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CEDMag.com - July 2011 Articles
Questions or feedback?
Contact Kim Phelan at (800) 388-0650 ext. 340.
JULY 2011
- Re-Rent Can Be a Win-Win-Win, But Watch the Margin
By Giles Lambertson
Happy customer and two dealers make money, versus lost customer and units left in the yard – under the right conditions, it pays to work together for the (customer's) greater good.
XYZ Construction Company was happy with the way its 850K Deere dozer ripped up the old runway on the project site, but the 22-ton crawler was too much machine for fine grading the site's new roadbed. So XYZ called a local Deere dealer to rent a smaller 650J for the finish work.
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- Equipment Management By The Book
By Joanne Costin
Equipment Manager Mike Munson talks about fleet management the 'Austin Way.'
Austin Bridge & Road Equipment Manager Mike Munson is thankful for the book. The book is the Austin Way Equipment Manual, and when Munson arrived in his position from another industry in 2009, it provided a blueprint for him – answering many, if not all, of his questions about how and why Austin Bridge & Road managed its fleet.
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- Hooked on Attachments
Attachments Buyer's Guide
By CED Magazine
CED presents its annual Attachments Buyers' Guide special section, featuring the products of nearly 50 individual manufacturers – a 60 percent increase over last year's participants – and they're rolling out a parade of new models for your review. Each is also offering sales opportunities for AED dealers.
CED extends a particular note of recognition to all the attachments manufacturers that supported this issue through generous advertisements. Thank you!
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- Hazy, Hot, Humid, and Highways!
Special Report: AED in Washington
By Dennis Kruepke
AED Chairman tells Congress to make highway reauthorization a top priority.
When I took over as AED's 2011 chairman in January, one of my top priorities was to enhance the value proposition of the association's government affairs program and to continue to fight for legislation to spur economic growth and job creation in our industry.
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- Government Action on Capitol Hill a Continued Focus
From the Chairman
By Dennis Kruepke
It's time to stop the uncertainty and get the industry back on track!
By now you should have seen several articles written about the recent 2011 AED Washington Fly-In, which was attended by senior executives from equipment distributors, manufacturer representatives and industry service providers. Prior to this event, our AED Washington staff surveyed the membership, and, interestingly, the highest priority was reducing the national debt and creating fiscal stability; our normal top priority of investing in the future with a new multiyear highway bill came in second. No mater what side of the aisle you are on, most everyone agrees that our national debt of $14.3 trillion and growing must be reduced and controlled for long-term health and stability of our nation.
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- A 'Good Citizen' of Our Industry Reflects on a Gratifying Career
Editor's Note
By Kim Phelan
A tribute to CED columnist Bill Sitter, industry veteran, retiring executive recruiter, and friend.
One of the fringe benefits of parenting teenagers is that you hear some of the flat-out funniest stories ever. Like the one about my son's friend who was pet-sitting for people who went on vacation. Turns out the dog got sick and died, but the girl had no car with which to transport it to – well, wherever you take dead pets. So she stuffed the dog in a suitcase and took a bus. But she set it down somewhere along the way, turned her back, and somebody stole the suitcase. Eeww.
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- Surprise, Surprise - 2011 May Be Better Than I Expected
On the Numbers
By Garry Bartecki
What's going to drive equipment sales for the duration of this year?
3...3...50... What have we got here? Sounds like a quarterback calling a play. Or maybe a combination to the safe containing the mysteries of U.S. equipment markets. Or maybe it was just Eli. Take your pick.
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- Business Transitions - How to Plan for Positive Outcomes
Recruitment & Retention
By Bill Sitter
Communicate intentionally and with transparency to your key stakeholders, including customers.
For 20 years, it has been my pleasure to contribute articles geared to helping AED dealers and OEMs enhance their human resources efforts to "Hire the Best." Thanks to my friend, CED Editor Kim Phelan, for encouraging me to use my background and the timing of our firm’s transition to address this month's topic about smooth and successful business transition.
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- It is Time to Grow Out of This New Reality
Aftermarket
By Ron Slee
Those who interface with your customers, and the data and tools that help them, are key to your prosperity.
As the economy continues to sputter along, I think it is time to get off defense and start taking a strongly aggressive position and grow our business. Let's first remember, you don't make a profit with cost cutting. You make a profit with growing sales. So get back to growing sales again.
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- Protect American Jobs by Protecting Employers' Rights
View from the Hill
By Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
A new senate bill seeks to rein in NLRB's over-reach in decisions about where a company may or may not locate.
On May 12, I joined with South Carolina Senators Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint, along with 31 additional Republican senators, to introduce the Job Protection Act, a bill to preserve the federal law's current protection of state right-towork laws.
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- The AED/Lawson Executive Forum Presents: Building a Customer-Driven Dealership
Inside AED
AED Forum Speaker Brian Giamo challenges you to rethink your approach to business.
When times were good, AED dealers did just fine running reactive businesses. "They were taking orders, the parts counters were busy, and the service bays were full," said Brian Giamo, founder and CEO of Channel Economics. "But many got into a mode of just keep up with the business that was coming in the door - some fundamentals were missing."
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- AED Seeks Fed Records on Construction Lending
Industry Beat
Exploring any underlying directives to explain continued credit crunch on contractors.
Associated Equipment Distributors (AED) recently filed a request with the Federal Reserve Board seeking policy documents on construction lending. In a Freedom of Information Act letter filed by AED’s Government Affairs Office, the association requested, "Board policy, directives, instructions, or guidance to banking institutions overseen by the Board and relating to lending to construction contractors and suppliers to the construction industry, especially equipment distributors." AED is also seeking "any reports or studies developed by the Board supporting or explaining current policies on lending to these entities." Fed policy on construction industry lending is significant because the Board supervises and regulates a wide range of financial institutions.
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- The Attachments Your Customers Want - Within 15 Days
A Closer Look
Woods Equipment helps make dealers profitable with industry-leading lead times.
Give Woods Equipment 10-15 days' lead-time, and your customers can have just about any attachment they want. Not just the traditional lineup of buckets, couplers, thumbs, box blades, and powered skid-steer attachments, but truly custom products. Sold under the names of well-known brands such as Alitec, Central Fabricators, Gannon, Woods and Wain-Roy, Woods Equipment offers attachments for a wide range of machines including wheel loaders, backhoes, skid-steers and mini-excavators through 800 metric ton excavators.
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- The 2011 Newly Redesigned Sany Excavator Line
New & Improved
The entire Sany Excavator Product Group has been completely redesigned for the North American market. Sany offers five models including the SY75C (16,050 pounds) the SY135C (29,760 pounds) SY215C (47,620 pounds) SY235C (51,809 pounds) and the SY335C (72,750 pounds).
The SY215 boasts a new ergonomic environment. High strength steel construction reduces the column area and increases visibility – effectively lessening machine blind spots. All machine controls have been ergonomically placed to reduce operator fatigue. Four working modes allow the operator to choose the appropriate engine and hydraulic settings for the work conditions, raising efficiency by 12 percent and reducing fuel consumption by 8 percent over previous models.
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- April Construction Unchanged From Prior Month
Dealer Data
Economist says the best to be expected this year for overall level of construction starts is flat activity.
New construction starts in April were reported at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $400.2 billion, basically the same amount as March, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies. Nonresidential building slipped back after its elevated March pace, while nonbuilding construction (public works and electric utilities) continued to retreat. In contrast, residential building in April registered a moderate gain, helped by upward movement for multifamily housing. During the first four months of 2011, total construction on an unadjusted basis came in at $122.1 billion, down 9 percent from the same period of 2010.
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- Re-evaluate Your Written Social Media Policy
By Jim Hendricks
Recent cases expand NLRB's interpretation of ‘Protected Concerted Activity' to include Facebook and other social media – Hint: Employees are allowed to say a lot more than you might like them to.
As if the fast-paced evolution of social media isn't reason enough, the recent "Facebook firing" case (and others in the pipeline and sure to follow) give employers new reason to re-evaluate and revamp their social media policies. It would be wise for employers not to ignore recent cases before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), attacking employers' social networking policies. This goes for union and non-union shops alike. If employers aren't careful, the language in their social media policies could get them into trouble. Language that restricts an employee's ability to comment on conditions of their employment may be seen as language that infringes on that employee's protected rights, thus exposing the employer to liability under federal labor laws.
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- New and Exciting Golf Experiences Added to Summit Auction
Groundwork
Your own custom-made set of clubs and a day with pros to use them is just the beginning.
The AED Foundation Live Auction for 2012 at AED's Summit will feature more golf-related items and experiences than ever before!
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- Building Customer Loyalty: By Wiliam Atkin son When You Care, They're Aware
Marketing
By Wiliam Atkinson
It's all about relationships – and changing your behavior, not the customer's.
The word "loyalty" has been hijacked by a lot of different people and groups to mean a lot of different things. That's according to James Kane, president of Loyalty Consulting (Shavertown, Pa.), a consulting firm that helps companies develop and implement strategies to build and maintain customer loyalty.
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