John Deere Forestry’s recently opened service centre in Perth is the machinery giant’s largest UK operation, dedicated to supporting customers in Scotland. Forestry Journal paid a visit to take a tour and learn more about the company’s goal of redefining customer support.

IT hardly needs pointed out that Scotland’s forestry sector is on the up. Softwood availability is forecast to increase significantly across the next decade, the rate of tree planting is vastly outshining the rest of the UK, and last year plans were set out to double the growth of the nation’s wood-based economy, taking the annual turnover of companies within the industry up to £6 billion by 2030.

But for the sector to succeed in meeting and exceeding its goals, it will require serious investment and support.

This is something John Deere Forestry has recognised and is a challenge it aims to address with the opening of its new customer service centre in Perth.

Comprising a four-bay machine repair shop; a wash station; a spare parts and accessories store; a spare parts warehouse; a conference room and social facilities for employees; as well as a cold storage and space for new and used machines, the 1300+ m² building represents a direct investment of £2.5m in support of customers north of the Border.

The facility is the second for John Deere in the UK, which until now has serviced all its UK forestry customers from its base in Carlisle. The new development, situated in Arran Road at North Muirton Industrial Estate, is set up to cover the north of Scotland. This was one of the key factors that led to Perth becoming identified as the ideal location, while Carlisle continues to support the customer based in the south.

Forestry Journal: A wide range of clothing, merchandise and consumables is available in the shop.A wide range of clothing, merchandise and consumables is available in the shop.

Jock McKie, managing director for John Deere Forestry UK, said: “We spent considerable time analysing the ideal workshop location, both from a future harvest and a logistic perspective and Perth was the obvious choice. We also felt we could recruit the right calibre of staff in this area, which is of huge importance.

“From industry reports we can see that the future growth in the sector is mainly in the north and Perth allows us to fulfil our customer promise. The addition of this facility will ensure our customers can maximise their machine uptime through readily available service and spare parts. We can already see evidence of same-day repairs through having the parts in travelling distance of the northern and western worksites where previously this may have resulted in a full day’s downtime waiting on overnight parts delivery. This service is essential as the pressures on contracting businesses increase.”

The idea of an additional customer support facility has been around for some time, having first been mooted by previous MD Jari Mennala. The project was first discussed back in 2012, but began moving forward in 2016 when the search for land got underway. The two-acre site was secured early last year, after which construction work quickly began with the ground broken in June and steel going up in September. At the start of this year, it looked like the project would be completed before the end of March and an opening party was scheduled – coinciding with the date the UK went into lockdown.

That meant plans for the party (which would have included a ribbon cutting by harvester) had to be shelved and the first months for the site have been fairly subdued.

Forestry Journal: John Deere Forestry MD Jock McKie.John Deere Forestry MD Jock McKie.

“We just got everything up and running just in time,” said Jock. “In that way we’re lucky, but in another way it was unlucky. It’s only a few weeks ago we were allowed to open the doors and let customers in. Before that we were just laying spare parts outside in boxes for folk. So it’s been nice finally to be able to bring customers inside and show them about.”

Customers venturing through the doors will find themselves in the shop, kitted out with John Deere merchandise, clothing and various accessories. Behind the counter, on the other side of electronically secured doors, is the after-sales department, situated in the centre of the building. Beyond that is the warehouse and workshop.

Forestry Journal: This 1470, the first with IBC, was pictured waiting to be shipped out to a customer in Aberdeenshire.This 1470, the first with IBC, was pictured waiting to be shipped out to a customer in Aberdeenshire.

“One of the big advantages here is that the facility is custom built,” said Jock. “Here we had the chance to design something from the ground up that would become the blueprint for a modern forest machine workshop and parts operation. We looked at previous John Deere investments that were being built in Scandinavia and tweaked their designs. John Deere has built a number of customer service centres, but this is the best I’ve seen yet.

“The hard part is designing something that allows your after-sales department to be able to look after both the workshop and customers at the same time. Here, with the after-sales department right in the middle of the building, they can serve you at the front counter and still see what’s going on in the workshop. But you wouldn’t believe how difficult it was to come up with a design that made that possible.

“Safety is also hugely important for us, so while the foot flow is important for our staff, we put a lot of thought into ensuring the safety of them and our customers.”

The centre’s workshop boasts four workbays, which are 8m wide. This means they could actually accommodate four forwarders in each bay. The entire workshop is serviced by a 10-tonne overhead crane. This is where new machines receive their pre-delivery inspections and any modifications before going out to customers.

Forestry Journal: The well-laid-out workshop provides ample space for repairs and servicing and includes a 10-tonne overhead crane.The well-laid-out workshop provides ample space for repairs and servicing and includes a 10-tonne overhead crane.

“It’s a very safe, clean environment, which means we can provide the best service possible,” said Jock. “If we go into the forest to repair a machine, doing any heavy lifting, the regulations around that are really limiting as to what we can do. Now, nobody would ship a machine five or six hours down from the north of Scotland to Carlisle for a repair. But here, every week since we’ve been open, we’ve had customers send machines in for repair. They’ll get a really good clean, inspection and service while they’re here because they don’t want the machine stopping till the next service. That’s the vision we have for the future. We want to get to the point where we can give a guarantee of no downtime between services.”

Perth’s spare parts warehouse can accommodate over 500 pallets, with 8m-high Kardex Carousels providing an additional 300 m² of sealed storage space.

“The warehouse is a big investment,” said Jock. “We must have over £1.5m in stock. There’s nothing worse than a customer asking for something we don’t have, so a huge amount of analysis went into what we needed to stock. We’ve looked at customer buying habits going back years, what we should and shouldn’t have, so that someone can walk in the front door and pick up everything they need, from a pair of overalls to a hydraulic hose to a grab tank to a grapple to a welfare unit. It’s very much a one-stop shop.”

Forestry Journal: Machines brought in for repair or service are given a good wash before heading back to the forest.Machines brought in for repair or service are given a good wash before heading back to the forest.

The expectation is that, with this level of quality stock on hand, the Perth centre will quickly become a destination store for contractors.

“We’ve already had guys nipping down from Aberdeenshire just for pipes,” said Jock. “With the time it takes them to drive into Aberdeen, the hassle of fighting with traffic, all to get a pipe that they’re not too sure of the quality of, they’re as well taking the extra 30 minutes to come here.  What we can also see is a clear saving on carriage costs due to the proximity of the site to the customers and we can already see evidence of folks purchasing oils and cutting tools when they are passing rather than opt to pay carriage costs – this was always the vision, but it’s good to see in practice!”

These incremental aftersales sales are important for John Deere, but the broader hope is that the delivery of a better customer experience and higher customer satisfaction will also lead to increased machine sales.

As the company already provides almost 50 per cent of the entire machinery population in Scotland, it is vital it keeps its existing customers happy.

Forestry Journal: John Deere analysed a decade of customer buying habits to ensure the right stock for the warehouse.John Deere analysed a decade of customer buying habits to ensure the right stock for the warehouse.

Jock said: “We had a customer come down recently to look at one of the new forwarders in the yard. If we were in Carlisle he wouldn’t have come near us. There’s no way he would drive five hours to look at a forwarder just sitting there. And as more customers come here and see the investment we’ve made in supporting them and realise the difference it’s going to make, it will affect their buying decisions in future. It’s a clear division between us and our competitors, because they’re all two and a half hours further south.”

Forestry Journal: The front desk.The front desk.

Upstairs, the centre has a boardroom and training centre including simulators to help prepare the next generation of machine operators.

“One of the key challenges for the industry is training enough operators in the next 10 years,” said Jock. “We’ve a purpose-built training facility here where we can bring people in and train them. We’re hugely involved in the government apprenticeship for machine operators, so the investment here is well aligned with industry movements and plans.

“Eventually, we’ll be able to bring apprentice drivers in here, spend a bit of time with them going over theory and working on the simulators. Then they can go down to the workshop and get a wee bit of hands-on experience of the mechanical stuff. It could become the most important part of the whole operation, from an industry point of view.”

Forestry Journal: The first new machine to receive its PDI at Perth, a 1510 forwarder, heads out on delivery.The first new machine to receive its PDI at Perth, a 1510 forwarder, heads out on delivery.

There is also office space awaiting the arrival of a dedicated parts and after-sales team for construction equipment supplier Wirtgen, which was purchased by John Deere in 2017. This, along with the introduction of John Deere construction equipment, presents significant opportunities for the future.

“We’ve future-proofed the site by building in extra office space,” said Jock. “Depending on how things go, we’ve still got plenty of room for expansion. The way we’ve got the layout of the building, if we need to add bays on to the workshop in the future, it’s very easy to do.”

It’s clear there are multiple secondary benefits to John Deere and Scotland’s timber industry in having this new centre. However, Jock is in no doubt that those with the most to gain are the customers.

“The timber inventory in Scotland is predicted to grow substantially in the next ten years,” he said. “It’s crucial that our customers can keep their machines going and maximise the amount of time they’re in the forest. That’s what this investment is all about.

“The slogan we’ve used for this project has been ‘redefining customer support’ and I think that’s what we’ve done. We’re already proving it.”

MEET THE TEAM

Forestry Journal: Clockwise from top left: Andy Smith, service advisor, Brendan Allan, senior parts sales, Colin Gardner, warehouse and logistics, Peter Morrison, parts sales. Kenny Scott, service manager.Clockwise from top left: Andy Smith, service advisor, Brendan Allan, senior parts sales, Colin Gardner, warehouse and logistics, Peter Morrison, parts sales. Kenny Scott, service manager.

The calibre of staff in Perth – an area with a thriving agricultural sector and high employment – was an important attraction to John Deere when considering the location of its new site.

Its investment created 20 new jobs to be filled, including workshop engineers, aftersales administrators and spare parts specialists.

Recruitment began in March last year, with new staff cutting their teeth in Carlisle, gaining several months of experience in the business prior to the opening of the Perth site.

The new team is a mix of fresh faces and company veterans, but for all aftersales service needs, these are the people to talk to.

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