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www.marinelink.com 61?It was December 23, 2005, and that lit a Þ re under me to build my own equipment. I started building my own tank barges. The Þ rst two barges were delivered in Q1 2008, and we?re about to launch barge 537, so we?ve built 37 barges between 2008 and now.? The M/V Karl Senner and the M/V Dickie Gonsoulin are the second and third of a Þ ve boat series, all 95 x 34 ft., though the Karl will have Mitsubishi power and the Dickie Caterpillar 3512s. All, naturally, will have Reintjes gears. ?The relationship (with Senner) goes back to my father and Mr. Karl,? said Gonsoulin. ?We became friends and business partners quite a few years ago. We don?t exclusively have Karl Senner supplied Reintjes gears, but that?s usu- ally because of boats we bought that had other gears in them. But if we build new or repower, we go exclusively with Re- intjes gearboxes.?Gonsoulin said the quality of the prod-uct is important, but more so the after sales service that has cemented the re-lationship with Senner. With the wa- terways being unpredictable, problems may arise unexpectedly, and when they do, resolving them efÞ ciently and effec- tively is critical to the bottom line.?It?s all about trust and service,? Gon- soulin said. ?If we ever have a problem, these guys do a wonderful job as they get things done and the boats going for us. They have swing gears sitting on the ß oor us, to get our boat operating again quickly. If it wasn?t for their willingness to have a spare sitting on the ß oor for us in New Orleans, to have that money sitting on the ß oor, we would be down for the count (with a failure). We either would have had to wait for another unit from Germany or we would have had to install another gear.? According to Senner the company cur- rently maintains approximately $14m in spare parts, and the main challenge is simply knowing which spares to stock. While many companies may eschew having that much capital tied up in parts, Senner sees it as a central plank to its business model. ?We conduct an annual evaluation of the equipment we have running to give us a good indication of where we need to invest (in spares). But really, it simply comes down to commu- nicating with the customers.?See us at WorkBoat Show booth #1650 The man with his jacket over his sleeve is Karl Senner, and the man to the right of him with his hand behind his back is Dickie Gonsoulin. The woman to the left of Karl Senner is his wife Gerda Senner, and the man with his legs crossed, hands folded, and glasses was Mr. Muller, the managing director of Reintjes at the time. The photo was taken in Germany at the Reintjes factory in the 1970s, with Senner and Gonsoulin honorary guests of the city of Hameln. Dickie Gonsoulin remembers they were still rebuilding Germany at this time, but was amazed by efÞ ciency, work ethic, cleanliness, and precision of the Reintjes factory. A bond forged more than 40 years ago stands strong today. L to R: Chris Senner, Jon Gonsoulin and Ralph Senner. MR #9 (58-65).indd 61MR #9 (58-65).indd 619/6/2013 10:34:50 AM9/6/2013 10:34:50 AM