Construction Forecast Issue Home

March 30, 2000

Technology brings dealers, customers closer together

By SCOTT HIGHLAND
Smith Tractor & Equipment

The Internet is becoming an essential tool for equipment dealers and contractors. It can make the equipment channel more cost effective, equipment usage more efficient and can improve the relationship between dealers and their customers.

As an authorized distributor for several top-rated heavy equipment manufacturers, we work with corporate initiatives each year that will better serve the customer as well as make the dealership more efficient.

Over the years, I’ve marveled at the commonality of these initiatives from one manufacturer to another - every manufacturer is implementing similar programs - all based on the premise of offering the most complete equipment lines, service and financing to customers. Today they are all tied to using the Internet in some fashion.

The newest technological tool available to help support customers and their equipment is Global Positioning Systems, or GPS.

John Deere has recently expanded its industrial equipment lines to include excavators with operating weights of up to 167,602 lbs and articulated dump trucks rated from 25- to 40-metric ton payload capacities. The equipment can easily be fitted with a GPS system that aids owners in job costing and scheduling equipment as well as keeping track of maintenance.

First, it can pinpoint the location of each piece of equipment on which it is installed. This means that a large contractor with a hundred pieces of equipment in several states can generate daily reports locating the job site where each machine is working, which helps immensely with job costing, transportation planning, theft prevention and machine utilization. DeereTrax also keeps track of machine operating hours, which is not only helpful for job costing and utilization, it is critical for scheduling service and maintenance.

In phase two, which will be available later this year, it will transmit simple diagnostic information like engine RPM and operating temperature. Hydraulic pressure can be accessed daily using a Web browser and a specially designed Web application. This information will alert the machine owner or manager to potential machine or operator problems before a serious failure can take place or determine if a machine is being under utilized. It also will allow the field service technician to do simple diagnostics prior to visiting the job site.

The new DeereTrax GPS system is inexpensive and can be easily installed in equipment as small as Deere’s new Zero Tail Swing compact excavators. With the system, the location can be pinpointed at any time, discouraging theft of the smaller equipment.

The core of the system is a rugged communications controller, which houses a cellular modem and communications board. The system includes a cellular antenna and global positioning system antenna that receives location information from the global satellite system. The DeereTrax system was designed to be installed on any machine that has a 12- or 24- volt system so large contractors with several brands of equipment in their fleets can utilize one system to monitor all machinery. Machine owners will pay a modest price, currently estimated at about $300 per machine, for installation, with a small monthly fee to cover data requests. Once installed, the customer or the dealer can initiate a data query via the Internet and results will be immediately retrievable.

In addition, the Internet will give machinery owners access to parts catalogs and machine schematics, real time information about location of parts, whether or not they are back-ordered. It will allow owners to specify when and where parts will be delivered. There will be access to up-to-date tech manuals on line, and owners will be able to communicate directly with factory technical personnel about tractor maintenance or breakdowns. An owner and his sales representative can access equipment inventories worldwide to locate needed machinery, and communicate directly with the finance company over the Web to fund an acquisition. Machinery specifications for competitive machinery, owning and operating cost comparisons, direct communication with specific dealership personnel, all will be accomplished through the Internet.

As a dealer, we will use the systems to monitor when each tractor in our rental fleet of more than 400 machines needs maintenance and use location data to schedule efficient routes to send our field service or lube truck. It will also allow us the option of moving rental equipment to various locations throughout the area without having to bring it into a store location for maintenance or redeployment.

The real strength of a successful equipment distributor is the trusting, personal relationship it creates with each good customer. It is a common mistake to believe that the Internet will take some of the personal touch out of the business. We believe just the opposite. The Internet gives us more opportunities than ever to share information and communicate directly with each other for the betterment of both of our businesses. The challenge now is to put the infrastructure in place to utilize the power available to us.