It has been a year since Gerard van der Knijff of ERC Machinery and Rutger Keurhorst of Qreenno approached Nico Nieuwenhuize of strategy and marketing agency ZICHZACH. The merger of ERC, Qreenno and Propak meant it was time for a repositioning with clear core values. Together they found the answer to the question: Eqraft.

Since its founding in 1984, ERC Machinery had been an international player in complete plant installation, with the closed onion-topper as its best-known success. But ERC had to change in line with the changing market, tough competition and high client demands – from general construction work to integral advice and delivering custom-built machines. Collaboration with Qreenno’s “efficiency engineers” matched this well. When ERC took over Propak’s operations in mid-2016, Gerard and Rutger realised that a clear repositioning was needed.

Rutger: “Together with our clients worldwide, we want to build the factory of the future, so that’s the message we want to get across.” ERC, Qreenno and Propak had to go forward under a powerful new name with clear core values, a positive signal to both clients and suppliers and to the team.

The first step in this quest was a clear definition of the company identity. That’s when strategy and marketing agency ZICHZACH entered the picture. The ZICHZACH team talked to the employees, both in management and sales and in engineering, production and service.

They asked about their careers, vision and personal motivations. That’s how the core values came to be defined: craftsmanship, ambition, innovation, an integrated approach and a global network.

These core values were then introduced into the rest of the corporate identity, including the new name, visual identity, the logo and the new website. Nico: “The name Eqraft is short, powerful, international and future-oriented. The name engenders associations with ‘craftsmanship’, but then reinvented. The E and the Q are reminiscent of ERC and Qreenno, but also stand for engineering, electronic and quality. The trademark is a cube which symbolises a factory, a machine and processed products.” Gerard: “We’re proud of our heritage, but we’re also pioneers in the latest developments – that’s why we opted for a fresh yellow colour, which you don’t come across that often in this sector.”

The introduction of Eqraft as a brand, the launch of the website and this magazine, and the presence of Eqraft at the Fruit Logistica expo in Berlin were the next steps. Now Eqraft is completely prepared for the future!

Clod Separator