A number of portable plant manufacturers recently held events for dealers and customers in the United States, Ireland and Finland. The manufacturers demonstrated equipment, hosted workshops, celebrated anniversaries and conducted training seminars.
Following are summaries of the events.
Morbark
Wood Hog horizontal grinder.
Morbark welcomed about 250 customers, dealers and others from 15 countries to its 11th annual Demo Days.
Morbark is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year and highlighted its history throughout the event. As part of the celebration, one of Morbark’s first Eeger Beever brush chippers, built within the first six months of production in 1980, was refurbished and on display in Winn, Michigan.
Morbark’s Demo Days event gives its customers and others the opportunity to watch the company’s equipment in action, but also to meet the people who build and support the equipment. Attendees see firsthand the manufacturing processes utilized. The event includes factory tours, networking opportunities, vendor booths and the chance to see equipment up close.
This year’s event culminated with demonstrations of equipment for the forestry, biomass, recycling and tree care markets. Morbark demoed its latest equipment, including the 3400XT Wood Hog horizontal grinder and the Morbark Pronar trommel screen. Both portable plants were introduced this year.
According to Morbark, one of the most important features of the 3400XT is its standard width of 8 ft., 4 in., making it within the legal transport width in any country – no matter what engine is used. This model accommodates engines from 540 to 800 hp, so it is ideal for a range of applications in a variety of markets worldwide, the company says.
Other key features are a longer in-feed bed with sloped sides for improved operator sight lines and more efficient loading of material, as well as an extended platform between the hood and the engine, for better access to components for general maintenance or to change screens.
The Morbark Pronar mobile trommel screens, meanwhile, are available in four sizes, and suited to work with a variety of materials, including soil, compost, municipal waste, coal, aggregate and biomass. Electronic controls allow the operator to tailor the operation parameters to the materials to be separated. A variety of drums are available to meet the customer’s specific needs, with round or square holes and of any mesh size.
Rotochopper
demonstrations, as well as opportunities to meet the teams
that design, build and support equipment.
Rotochopper hosted its seventh annual Demo Day at its manufacturing facility in St. Martin, Minnesota. The event featured tours and equipment demonstrations, as well as opportunities to meet the teams who design, build and support Rotochopper equipment.
The event was dubbed “See Red, Go Green,” and the company unveiled Rotochopper’s prototype heavy-duty B-66 track and dolly unit, with a 1,050-hp engine and upgraded in-feed features.
Other demonstrations included the 765- and 950-hp B-66, MC-266 and MP-2, converting raw materials into finished products throughout the day for attendees. Additionally, the corn-grinding option for the CP-118, silt-sock attachment for the BG-250 and the company’s screen installation system and replaceable mount rotor were all on display.
Wrapping up the event was a side-by-side demonstration of a B-66 and FP-66 equipped with the company’s Generation 2 Colorizer.
The company also unveiled the RotoLink system, which allows customers to connect with its machines and the company’s customer service department to troubleshoot and track machine performance in real time.
Art de St. Aubin, president and CEO of Rotochopper, focused on the partnership between customers and the company.
“We will continue to position ourselves to help your business succeed and differentiate ourselves from our competitors,” De St. Aubin says.
Continental Biomass Industries
CBI’s event in New Hampshire.
Continental Biomass Industries (CBI) hosted its 2017 Factory Forum at its headquarters in Newton, New Hampshire, where guests viewed live equipment demonstrations and attend workshops.
The event kicked off with a reception and was followed by a factory tour through the CBI facility the next morning. The tours were led by CBI employees, who shared information on the company’s history and allowed guests to view grinders being prepared to assist in hurricane debris cleanup.
During the demonstrations, guests were able to view the 5400BT wood grinder, 5800BT wood grinder, 6800BT wood grinder, Phoenix 2100 trommel, TTS 620 drum screener, 7544 flail and disc chipper, TRS 550 recycling screen and AirMax material density separator in action.
After the demonstrations, customers and service technicians had an opportunity to climb into the machines with product experts and have their questions answered in detail.
The final day of the Factory Forum focused on workshops at graduated levels of safety and performance optimization. Aaron Murray, technical research-and-development lead at CBI, walked end-users around a 6800BT for a safety and basic functionality workshop, and Tim Peters, field service technician, underscored safety throughout his preventative maintenance session.
Performance optimization workshops were led by CBI engineering specialists Mike Goutier and Nate Fuller, who discussed simplified machine controls and gave live examples of best practices with a CBI 5800BT grinder.
KPI-JCI & Astec Mobile Screens
Screens conference.
KPI-JCI & Astec Mobile Screens hosted North American dealers at its annual National Dealer Conference at Astec Mobile Screens in Sterling, Illinois.
Each year, KPI-JCI & Astec Mobile Screens hosts domestic dealer principals for educational sessions, product reviews, factory tours and recognition of sales and service excellence. This year, live demos of the GT104 scalper and GT205 multi-frequency track screens took place.
Ten dealers were recognized for their sales and service excellence during the annual National Dealer Conference awards dinner. The premier award given this year was the Top Sales and Marketing Award, presented to Goodfellow Corp. for its dedication to service, sales, parts, marketing and stewardship.
“We had many dealers that demonstrated exceptional ability in marketing, selling and supporting our products,” says Ron Earl, vice president of sales and marketing for KPI-JCI & Astec Mobile Screens. “We couldn’t be happier to honor Goodfellow Corp. for its fantastic success.”
Metso
production sites for the aggregate business in Tampere,
Finland.
Metso hosted its first global distributor event for the aggregate industry – Distributor Days – in Tampere, Finland. The interactive event focused on training, as well as showcasing the company’s latest innovations and offering a preview of the next generation’s development direction.
Distributor Days was for aggregate equipment distributors, and it brought together more than 200 attendees from all parts of the world for an intensive two-and-a-half-day seminar.
“The event is designed not only to give our distributors the opportunity to see our latest equipment and services, but also to begin the creation of a global distribution community that will shape Metso’s future vision in terms of products, services and the distribution business model,” says Adrian Wood, vice president of global aggregates distribution at Metso.
Distributors play a significant role in the Metso sales process, functioning as the direct customer interface in their assigned territories. The company currently has about 100 official aggregate distributors globally.
McCloskey Washing Systems
addresses dealers at the company’s training event.
McCloskey Washing Systems offered a training session in Ireland that was attended by dealers from more than 16 countries.
Dealers attended to learn more about the latest McCloskey innovations and product developments. They had an opportunity to get comprehensive training and practical experience from Craig Rautiola, technical sales and applications manager of North America, who provided dealers with detailed technical information and insights from his experiences.
New product introductions and updates rounded out the program.
“It was really important for us to run this session in Ireland and help push our dealers into new and innovative growth areas,” says Sean Loughran, director of McCloskey Washing Systems. “Our aim is to provide our dealers with constant support for them to grow their businesses profitably. By discussing detailed technical washing applications, our dealers were given all of the information and tools needed to help them strive in a competitive marketplace.”
Adds Rautiola, “The training was well received by both the dealers and employees. The training day was a great success for McCloskey Washing Systems. We had the opportunity to meet dealers and introduce them to our product ranges of modular, mobile and static washing systems and water treatment plants.
“Our goal,” he says, “is to help develop our dealers’ technical knowledge and provide the tools needed to succeed in the marketplace. This will ultimately drive business growth and success for our dealers around the globe.”