Despite the difficult market conditions, SUPERSERVICE has continued to build momentum, expand facilities and employ more technicians.
According to Jason Powter, SUPERSERVICE General Manager, the dedicated heavy equipment servicing business is going from strength to strength.
“We saw a slight dip in the initial stages of the COVID pandemic, but for us, it turned around quite quickly. We’ve picked up some major work, the business is growing, the customer base is growing and we are moving our services into different product profiles and ranges. To ensure we are able to service these new areas and customers, we have been increasing our staff numbers and also expanding the size and the capabilities of our facilities,” said Powter.
“Over the last six months, we’ve listened to the market-place and we have examined our customer’s needs. We also noticed that a number of good people were out of work as a result of the pandemic and we had some very well skilled people approach us to see if we had work available.
“We recognised the many benefits in both their personalities and skill levels so quickly took the opportunity to onboard these individuals further enhancing our team. We will continue to do this as we anticipate when the market recovers we will need to have the right level of resources in place to meet the expected increase in demand for our servicing expertise. We are currently in discussions with different companies from varying industry sectors, who can see the benefits of utilising our services,” he said.
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Preparing for the increase in demand has seen SUPERSERVICE expand its capabilities significantly, says Powter.
“Each of our state operations have seen an increase in staff of 20-30 percent. Most importantly however is the calibre of the people that we have employed. There are some extremely well credentialled technicians now working in the various branches that I’m extremely pleased to have welcomed to the SUPERSERVICE team. Our diversity allows us to handle complex and difficult repairs across all major heavy machinery manufacturing makes and types plus we now have the credentials to service Rail industry work and we have Port access.
“When you consider the business environment and the general lack of confidence the market has been experiencing, we are pleased with the growth we are achieving. It is a compliment to our team, and we are grateful to our repeat customers and the new customers that have come on board.
“Currently, we have a lot of opportunities in the sales pipeline for the next 12 months and when these customers are ready for the work to be completed, they’ll book their machines in. We are going to be very busy!”
According to Powter, the SUPERSERVICE facilities reflect the growth the business has recently experienced and will be ready to service the expected growth into the future.
“We have increased our yard and shed space in our Brisbane depot by almost 800 m2 to accommodate the increase in work levels and larger equipment.
“In Sydney, we’ve relocated to a new facility in Smithfield which is in the heartland of Sydney’s crane sector. We now have 1000m2 of shed, an overhead crane and 2000m2 of yard. Prior to this new facility, our service model was heavily mobile orientated. We now have a depot and a yard which allows the customers to bring their machines in for inspections and repairs which will make a big difference to the way we operate,” he said. The new facilities have enabled SUPERSERVICE to increase the size of the cranes it is able to service and repair.
“We’ve also invested heavily in tooling for all states. We recently brought on board 100t presses, pumping equipment, diagnostic testing equipment, a hydraulic test bench and load cells. This additional tooling enables us to work on the customer’s machines more effectively and efficiently to turn the customer’s equipment around faster. We are also gearing up to be able to provide air conditioning repairs and refills leading into the hotter months.
“A number of major customers are seeing the benefit of regular preventative maintenance and service schedules. Their machines run trouble free and are not stopping, customers are making the expected return on the equipment they are operating,” he said.
With the new facilities providing extra capacity and capabilities, Powter has been talking to insurance assessors letting them know that SUPERSERVICE is available to assist in any insurance assessments and quotations.
“We are continually evolving our business to suit the demands and requirements of the customer, but we are realistic about the size of the job we are able to take on.”
“As a business, we are increasing our commitment to apprentices. We now have three full time apprentices in Brisbane with a fourth ‘school based’ trainee. We have committed to a continual program of giving young school leavers an opportunity to gain an apprenticeship and we are looking at beginning this in Sydney in November and in Victoria shortly after,” said Powter.
Powter sees an opportunity with the market in Melbourne where up until now; SUPERSERVICE has operated a relatively small team.
“A highly qualified technician spoke to me earlier in the year. He has a vast depth of knowledge around large lattice boom and tower cranes and I saw an opportunity to bring him on board to further expand our depth and services to these markets.
“We are very interested in talking to customers about their remote regional servicing requirements; we are currently talking to a number of different sectors. We were fortunate to be given the opportunity to work on some specialised energy equipment earlier in the year and there is an opportunity to continue building these relationships.
“We are more than happy to talk with customers about working remotely as well as managing FIFO work. We have onboarded specialists and have the skills to support major projects anywhere in the country,” he said.
“We’ve been increasing our mobile service fleet and we are now up to vehicle 21. We have stepped up capabilities of the service vehicles by introducing a new ISUZU Workmate. It is a heavier duty vehicle which is equipped with larger tools and equipment which in turn enables our technicians to service larger machines,” said Powter.
It is a bright future and the SUPERSERVICE team are ready to demonstrate their experience and solutions-based approach to servicing heavy equipment.