Regular planned maintenance and timely service are keys to construction equipment productivity and performance.
Breakdowns bring costly downtime, improperly maintained machines operate at reduced efficiency, and compared to well-maintained equipment they wear out faster and are worth much less when it’s time to trade in or sell.
Numerous surveys confirm the high importance equipment owners place on after-sale service, and some respondents actually place excellence of service before quality of the product.
“Support after the sale is primary to the product,” said Carl Rogers, general manager of Ditch Witch Sales of Michigan.
For that reason, this longtime Ditch Witch dealership will soon launch a new service initiative to provide expanded on-site parts and service to its customers.
Three new service trucks will be on the road to serve customers in the field — one service truck will be based in Howell, one at the company’s location in Grandville and the other at a location in the Grayling area of northern Michigan with closer access to the Upper Peninsula.
Each service truck will be equipped with tools and inventories of replacement and wear parts, and operated by a trained service specialist.
“Having wear parts on service trucks is a big change,” said Rogers. “In our industry service trucks typically carry common repair parts but not wear parts, so this is a significant departure from the way it’s always been done.”
Current records of each truck’s parts inventory will be immediately available, and when a sold item is invoiced, it will be removed from the inventory and restocked.
“When a call comes in for parts or service GPS technology will be used to dispatch the truck nearest the caller. An electronic invoice will be generated by the service technician on site, the part or parts are removed from that vehicle’s inventory, and the customer is billed. On-site payment is not required,” Rogers said.
Three dealer sales trucks also will carry inventories of repair and wear parts.
“This is another departure from the norm in our industry. Sales personnel usually drive pickups, but don’t carry tools or parts. Our new initiative will put them in vehicles also stocked with repair and wear parts. The new trucks will have toppers covering the bed, and inside will be shelves and drawers with a selection of commonly needed parts. As parts are sold, truck inventories will be restocked.”
A seventh CSR (customer service representative) truck, also fully stocked with parts, travels throughout the state for assistance and support wherever needed.
In addition to genuine Ditch Witch parts, all seven trucks — service, sales, and CSR — also will stock Vermeer parts, enabling the dealership to service the two major brands of underground construction equipment.
According to Rogers the CSR truck is already outfitted, and customer response is enthusiastic.
This new service program was established in the 2013-14 winter months, and full implementation in 2014.
Benefits to the customer include:
• Significant reduction in response time to “machine down” calls;
• Faster and improved fulfillment of parts orders and replacement of wear parts;
• Development of new customer-dealership personnel relations;
• An opportunity to learn more about the Ditch Witch product line;
• The opportunity of competitive equipment owners to experience Ditch Witch service.
Both dealer locations have fully-equipped service departments and maintain large parts inventories.
“The key to all our efforts and the new mobile service initiative is to develop a culture of convenience for our customers,” said Rogers. “We want to make service as easy as it can be so they always call us when they need service. We are very excited about this new initiative and what it promises.”
Ditch Witch Sales of Michigan has served the state since 1969 selling and servicing the full line of Ditch Witch underground construction equipment, including trenchers; horizontal directional drilling equipment and downhole tools; drill pipe; tracking equipment; fluid mixing systems; vibratory plows; vacuum excavators; utility locators; equipment trailers and other support equipment and accessories.
For more information, call 877/481-9931 or visit www.ditchwitchmi.com.
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