods they need from us. It may be as simple as a rack, or it could be a 20ft site container. This is much more than a storage solution; it is all labelled and barcoded for re-order by either our app on a mobile device or whilst your local sales rep is onsite servicing your account. We become your storeperson and partner with you throughout any project.”
Many companies are moving to e-solutions in order to reduce their sales reps in the field. Würth, however, offers a dual approach. Paterson says the company has the best e-procurement solutions but also incorporate an “old school” mentality and realise that for a customer to receive the optimum service they must also see a sales representative.
“The e-shop is great to reorder, but it is the sales rep who can offer the best support and advice. With our sales force literally scattered all over New Zealand there is no customer we cannot meet with face to face. In essence, we love to visit our customers, no matter where they are.
“Our customer base continues to grow, so we continue to employ more sales reps. On top of this, a new recent edition was the employment of technical sales engineer, Jerry Ma, who has a master’s in civil engineering and joined Würth New Zealand in October 2022. “
Ma comes with years of experience in the construction field, specifically in mechanical and chemical anchors. “The key reason behind this strategy is to support our customers in a high-level technical manner when it comes to specifying the correct product or ensuring that Würth has a product to suit.
“We pride ourselves in the highest level of quality and are ISO accredited for ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001. Recently, we also became only the second company and first fastening specific supplier in New Zealand to gain accreditation with SCNZ (Steel Construction New Zealand) for the Bolt Importer Charter.”
What does this mean? The Importer Bolt Charter ensures that fasteners and anchor bolts supplied to the local steel construction sector are sourced using good procurement practise and represents a mark of excellence for bolt importers. “For Würth this is critical when we see the poor level in which some fasteners are manufactured globally.”
However, Würth is not just a fastener supplier. The company’s product range contains over 20,000 items and within this range is PPE, cutting and drilling consumables, adhesives, lubricants, hand tools, battery tools along with many more general consumable items.
“If we don’t stock it here, we can leverage Würth Germany who holds over 150,000 items. If they also don’t have it, we can potentially procure it through our specialised team,” says Paterson.
A good example of this was supporting the major construction project in Christchurch, Te Kaha Stadium. For this, Würth had specifically manufactured M52 8.8 galvanised threaded HD bolts at various lengths. These were fully certified and delivered in mass at end of production.
“With our connections and supply chain security we can procure even the oddest specifically designed fasteners even if they are way outside the ‘norm’.
“The future for Würth New Zealand will continue in its current trajectory. We will search out new customers, grow our business, and in turn grow our sales force. In order to support not only our new customer but also our current customers we will continually expand our product range.
“We believe no matter what the economic situation is or what challenges we face, the future is still bright. If you would like to connect with us in anyway, please reach out on any of the available platforms we have.”