Wahlers Forsttechnik GmbH received the 2016 PONSSE Dealer of the Year award and OOO Ponsse won Subsidiary of the Year award. The Balmoral service centre of A.L.P.A. Equipment Ltd. won the PONSSE Service Centre of the Year award.
The German dealer Wahlers Forsttechnik GmbH was named the Dealer of the Year for the fourth time. This PONSSE forest machine dealer was previously granted the award in 2014, 2011 and 2008. Wahlers Forsttechnik GmbH placed at the top in sales of both new machines and spare parts.
Established in 1935, the family-owned company has acted as a Ponsse dealer in Germany since 1993. The Dealer of the Year award is chosen based on sales and excellent service results. Other factors taken into consideration are active development of services as well as positive reviews of administrative, financial and service performance.
Subsidiary of the Year is OOO Ponsse
OOO Ponsse was granted the 2016 Subsidiary of the Year award. The winner was chosen based on good sales and service business performance and overall positive development of operations. The Russian Ponsse subsidiary was founded in 2005, but the first PONSSE forest machines were exported to the country in the 1980s. There are currently more than 1,500 PONSSE forest machines in operation in Russia.
Ponsse´s service centres awards are based on the service business development and audit system
Ponsse’s global network of service centres is assessed and rewarded annually based on the results of Ponsse’s service business development and audit system ESW (Effective and Safe Workshop). There are three different awards: Service Centre of the year, Full Service project of the year and best developer of local operations of the year.
Launched in 2011, Ponsse’s ESW development and audit system was designed as a practical tool to help the company develop further its service and maintenance operations as well as to monitor the progress of efforts. ESW aims to improve customer service, create the prerequisites of a safer working environment, integrate the quality and environmental certificates ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 in the daily work, and identify the strengths of local maintenance operations. ESW also helps to develop goals for the future while improving the profitability of operations.
ESW consists of extensive evaluation criteria divided into 28 sections. This provides a complete assessment of service centre´s operations. These criteria include tools, service vehicles, stock of spare parts, customer-facing waiting and reception areas as well as the range of services available and the expertise of the staff providing the services.
Service Centre of the Year is A.L.P.A. Equipment LTd, Balmoral service centre
The Service Centre of the Year for 2016 is A.L.P.A. Equipment Ltd.’s Balmoral location in Canada. The Balmoral service centre employs 45 people.
”The Service Centre of the Year award is designed to support the customer-oriented development of various service centres,” says Mr. Tapio Mertanen, Global Service Director
A.L.P.A. Equipment Ltd. has been a Ponsse dealer in Eastern Canada since 2000, serving New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia as well as the region of Gaspé, Quebec.
Founded by Armand Landry 41 years ago, the company is currently under the leadership of the next generation, son Serge Landry and daughter Linda Landry-Firth. Recently, Serge’s son Francis Landry started working there, which means the business now employs people from three generations of the same family. The company has a total staff of 125 employees at four different locations.
“At ALPA, we invest a lot of energy to maintain a high level of customer satisfaction through great after sales support that includes both the spare parts department and the service (maintenance) department. Our aim is to always get the machines back to the field as quickly as possible,” explains Francis Landry. “Every moment that a machine is stopped because of a fault is costly for the customer and sharing their sense of urgency is very important. That is why we offer 24/7 access to our spare parts department. To further reduce delays, we carry an extensive inventory of parts, big and small.”. “We have also invested in staff training; the professionalism of our employees determines the quality of service. We are also fortunate to have very committed employees. Technical expertise alone is not enough; it helps a lot to have employees that share our drive to serve the customers to the best of our ability. A.L.P.A. has grown together with our customers, and we often feel that we and our customers are part of the same big family,” Francis Landry continues.
In addition to PONSSE forest machines, A.L.P.A sells, installs and maintains PONSSE harvester heads for track-based harvesting solutions, and acts as a retailer of earth-moving machines.
Full Service Project of the year award go to Russia and Developer of Operations award to Belarus
The Full Service Project award went to Mobilnyi Service for their co-operation with Mondi in the Komi Republic of Russia. The award was granted based on top results achieved for the Full Service audits in 2016.
The award for best developer of local operations was given to the Belarusian company ODO Udarnik. The award is granted to the service centre which has improved its ESW audit result the most compared to the previous year. ODO Udarnik was founded in 1988 and it has been an authorised Ponsse dealer since 2013. There are currently about 50 PONSSE machines in operation across Belarus.
Further information:
Jarmo Vidgrén, Sales and Marketing Director, tel +358 40 519 1486,
Tapio Mertanen, Global Service Director, tel. +358 40 565 4760
