The market for used cranes is growing, but recent changes to the Australian Design Rules (ADR) mean the previous import approval process no longer applies. Responding to this situation, Manitowoc Crane Group Australia has created a new role for Garry Barker: Business Development Director, Used Cranes. He explains the market, how the trade-ins work and how he finds the perfect second-hand unit for buyers.
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With Manitowoc’s recent expansion of its aftersales business and the changes to the Australian Design Rules (ADR) making the importation of used cranes more complex, Manitowoc has created a new role for Garry Barker, as the Business Development / Used Cranes Director. Garry explains more about the challenges of importing used cranes and his expectations in the relatively new role.
“I moved from my previous role of After Sales Director to role of Business Development Director Used Cranes in December of last year. It’s a new role being developed in Australia, but is tied to Manitowoc’s global used crane network. This is especially true for the Emerging Markets Region within Manitowoc that covers Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. We’ve identified the need to leverage our network in the used crane market and this role is designed to increase our trading, refurbishment and sales capabilities in the used crane sector,” said Garry.
“The changes to the ADRs have made it harder to get used cranes in from overseas. You can only bring cranes with Tier IV or V engines. There is a small window to bring Tier 3B/T4i for another eight or nine months, but that window is closing fast.
“Every used crane brought in from overseas comes in on its own merit, the prior approval process doesn’t exist anymore. Used crane have to meet Australian standards and we have to prove that they meet these standards,” said Garry.
“That’s a job for our network of overseas factories. They provide all the information, and we put a package into ROVER. Compliance information (CI) forms are required in vehicle type approval for them to approve the importation of the cranes. An individual or a crane company could struggle with this process now,” he said.
Garry explains how he is adapting to the role and how closely he is working with customers and also the rest of the Manitowoc team, in and outside of Australia.
“I’m extremely flexible in the way I’m adapting the role. If a customer is looking for a particular crane, I’m more than happy to go out and look for that one machine for them, nationally or globally. With this new focus on aftersales, we can secure a crane or initiate a purchase from one customer to sell to another.
“We have both the Aussie and global stock cranes which are on our books. These vary from older trade-in cranes to young cranes rotating from larger customer fleets. Some of these cranes are between two and five years old,” he said.
Grove is also offering to help with financing used cranes.
“We also have the capacity with our Manitowoc Finance to put a range of offers to get companies into a used crane. Everyone has their own set of circumstances and as a group we are able to develop a bespoke solution for the individual requirement, be it buying or selling machines. It really has been fun to help develop some of these solutions.” said Garry.
According to Garry, the the market in the first quarter has been a little slow, with crane hire companies in a wait-and-see mode.
“With project delays and the increased value of new machines making investment decisions more critical, we are seeing more justifications and customers wanting to review our finance options to ensure it fits with their needs,” said Garry.
“Having a quality used crane option available with younger age models is a great solution. We are taking small steps as we want to get this right first time.
“But in saying that, we are working with a number of customers, and we are getting some really good results. As I said, these are tailor-made solutions which customers are really pleased with,” said Garry.
“Our partner in Manitowoc Finance is De Lage Landen (DLL) and this relationship extends to used cranes. Kirk Purchase is DLL’s Manitowoc man and he is able to come up with very competitive and customised solutions, especially for Grove Mobile Cranes. Working with Kirk is fantastic and the last six months have been a real eye opener for me.”
Garry goes on to explain how Grove manages a used crane which has been part exchanged for a new one.
“Essentially our sales guys will quote a new crane and if that customer wants to trade-in a crane, the first thing we do is we arrange for an asset appraisal questionnaire. This involves completing a standard 14 question form with the customer providing all the details on the crane; the hours, kilometres, CraneSafe and Major Inspection history and what equipment comes with the crane.
“From these answers, we assess the crane and provide the customer with a ballpark figure in terms of the value of the crane. If the customer wishes to continue with the purchase of the new crane, we’ll then go out, conduct an inspection and we’ll work out a true market value for that crane.
“If the customer is happy with the price, they will sign up for the new crane and we’ll take the ‘trade-in’ and conduct a deeper dive into the crane’s condition.
“Being the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer), we take great pride in making sure the crane will carry the Grove badge well on to the next owner. With a full service and fixing any identified issues, we will then start the marketing process with direct maililng, online and in-person promotion. Manitowoc’s used crane website is improving daily’ said Garry.
“If significant repairs are required, we will work with our After Sales Team and the crane will go into our workshop where we’ll fix it up, repaint it, whatever needs to be done. We manage all of this in house with our dedicated Service Team,” he said.
Garry confirms he is happy to work with any brand of used crane “We will handle any brand on case- by-case basis. Predominantly we would prefer Grove, it’s our product, we know the product well and obviously we have significant advantages in the market working with our own brand,” he said.
The crane market is strong with a solid pipeline of projects and Garry sees the role of used cranes gaining importance.
“There has always been a used market and there are customers that do not buy new cranes. Typically, they are your smaller family businesses and/or regional based businesses that will buy used over new.”
“So, there’s definitely a market here, it’s just that more focused on pursuing it. Used cranes have been dealt with on an ad hoc basis, but now we are adapting a business model and strategy in used cranes to provide tailor made solutions. The more we get established and have the right machines on our books, the better we will become at it,” said Garry.
Garry confirms that warranty can be offered with a used crane sale .
“The length of the warranty depends on the age and condition of the crane. It might be a parts-only warranty or it could be a three months major component warranty. If it’s a newer machine, we could offer six to 12 months warranty.
“There is a demand and the market is evolving. As time goes by, we will fine tune our process and Grove’s used mobile cranes will rolling through our workshop. I really look forward to working closely with our growing customer base” said Garry.