Bill Ehlinger Jr., product support sales representative.

Edward Ehrbar's latest product support sales representative (PSSR) is new to his role, but not to the equipment distribution industry. William “Bill” Ehlinger Jr. has spent 37 years as a parts counterman, the last 26 with Ehrbar.

“I've enjoyed my years on the parts counter, but when this opportunity arose, I thought about it and concluded it was time for a new challenge,” Ehlinger said. “I know a lot of our customers already from when they come in to pick up parts. I look forward to working with them in a more proactive way as a PSSR. I may not know everything, but I know the people who do, and I'll make sure any parts or service issue gets attention right away.”

Ehlinger started with Ehrbar at the company's Bronx location before moving to the Long Island branch in 1994. He made the change to PSSR late in 2015 and serves Suffolk County, Long Island.

“My goal as a PSSR will be to help our customers reduce their downtime emergencies and improve their equipment owning and operating costs,” Ehlinger explained. “I'll do that by keeping a close eye on their machines, both through onsite visits and KOMTRAX, the Komatsu machine monitoring system that allows us to electronically track a myriad of items regarding machine performance and maintenance. If a unit needs parts or service, I'll inform the customer, and together, we'll figure out the best way to proceed.

“The idea is to implement a repair-before-failure philosophy, which virtually eliminates unexpected downtime,” he added. “If you run a machine to failure, it's almost always an expensive repair, but the downtime is often even more costly. Profits can get eaten up in a hurry when you factor in the labor costs associated with employees not working when a mainline machine is down on top of the cost of falling behind on a job. Komatsu has years of records, so it knows when a wear part needs to be replaced. I'll keep customers informed of that, in addition to performing regular machine inspections to check for any other pre-failure warning signs.”

Why Komatsu? Why Ehrbar?

Ehlinger said he's absolutely convinced that the combination of Komatsu and Ehrbar is a winning one for equipment users in the New York City area. “We sell great equipment. Komatsu — and all our product lines for that matter — are true industry leaders. The technology is cutting edge, the reliability is second-to-none and the machines hold their resale value. As for Ehrbar, I believe we've always been known for top support with a personal touch. Customers aren't just numbers to us. They're our friends. We care about them, and we are committed to acting in their best interests. I think that's what keeps our customers coming back.”

(Republished with permission from Ehrbar Advantage Jan. 2016.)

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