HISTORY | OKtoberfest

With this year’s celebrations of Oktoberfest at Modern Motor Trimmers, we thought we’d better take a quick look at the origins of the event.

The first Oktoberfest took place on October 12, 1810 with the marriage in Bavaria of Crown Prince Ludwig, who you may know as King Ludwig I, to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen.

Five days after the marriage took place, a large fest (festival, party, good excuse to eat and drink) took place outside one of the gates leading to Munich, called the Sendlinger Tor. It seems that this started a tradition, and Oktoberfest was borne. Some of the activities that have come and gone were horse races, that lasted until 1938 and an agricultural fair.

But the event most of us know Oktoberfest for was added in 1818 - Pubs including performers. This proved to be a great tourist attraction, and so it continues to this day. In terms of the beers (or biers) that are consumed these days, they tend to be lighter in color and body than the traditional style.

The actual dates for the modern event betrays its name, the annual 16 day “fest” starts in September beginning on a Saturday and always ending on the first Sunday in October. 

The MMT Oktoberfest promotion also starts in September, but we will cheat a little, and extend out throughout the whole of October.

HISTORY | The History of ISRI

As anyone who has dealt with Modern Motor Trimmers over the years knows, we have become famous not only because of our service, but because of the “ISRI” - ISRINGHAUSEN seat that we supply and fit.

To borrow some “marketing talk”, Isringhausen is the “global market leader in the development and manufacture of innovative seating systems for commercial vehicles, with a product range used in trucks, buses and construction equipment”.

To make these seats takes some effort, and to do so ISRI need 49 plants across 20 countries in order to generate the number of product required to satisfy worldwide demand.

But this hasn't been a short journey to where they are today. The company first commenced operations in Bielefeld in 1919, when it began as a manufacturer of bicycle seats and springs, the same year as the German made Kalkhoff bike was sprouting into existence. These were the times when bikes such as the Raleigh Model D Roadster, promoted as the “All Steel Bike” were in vogue in the UK.

At the time Bielefeld was a town that was well known for manufacture and steel works, so it was a good place for ISRI to get off the ground.

Moving forward some years, it was a good 38 years later that the company moved to Lemgo, also in Germany. Lemgo had been founded in the 12th century by Bernard II, Lord of Lippe at the crossroad of two merchant routes. This geography proved helpful for early companies moving product from their manufacturing facilities into customers hands. It was during this period in Lemgo, that the production of ISRI seats for construction machines began. This proved to be a pivotal point in the company’s history.

In the following decades the ISRI range expanded to include the production of seats for other commercial vehicles, including buses, vans and trucks. It was during this timeframe that major innovations such as the height-adjustable integrated three-point belt were manufactured which further established the company as a world leader. Fast forward to 1972, ISRI designed the first automatic self-levelling air suspension seat for commercial vehicles, which further solidified it’s market standing.

Now you will see the ISRI seat being specified as equipment of choice by many of the big name truck, bus, train and van manufacturers including Volvo, DaimlerChrysler, MAN, Scania, IVECO, Ford, DAF, Citroen and Renault.

Being the month of October, and given the German history of the company, we have been celebrating Oktoberfest here at Modern Motor Trimmers, so we hope you’ve got into the spirit as we reflect back on where this all started from.

We can’t wait for two years time when ISRI turns 100.

PRODUCTS | World Class seat belts to ensure your safety

Modern Motor Trimmers have recently been awarded the distributor rights for Klippan Seats Belts, through its relationship with APV Safety Products. This relationship goes hand in hand with our existing product offering, to enable us to offer just that little bit more to our customers.

APV Safety Products are currently viewed as a market leader in providing safety restraint and seat belt systems for Coach, Defence, Industrial, Fork Lift, Motor-Sport sectors and the Automotive Aftermarkets. With a commitment to innovation, quality and customer service, the company has grown into the largest aftermarket seat belt supplier in Australia.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Klippan name, the company’s philosophy is provide drivers and occupants with functions for safe driving and high living comfort. They have a focus on 3 main products lines – bed systems, cargo storage solutions and restraint systems which are supplied to most of Europe’s leading truck manufacturers as well as safety nets and belt products to many first tier suppliers in Europe.

The company started in 1877 as a rope works in Sweden. It took another 76 years for the company to introduce the car safety belt in 1953.

Grant Van Elyswk, Sales Manager of MMT, says the APV partnership and having access to the Klippan product, ”will just keep that customisation mentality ticking over, both with us and in our customers minds.”

”This new product will allow us to offer just that little bit extra. Anytime we can find a good product, that fits in with what we already do, that we can get to our customers quickly, it’s really a win-win for everyone. To be able to get a seat build done to a specific request, by having access to our own quality seat belts, it's going to translate to an even better service.”

While seat belts are not a front of mind product, Grant rightly points out their importance. ”Seat belts are one of those things, many people only start making assessments of them after something has gone wrong. So it’s up to us to make sure we’ve done this work before any incident arises, to make sure our customers are safe.” says Grant.