Tadano Oceania continues to improve its customer service and support capabilities. Key elements of this strategy include continued investment in workshop capabilities and key personnel across the country.
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Adrian Luppino is the New South Wales Work Shop Manager and he has been working with Tadano Oceania for 18 months
“Prior to joining Tadano I spent 15 years with Toyota Material Handling where I started as a mechanic, progressed to supervisor and then Workshop Manager and then moved to Field Service Manager.
“Our team at Penrith includes four mechanics, all very experienced: our leading hand who has been here for over two years, and originally came from Volvo OEM in trucks. We have Nathan, who completed his apprenticeship with another crane OEM and moved across about two years ago. We recently hired someone from the material handling industry who I worked with previously and he’s been here for about four months,” said Adrian.
He goes on to discuss the capabilities of the Penrith workshop.
“We operate five bays in our workshop where we work on everything from Pre-Delivery Inspections (PDIs) and general servicing through to larger jobs which include removing and fixing booms and engines.
“In New South Wales we work well and closely as a team. Nothing comes into the workshop until we have all the required parts, and everything is booked in and ready to go. As a team, we are focused on moving the customer’s crane through the workshop so they can have the crane back on the road and earning money as quickly as possible,” he said.
Major inspections will be a particular focus for the NSW operation this year.
“Due to the limitations of our previous facility, we haven’t been able to manage major inspections, but this changed with the move to our much larger workshop. Our focus for this year and beyond will be larger and more complicated repairs and major inspections along with general servicing.
“Major repairs and major inspections require a significant investment from our customers. We try to cover everything in the initial quote and cover the majority of the works. But once we get into the project unforeseen issues may arise, and in this instance, open lines of communication with the customer are vital.
“If more parts are required or there is more damage than first envisaged, we’re not going to hide it. We work with every customer in an upfront, honest and transparent manner, that’s our motto here,” said Adrian.
Darren Larkin is the Queensland Workshop Manager, and he has been with Tadano for 18 months. Prior to this he had been working in the crane industry for 15 years. Darren manages a young and enthusiastic team in the Brisbane facility.
“We have a fairly young team here with our eldest team member just turning 50, he’s been in the industry for 20 plus years. We range down from there to an 18 year old. Other team members have 10-15 years experience, and others three to six.
“We run an apprenticeship program with four on the go at the moment. One apprentice in his final year, one in his third year, and one just starting his first year and we have a mature age apprentice in there as well,” said Darren.
Tadano’s Brisbane facility is impressive.
“We operate seven bays in the workshop, and we have an acre of yard. The work is varied so we need to be organised as a team. At the end of last year, we created work teams which are allocated to the various jobs. Each team is headed up by a Lead Technician or one of my Field Service Technicians.
“Currently, we have four Major Inspections going through the workshop, so we assign each team to a Major Inspection with a Lead on the job. If I need to take the Field Service Technician out for a job for example, we reorganise the teams, moving someone in to cover his absence – enabling us to continually work on the Major Inspections and manage the day to day servicing and maintenance around these,” said Darren.
Planning the work is key to ensuring the workshop works at optimum efficiency says Darren.
“We have a lot of regular customers that request the same type of work in terms of service and maintenance, which means we know what to expect to an extent. Working closely with our parts department is critical, by doing so we hope to create efficiencies within our control despite the industry-wide issue of parts availability.
“Planning with our Parts Department is critical and helps to expediate the servicing and maintenance processes, minimising the down time of the crane for the customer,” he said.
Mauro Ranieri is the Western Australian Workshop and Field Services Manager, he’s been working with Tadano for 12 years.
“When I started work for the previous Tadano distributor, I didn’t have a great deal of experience in cranes, but I came on board as a mechanic, learnt the business and the technology and gradually upskilled myself. When Tadano took over the distributorship I progressed to a Leading Hand and then developed into the role of Workshop Manager.
“In this role, I manage all the field service and the workshop work, including the warranty work which we schedule with our service or administration team. We have 14 technicians which are looking after all jobs in the workshop, which includes everything from warranty, modifications, the daily works that are booked including general breakdowns through to Major Inspections,” said Mauro.
Mauro explains how his team plans the movement of jobs through the workshop.
“We scope the work for the machines based on the factory and OEM specification to make sure that everything gets replaced in due time. When it comes to Major Inspections, we obviously follow the Australian Standards combined with the OEM specification to ensure we cover everything, that the crane is thoroughly inspected to these standards and conduct the necessary repairs and replace parts where required,” said Mauro.
The WA workshop operates an apprenticeship program.
“We currently have two apprentices and we started them at two yearly intervals, this is going to increase to a yearly intake. The team also includes five Senior Service Technicians who are high level, experienced crane mechanics with a lot of industry experience. Tadano is always recruiting and is committed to internal and factory training to ensure the team gets to be where they need to be.
“Across our industry, there is a shortage of skilled and experienced labour and the management team at Tadano Oceania has made the upskilling of our mechanics and technicians a priority to ensure we have the depth of skill to manage the growing the population of cranes,” said Mauro.
“Our technicians are based in the workshop and our Field Service Team is here to assist customer with the setup of machines on site. All the breakdown work is covered through our Field Service Team. Our service is statewide with guys ready at any moment’s notice to jump on a plane if required and fly them for a breakdown or to assist the customer with whatever support they may need on site,” he said.
Mauro goes on to highlight the capabilities of the Perth workshop.
“We have six bays and three of these are dedicated to long-term works. Another two bays are dedicated to short works and PDIs of new machines. We have two overhead 10t capacity cranes which assist with boom assembly and the stripping down of cranes for Major Inspection.
“It’s a busy workshop and we will be increasing our head count to ensure we have the required number of Service Technicians to manage the amount of service work we currently have, as well as the number of Major Inspections we know we’ll be managing in the future,” he said.
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Colin Gray is the Victorian Workshop Manager and has been with Tadano Oceania for 16 months.
“We have three technicians and they double as both Workshop and Field technicians, we also have three fully equipped service vehicles. Our facility includes three bays plus a bay for new cranes. We conduct services and maintenance in the facility, repairs, new builds, warranty modifications, you name it and we do it.
“Facility-wise, we are very similar to Sydney and we’ve been growing the business. We specialise in offsite work, fixing issues that can’t be fixed on the phone and this work includes technical breakdowns. We try and be available to the customers 24 hours, seven days a week and we pride ourselves in getting our expert service to our customers as soon as we can,” said Colin.
“We have an excellent spare parts set up and our parts interpreter has been here for 12 months. We stock a good range of parts to suit the cranes operating in our state. Customers are now aware that we have a Parts Manager and this is helping to build relationships.
“We all work closely and support one another. If the workshop takes a phone call from a customer for a part inquiry, we’ll pass it on and make sure it gets actioned which helps provide the best service to the customer. If we need to deliver parts to customers around metro Melbourne we will, and from this facility we service all of Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia,” said Colin.
Over the last 16 months the Victorian operation has significantly grown its reputation with customers, says Colin.
“Over the last year and a half, we have focused on servicing, repairs and solving technical breakdowns with our main forte being solving technical issues. Customers recognise us as the ‘go-to people’ for more complex repairs. Major Inspections are planned for the future and we are in the planning phase of how we manage our facility and the infrastructure we will need.
“Cranes are unique machines. My technicians are technically based, and they are taught from the ground up. We work closely as a team to ensure we all share our knowledge and continually grow our skillset in the workshop,” said Colin.
Last note from Tadano Oceania:
With Tadano’s dedicated focus on delivering top-tier after-sales service and support, we’ve made strategic investments in recruiting skilled professionals and establishing a robust team foundation. This positions us well to provide comprehensive support to our valued customers and effectively address the expanding demands of our industries. “Our products are undeniably great, but it is the exceptional calibre of our people that distinguishes us from others.”
