REGINA – Short-line farm equipment manufacturers say dealership consolidation makes it difficult for smaller builders to get shelf space in the reorganized regional system.”There was a time, not so long ago, when there was a farm machinery dealer every 20 or 25 miles. Right now it is 50 or 60 and you might drive for hours to find a dealership with different ownership,” Ray Malinowski of Leon’s Manufacturing in Yorkton, Sask., said during an Agricultural Manufacturers of Canada meeting held in Regina June 15.”A recent change is that we used to be able to market to a branch manager. Now we have to convince a company controller that our products deserve shelf space.”As a result, if one dealer stops handling a short-line manufacturer’s equipment or insists on better margins, little regional competition exists to balance the negotiations.Caterpillar has just three dealers in Western Canada: Toromont in Manitoba, Kramer in Saskatchewan and Finning in Alberta and British Columbia.”I have heard over the years that at some point there will be three or one or some other smaller number of Deere (dealership ownership groups) in Saskatchewan,” Malinowski said.AMC chair Brad Nelson of Honeybee Manufacturing in Frontier, Sask., said the new, consolidated dealerships still need short-line equipment to meet farmer demand.”We know more about what farmers need and have to keep them aware of our products,” he said.Gary Harris of Westward Products in Red Deer said his company now sells directly to farmer customers over the internet.”We credit (the buyer’s local dealer) with the sale, but we need to keep up with customer needs. It keeps our products in demand and that makes our dealers happy.”Westward has added an on-line inventory system that lets dealers know what products and parts are available and where.”It makes it easier for them to sell our products.”The system now supports more than 1,000 sales points. The company has also added on-line credit card purchase processing that does more than $2 million in sales annually.Malinowski said an Australian short-line company with which he has worked uses local machine shops and other providers to act as warranty and parts centres while it looks after sales from head office. As a result, the company has been able to work around the full-line dealers to reach farmers.”It’s a lot like the (home) appliance model we have for service and parts in Canada,” he said.Ken Swaving of the grain-handling company Walinga in Ontario said keeping farmers aware of short-line products is important when persuading full-line dealers to stay interested.Nelson agreed, saying it is critical for his company to promote its harvesting equipment on-line.”Farmers do more research about their purchases than in the past. Awareness is what creates the basis of a sale,” he said.Malinowski said smaller manufacturers must hire workers beyond welders, engineers and salespeople.”We need new sorts of talent, computer savvy folks who can make (short-line company) websites capable of comparing competitive products, letting farmers make those competitive decisions.”
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