What does being a “certified dealer” mean? It’s more than just signing up to sell a company’s parts. A dealer gets direct access to the company’s resources, and they work together to ensure owners get the best possible service and use from their equipment. To see what manufacturers do to ensure the reliability and performance of their equipment after the sale, you only need to look at Yanmar’s new EVO/Center.
Putting Yanmar On the Map
While the company is based in Japan, they’ve had a strong manufacturing presence in the U.S. for decades. Yanmar America is located in Adairsville, Georgia, just northwest of Atlanta. For the past 37 years, over 200 employees at this 500,000 square foot facility have designed, tested and built products for the North American market. Today, the company is well-known for their marine engines, but they’re still a minor player in the construction and agricultural markets despite being a major player worldwide.
To help boost their equipment sales, the company came up with a plan to better support dealers and connect with customers, culminating in the EVO/Center. Completed in late 2017, this 50,000 square foot facility built next to their factory houses a product showroom, a museum, an auditorium, meeting rooms, classrooms and an equipment training room.
Yanmar Academy
The EVO/Center’s main purpose is to serve as the home of Yanmar Academy. This training center has 8 schools: 6 for dealer training, one for employee training and one for customer training.
Technicians train on computer simulations in the classroom and on real engines in the equipment training room. This room has all the tools and equipment you’ll find in a repair shop, plus bench testing equipment, exhaust extraction and vehicle cut-aways. This lets students repair simulated problems, getting hands-on experience with equipment as it’s launched instead of having to learn on the job as models need repairs. These classes are available for technicians of all skill levels from beginners to educators. The company is partnering with schools to have instructors trained at the center, passing on knowledge and techniques to their students, so they’ll be fully prepared to work on Yanmar equipment when they enter the workforce.
The other aspects of running a shop are also covered with courses in parts management, service management, finance, sales, and marketing. They’re also working with dealers to create new courses to help them with issues. Computer instruction and leadership courses have already been created as part of this program.
Product Demonstrations
The fields around the center are used for on-site demos. Salespeople get hands-on experience so they can help their customers find the perfect machine for their needs, while customers learn best practices so they can get the most out of their equipment.
To boost the brand’s visibility, the center is also being pitched as a corporate retreat, offering an alternative to standard team building exercises. The appeal is obvious: would you rather do a rope course and practice trust falls, or spend the day using an excavator?
When You Need Professional Expertise, visit Shank’s Lawn Equipment
As a certified dealer, Shank’s Lawn Equipment has access to training and information direct from Yanmar, so we can provide you with top quality service. If you’re looking for a Yanmar tractor or UTV, or you need help with your current equipment, visit us at 4900 Molly Pitcher Highway in Chambersburg, PA. To get here from I-81, take Exit 10 and drive east one mile.
Do you need parts for your Yanmar? Visit www.shankslawn.com. We can ship what you need to any address in the U.S. or Canada.
