Anyone with more than one day's experience in the construction industry will realize that price may get a contractor to try a product, but if that product is not properly supported by the dealer and/or manufacturer, then that contractor will not be a customer for long. Armed with this knowledge, several light equipment manufacturers have banded together with Equipro in support of a new service concept, offering their customers a higher level of product support.

The service innovation originated with Wacker Corporation of Menomonee Falls, Wis., and is currently joined by four other industry manufacturers as alliance partners — ICS, Blount Inc., MK Diamond Products, Inc., Mi-T-M Corporation, and Sullair Corporation.

Equipro is a new, national franchise service center concept targeted at light equipment users of participating manufacturers. EQUIPRO's operations manager Dan Bennett says, "In recent years, we have noticed a gap in service coverage for light equipment users. Many national and some regional dealers have cut back on service and parts support, and the length of time required for light equipment service has increased."

As a result a lot of light equipment is abandoned long before its useful life has been exhausted. This is not like throwing money away; it is throwing it away. There has always been a lack of service for the light equipment end of the market.

This service gap potentially results in longer downtime, longer replacement equipment rental periods and greater expense for the customer. The Equipro concept focuses on the special needs of light equipment users in order to deliver timelier and a higher quality of service.

Core to the Equipro business model are three key components:

• The manufacturer alliance partners
• The Metro Service Specialist (MSS)
• The service-only franchise service centers

Equipro is open to non-competitive manufacturers of light construction equipment. The number of participating manufacturers within a given market may vary. The decision to participate is made by the manufacturer based on the equipment concentration within the metro area covered by Equipro. The service-only network offers manufacturers a chance to better support its customers within the area through a parts-stocking service center directly tied to the manufacturer and by assisting the existing dealer base to handle service overruns.

The MSS is an Equipro employee who has an in-depth knowledge of the participating manufacturer's equipment. The MSS's job is to work with contractors and new equipment dealers to boost the level of product support. The MSS helps by ensuring any service overloads from the new equipment dealer are covered. These specialists offer on-site service support and equipment pickup and delivery. Additionally, the MSS and Equipro service center are up to speed on warranty items and will take care of these issues for the customer.

Equipro offers service integrity in a non-competitive environment that will not challenge sales opportunities for the manufacturers' existing dealer network. The service personnel are factory-trained, so customers can be assured their equipment receives the proper repairs. Focusing solely on light equipment, Equipro service centers can often turn around a piece of equipment in a shorter time than multi-line dealers or rental houses and at a comparable price.

Additionally, these service centers provide support for the engines on the equipment. Authorized full-service repair, parts and warranty support are available for Briggs, Honda, Kohler, Robin, and Wacker powered equipment. Other engine types will be supported with limited levels of service.

Each Equipro service center receives service bulletins and parts information from the various participating manufacturers. All centers are stocking dealers, and they are tied directly to the manufacturers for parts ordering through a recently developed web-based integrated repair and ordering program.

The business system not only allows the service center to run their parts and repair operations, but also provides a fully integrated inventory and logistics capability. Daily parts demand is batched along with stock replenishments and delivered electronically to the manufacturer for order fulfillment. Reduced processing time and automatic response to demand at the service center ensures customers' timely access to replacement parts, thereby reducing equipment downtime.

"With new equipment dealers either cutting back on or having a hard time finding qualified technicians, they are overloaded with service work," comments Alan Franklin, the MSS for the Equipro service center in Houston. "Often these dealers will focus on the higher profit, heavy equipment pieces first, which leads to significant increases in service turn-around time for the light equipment."

Equipro's service concept is the perfect fit for those contractors who have limited equipment-servicing capabilities. Houston, Texas-based Lone Star Road Construction, Ltd. owns and rents a myriad of light and heavy construction equipment for its roads and bridges projects. Currently, the contractor has only one service technician, but he is kept busy working on Lone Star's heavy equipment fleet. In the past, the company had to rely solely on the new light equipment dealer for repairs. That was until a few years ago.

Lone Star purchased a piece of equipment from its rental dealer and shortly after had to return it for some service work. The dealer's service department kept the item for two weeks, and then told Lone Star it could not be fixed. After learning about the Houston Equipro service center, Dwane Hubble, a partner for Lone Star, took the piece of equipment to Equipro for service.

The service center quickly diagnosed and fixed the problem and returned the equipment back to the contractor. "On top of fixing it, Equipro knew that the repair was a warranty issue, and this helped settle a dispute over the repairs we had with the rental company's service department," comments Hubble.

Ever since this incident, Hubble has been sold on the new Equipro concept. The service-only outlet has also helped Lone Star come up with money-saving solutions for down equipment as well. Hubble cites another example of why he is still an Equipro customer.

Lone Star had purchased a new concrete saw, which was accidentally run over by a truck. The main structure of the saw was still intact, but it would not operate. Alan Franklin knew the contractor had another saw that was down and not worth fixing. He salvaged the replacement parts from the down saw, which gave Lone Star one working saw instead of two down saws. "I like the integrity of Equipro's service department," says Hubble. "I trust Alan (Franklin), and Equipro stays on top of the equipment we have in the shop."

Beyond providing the customer excellent service at a comparable price, Equipro is a win-win solution for manufacturers and equipment dealers alike. "It helps all parties involved," says Franklin. For the manufacturers participating in the Equipro alliance, it gives their customers another outlet for repair work.

It benefits those manufacturers who have a large concentration of equipment within a given market but are lacking a strong product support program. It gives the manufacturer a chance to better serve the customer through a service center that is willing to stock parts in an effort to shorten product downtime. "It's inevitable that the equipment will need repair at some time in its service life," explains Bennett. "If manufacturers can deliver better product support for their customers, this will keep customers coming back."

For the dealer, the service-only Equipro center is a place to outsource overrun repair equipment without the threat of losing new equipment sales. Since these service centers stock many of the most commonly used parts, it is also an emergency replacement parts source for the dealer. According to Franklin, "Some dealers at first see us as a potential competitor. However, that only lasts until they need service support with a warranty item or a part. That's when they see us as a partner."

Equipro can also lead to new equipment sales for the manufacturer's existing dealer network. When a piece of equipment is brought into an Equipro outlet for service but is no longer worth fixing, the existing new equipment dealer gets the sale, not the service center.

Currently the Equipro network covers 12 of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States, with new locations being continuously pursued. Now that the concept has proven successful, the company is focusing more aggressively on expanding the network in all major metro markets.

A significant piece to the puzzle lies in signing additional manufacturers to participate in the Equipro concept. But as Bennett points out, Equipro is not for every manufacturer in every market. "A manufacturer must have an established presence in the market for it to be a viable venture," he says. "Since Equipro centers provide only service, it is not a way for manufacturers to expand into a market without new equipment representation."

However with the positive experience in the 12 markets, Equipro and Wacker are confident of the venture's successful growth. This, in turn, will lead to benefits for light equipment customers, dealers and manufacturers alike for a growing number of markets in the United States.