Adrian Wilkes was recently appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of WATM Crane Sales and Services. WATM is the West Australian distributor for the Manitowoc, Grove and Hiab brands, amongst others. Adrian explains why he has made the move from the crane hire sector to a crane distributorship.
“I am really excited to be part of the next chapter of WATM,” Adrian says. “I have well over 10 years of experience, certainly on the crane owner and service provider side of the industry and I feel I’ve got a lot of value to add, along with significant industry experience that I can bring to the WATM team. Our intention is to develop and grow the awareness of our products and to focus on the service and support in Western Australia. The products deserve the best levels of service and support, and I am really excited about this opportunity.
“WATM is a family business, started by Frank Lazenby and his wife Marcia in 1974. Anthony Lazenby started with WATM (then WA Truck and Machinery) in 1996 as an apprentice diesel mechanic and spent 4.5 years with Manitowoc before returning to WATM in 2010 and taking over as Managing Director in 2012,” said Adrian. During this time, WATM has sold over 330 mobile cranes and over 2,500 Hiab vehicle loading cranes.
“Anthony possesses a significant skill set and he has many years of experience with the Manitowoc and Hiab products. I complement Anthony with a more commercial approach and with senior management experience.
“He will remain as MD however now with a 100 per cent focus on working with me on our strategy and growth.
“Our intention is for WATM Cranes Sales and Services to represent quality. This reflects the quality of the products we represent, the quality of our approach to customers and the relationships we have, and the quality of our service and aftermarket support. We understand that reliability is absolutely critical for our customers, and we want to ensure our service and support levels are where they need to be in terms of strategic geographic locations coupled with industry leading capabilities,” he said.
Having worked for large crane service providers, Adrian has a unique insight into how the Grove product compares to other brands. He explains how he sees the Grove brand working under his guidance, what expectations he has and what the WA market can expect from WATM.
“It’s an exciting space to be in, with the Grove and Hiab products. I say that coming off the back of what was recently on display at bauma and what I saw first-hand at the Grove factory which is why Grove are “best-in-class” in a number of products.
“One thing about Grove, they have been extremely good and consistent at being “first to market”. For example, they were “first to market” with the development and production of the five axle 250t all terrain crane and today they continue this industry advancement with the development and “first to market” reality with the new GMK 4100L-2 hybrid all terrain crane, which we are really excited about. To further complement this, there’s a new 70t and 120t, both with long booms and market leading taxi counterweight configurations, and the new 150XL all terrain crane with 68.7m of main boom. Similarly with Hiab, manufacturing vehicle loading cranes for over 75 years and being the first to introduce the knuckleboom crane. They also offer a range of electric and ‘Green’ solutions for customers. So, I’m really excited about the future with what I see and the value we’re going to contribute across the WA crane industry,” he said.
WATM is acutely aware that a significant number of crane operations are performed in very remote areas in WA, and conditions can be extremely challenging for cranes. Adrian explains more about WATM’s approach to mobile service and support and mobile parts availability.
“This is a really big focus for the WATM business. Obviously, I’ve been living and breathing these issues for the last 10 years, so it’s a space I’m really well-versed in. I bring a lot of learnings that I know will be important for our customers, to ensure we are best placed to support their operations and be that reliable service provider they have come to expect from WATM.
“We’re the only crane seller that have on the ground service support and capability based in Newman, where we have our own dedicated facility. We understand reliability and response time is important to our customers and hence we are strategically placed in Newman to service our customers throughout the Pilbara and we have plans to grow and bolster that regional support.
“We know that availability of parts is an issue at the moment and that’s only predicted to get worse over the next 12 months. At WATM, we already keep stock of in excess of $3.5m in parts plus we’re currently performing a full review, and we are increasing our parts stock levels, so we are best placed to support our customers requirements. This will mean they have the right parts available, not over in the east, not over in Germany, but here in WA, in Perth as well as in Newman. That’s really important to us,” said Adrian.
“We will continue to mould and evolve our business, to make sure we best fit and align with what our customers need. I guess coming from 10 years on that side of the business, I know some of the tweaks that need to happen at WATM, to take it from a really good business to a great business,” he said.
Adrian goes on to discuss WATM’s new approach to technical support.
“We are one of the few suppliers in Newman where we have workshop facilities and dedicated personnel. We’ve just put on four new experienced crane technicians and in addition to them coming onboard, we recently conducted an apprentice strategy review, for the next two years. This has resulted in four apprentices starting with WATM in January 2023 and they will complement the three apprentices we already have.
“The availability of good quality skilled labour is something we’re passionate about. We’ve sourced the new technicians globally and most have come from Europe. They land between January and February 2023, to bolster our existing team. We are committed to providing the best levels of technical support and follow-up service to our customers and are prepared to go above and beyond to deliver on this promise.
“We have extensive OEM factory trained technicians based in our Perth facility, for our Perth-based customers, complemented by our trained technicians that revolve through Newman and the Pilbara region plus our maintenance planner based in Newman. In saying this, we have identified the important requirement for additional technicians and hence our immediate focus and traction to deliver on this timely requirement. This is an important customer alignment strategy for the business,” he said.
WATM has setup its technicians with custom built field service vehicles, which ensures they are carrying what they need to provide that right service, on-site, at the roadside or wherever the support needs to be delivered. We have recently purchased six new field service vehicles, two that are already in service with the remaining ones being fitted out and introduced to the fleet in the coming months.
“So, it’s not just about customers coming to WATM. It’s also about us being flexible, to go to wherever they need that support, as and when required. We understand our customers are working their cranes 24/7 and we also operate the same hours. We have people working within our depots seven days a week.
“At WATM, the awareness, development and implementation of new technology is paramount. Whether it is using the new “Grove Connect” remote telematics and diagnostic system or alternatively the WATM in-house designed “Net Tech” system, which performs the same function for our Hiab products, WATM are at the forefront of smart technology,” said Adrian.
“These systems provide our technicians with remote diagnostic visibility and capability, regardless of wherever that crane is located across WA. We can identify a majority of the issues, and certainly assist and support our customers with remote diagnostics for immediate response.
“The team at WATM has a renewed focus on product support and service. We want the Western Australian market to know that when they purchase a Grove, Manitowoc or Hiab product, they are also buying a commitment to service, support and parts availability from WATM,” said Adrian.