Tadano Oceania recently announced a restructure designed to further increase responsiveness to customer requirements and ensure the best management structure is in place to guide the release of new products following Tadano’s recent acquisitions.
James Greenwood, Tadano Oceania’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Director, discusses developments and what customers can expect to see.
“We’ve been working on the restructure for approximately 12 months, and the focus has been on providing customers with services designed to provide the maximum amount of uptime from their assets. My role is to ensure we have the right teams and personnel in positions to assist customers from the ground up. Following the recent acquisitions, we have access to a range of new products which we will be releasing over the coming months. We know customers are very interested in these developments, so it’s important we have the right structures in place to manage this interest,” said James.
“Our Managing Director, Takehiro Kusumoto, will continue to lead and manage relationships with our international business units, as well as with our headquarters’ executives and officers. I will focus on overseeing day-to-day operations here in Oceania. Having worked closely together for many years, our strong partnership has been a key contributor to Tadano Oceania’s ongoing success and together, we remain committed to driving the business forward,” said James.
He said the new business structure is predominantly focused on further improving customer service, minimising downtime and maximising uptime for the customer.
“As COO my job is to ensure we work on steps to continue providing industry-leading levels of commitment to our customers. We understand assets that aren’t working cost customers money, and this restructure is designed to avoid issues in the first place but when there is a problem, we are in a position to respond quickly to get the equipment operating as soon as possible to avoid costly downtime.
“With this responsiveness in mind, a key strategy is to ensure we have the right level of parts on hand in all locations. This means a continual examination of our parts strategy and wherever we need to, increase the investment in parts nationally,” he said.
The culture of Tadano Oceania as a place of work is another focus point.
“I spend a lot of time working with our people to ensure they feel Tadano Oceania is the right place for them. If we are going to continue providing industry leading service and support, we must ensure we have the right individuals in the right positions. This is a 24/7 industry and therefore a working day will never be 9 to 5. Our technical support team is on call 24 hours a day and our customers rely on our technicians to respond quickly if there is an issue. They are at the ‘coalface’ for the business, and it is my responsibility to ensure they have the right systems in place and the right levels of training and support to address the expectations of our customers, whilst maintaining healthy and positive work conditions for our team,” said James.
The restructuring has resulted in some familiar faces joining the team and others receive promotions. Howard Dean has been promoted to National Sales Manager and Global Product Manager for the CC range of lattice boom crawlers.
“Howard will be sharing his vast amount of knowledge and experience with our sales team whilst maintaining the depth of customer relationships he has developed over many years,” James said.
“Matthew Mills recently joined the team, and he will be assisting Howard with new crane sales in New South Wales. Since joining Tadano Oceania, Matthew has been involved with our used cranes, and there has been a significant increase in the quality of service we are delivering to our used clients.
“We are in the final stages of recruiting a new salesperson in Victoria, they will also be responsible for South Australia and Tasmania. Howard is focused on how we can increase our customer contact in these regions and we are working on strategies to accelerate that process.
“Joe Arena has moved from a National Product Support role to National Training and his new title is Capability Manager. His focus will be on internal training to accelerate the closing of any gaps which will ultimately help us support our customers better,” said James.
Nathan Regester has moved from National Service to General Manager of Service and Parts.
“Nathan has over 30 years of experience in our industry and has an excellent reputation with customers. He’s very customer oriented and responsive and he’ll be excellent in the service and parts role. David Lillistone has also been promoted to Product Support and Technical Support Manager. David is a very talented and highly skilled team member and he’s growing rapidly within the business. He’s very responsive and we’ve given him the opportunity to progress,” said James.
Michael Atherden remains in charge of all Tadano Oceania’s Engineering Services but he is also responsible for the new product range, which includes the knuckle boom PM product, the Oil & Steel Manitex product, the Nagano TUL product as well as the Valla electric pick and carry.
“Michael will focus on the new access and knuckle boom products and we’re growing our engineering platform as well, with Mitch Orupold, our Applications Engineer running this.
“Michael has been working on the new product strategy which has been accelerated because we’ll see these products coming to Australia in the next three to four months. We are finding the right partners, and they will align with our core values of customer service and support. More positions are being created to support that new business,” said James.
Tadano Group’s push for a sustainable future is gathering momentum with the explicit goal of reducing the CO2 emissions from its business activities by 25 per cent worldwide and those from its products by 35 per cent by 2030.
“We currently have our all terrain hybrid technology in the marketplace with General Crane Services receiving the first model in Western Australia. We will soon have the battery electric Valla product available and we’re bringing in the battery electric Octoplus elevated work platforms. These will be bought in as stock items so customers can try out the technology,” said James.
“We are investing in the training to support these products; bringing them in is one thing but supporting and servicing them, especially the hybrid, requires another level of understanding and support. We’ve trained our technical team in Western Australia specifically for the hybrid product, as well as a couple of technicians in Queensland. We’ll have the service and support ready as customers adopt this new technology.”
Tadano made a strong statement during bauma, releasing a range of new products including the majestic CC 78 -1250-1 which has a lifting capacity of 1250 tonnes and a maximum hook height of 224.5 metres.
“We had a huge response to the stand and a lot of interest in the new products. We have never received such great feedback and for the first time the display included an Australian customer’s crane. The CC 78 -1250-1 was the ‘showstopper’, it’s the best in class and is definitely ready for the next generation of wind turbines. This crane will be a game changer for the business,” said James. “We are very excited about the future. Tadano has made significant investments with recent acquisitions and the new products complement our existing business. This includes the acquisition of IHI which is official from July 1. Tadano Group is serious about achieving a sustainable future and we’re all committed to the 2030 vision. It’s a very exciting and dynamic time. The restructure is designed to prepare our teams to meet the demands and expectations of our customers.”