NEW HOLLAND COOPERATION EXPANDS

Successful East Jutland New Holland cooperation since 2013 is now expanded with another strategic partner and two outlets.

Since the three machinery dealers, SP Maskiner A/S, Lyngfeldt A/S and Lykke Smeden A/S, joined forces in autumn 2013 to formalize a strategic partnership for their New Holland dealerships, the collaboration has proved to have a number of benefits for all the businesses – exactly as the dealers expected.

This has prompted another New Holland dealer to knock on the door and be invited in for the collaboration.

Maskinpartner, with outlets in Billund and Vejle, now joins the circle of strategic partners, all of which will continue as economically and legally independent entities.

NEW HOLLAND

The expanded network cooperation mainly involves the New Holland dealership, but also to a certain extent cooperation on some of the administrative functions between some of the outlets, as well as mutual support to ensure optimal service to customers.

The parties see the formation of this new and even stronger New Holland player as beneficial in many ways, both for the businesses and for customers.

– By expanding the strategic cooperation with two more businesses, the collaboration will become even stronger, says Søren Dalsgaard from Lyngfeldt.

NEEDED

The extended cooperation has been initiated by Maskinpartner’s two owners, Lars Jensen and Carsten Mølby.

– We have knocked on the doors of the others because we can see that the future requires larger units, so this is our way of ensuring that we can continue to meet customer demands,” says Lars Jensen from Maskinpartner.

– So we believe that cooperation is necessary for the sake of end users,” he adds.

NATURAL DEVELOPMENT

– The need for such cooperation has only increased in recent years, say both sides, pointing both to the rapid structural development of primary agriculture, but also to the development of modern agricultural machinery and advanced technical solutions.

– “This is a natural development to match the ever larger farms, because they place enormous demands on us as a service partner,” they say.

For the parties, it is crucial that customers also see a benefit from the cooperation. And they think customers can do that in several areas, not least the service part.

SERVICE IS ESSENTIAL

– Service and maintenance are crucial to match customers’ needs, and this is where we will be particularly strong, says Søren Dalsgaard, CEO of Lyngfeldt.

– We like to help each other serve customers. We know each other, and that means it’s much easier to ask each other for assistance,” says Martin Lykke, Lykke Smeden.

This service dynamic is an important part of the cooperation, which works both formally and informally. And the formal part of the service cooperation is ensured through quarterly meetings between the workshop leaders.

Together, the five outlets employ around 88 people, 45 of whom are service technicians. And they have a combined 25 service vans, which help to ensure a fast and flexible response when customers need service.

OPEN AND HONEST

For the cooperation to work to the benefit of all parties, not least the customers, the three, who have been working together since 2013, state that it obviously requires openness and mutual trust.

– It is important that you want to. We used to be competitors, so it was customary for our employees not to tell each other too much between businesses, says SP Madsen, SP Maskiner.

Today it is almost the opposite.

– Our experience is that several different sets of eyes solve a task significantly better, says Martin Lykke, Lykke Smeden.

He is complemented by Lars Jensen, who states that the employee who performs a task often becomes even more skilled.

– And some specific tasks don’t recur much in a year, he says.

FORMAL AND INFORMAL

The workshops can draw on each other’s skills in several ways.

– We help each other with internal assistance on an informal level across the businesses, where employees can call each other and get help with a specific challenge. This kind of exchange of experience is free of charge, while actual service hours are invoiced, says Søren Dalsgaard.

And formal cooperation means that employees get to know each other better than they would otherwise.

– And it makes it much easier for employees to call a colleague they know, says Søren Dalsgaard.

He adds that there is of course also good support from New Holland.

In addition to cooperation on the service side, there are also other cooperative relationships. For example, Lykke Smeden draws on administrative help from Lyngfeldt on a weekly basis.

SUPERIOR OWNERS

The owner of Lyngfeldt A/S, Jørn Seidelmann, emphasises the cooperation model as absolutely right, because the individual stores still have sovereign owners who figuratively have their hands on the hotplate.

But he also stresses that cooperation is equal, regardless of the size of each business.

– It is important that we maintain the independent businesses, otherwise the idea behind our cooperation is gone, he believes.

Each business has its own independent profile. For example, Maskinpartner is strong on fine nits and individual outlets continue to have their own tool programmes to complement New Holland’s programme.

PROCUREMENT AND SPARE PARTS

– We are also becoming stronger on the procurement side, and on our spare parts supply, the parties stress.

For example, it will be possible to stock several machines, which in some cases is essential.

However, there is a consensus that it is always best to work closely with customers, because new machines are often tailored to each customer’s needs, and it is important to have an early and, if possible, ongoing dialogue with customers so that their needs can be identified and met in the best possible way.

– The early dialogue also means less capital tied up for us as machine shops, which is ultimately also a benefit for customers, the parties explain.

According to the five, it’s about being cost-effective because servicing the machines is a necessity for farmers.

In normal years, the five outlets together sell between 80 and 100 tractors.

The new cooperation covers a large area from north of Kolding up to Hadsund and west to an area west of Grindsted.

The employees of the five stores were informed about the new cooperation immediately before the announcement on Wednesday evening.