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Offices in Edmonton, Calgary,
Grande Prairie and Langley, BC
1-800-668-3213
www.fosterpark.ca
F E AT U R E D M E M B E R
Despite Brandt’s growth in other sectors
over the last 20 years, the construction
industry remains a key focus of the
business. The company offers a complete
line-up of John Deere construction
equipment, including wheel loaders,
excavators, crawler dozers, motor
graders and more as well as a comprehensive
range of compact construction
equipment including skid steers,
track loaders and compact excavators.
It represents the full line of Ditch Witch
underground utility equipment and
recently took over as the exclusive
Canadian dealer for American Augers,
which manufactures some of the largest
mobile drilling and boring equipment in
the world.
In addition to selling John Deere
equipment, Brandt has a key strength
in manufacturing heavy-duty construction
attachments, locally designed
to stand up to the most extreme
conditions the Canadian market can
dish out.
An important offering for Brandt customers
is the line-up of premium technology
tools from Topcon Positioning
Systems Inc., which includes some of
the most advanced survey, scanning
and machine control gear in the world.
Bowes explains that what makes the
Brandt/Topcon combination unique is
the fact it focuses on both the survey
and scanning side of the business and
incorporates that with machine control
and Workflow software, whereas most
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companies focus on just one aspect of
the business.
Since these technologies can be
transformational for a customer’s operations,
Brandt has worked hard to
ensure that they are also highly accessible.
Leading that effort, the company
created its Engineered Services team to
partner with customers, helping them
to successfully integrate these new tools
into their operations as quickly and efficiently
as possible.
“If a customer purchases a machine
control system or survey/scanning tools,
we have a team that help integrate that
technology into their business, so they
get full value right off the hop,” said
Shane Mortemore, Brandt’s vice-president
of sales, Construction and Mining.
“That way, it’s not a matter of trial and
error and ‘What do I do with all this
new technology?’”
Brandt has supplied equipment and
support to a number of recent high-profile
construction projects across Alberta.
One of those projects is the ongoing
expansion of the Stoney Trail freeway
in Calgary, for which it provided
Topcon machine controls and John
Deere excavators. It also supplied several
John Deere dozers, a 772GP grader
and Topcon GPS systems as part of the
first and second phase of capping the
East Calgary Landfill site.
A rapidly growing component of
Brandt’s focus in Western Canada is
its specialty transportation equipment
and trailer operations. Last November,
it acquired Edmonton-based Camex
Equipment Sales & Rentals, which specializes
in truck rigging and on-highway
specialized trailers. It is currently rolling
out a line of specialized heavy haul trailers
that will be especially suited to the
roadbuilding sector, making it easier to
move large equipment from site to site.
And the company has no plans to
slow down. It recently signed a deal
to acquire John Deere-owned Nortrax
Canada and its 29 construction and
forestry dealerships in Ontario, Quebec
and Newfoundland. The deal, which is
set to close in late October, will more
than double the number of dealerships
Brandt operates and will give the
company a coast to coast to coast presence,
including all 10 provinces and
the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and
Yukon. It will also make Brandt the
exclusive dealer of John Deere construction
equipment for all of Canada.
“I believe that with additional size
comes strength and with that strength
comes the ability to support our customers
and the industry at a much higher
level,” said Bowes of the reason for the
company’s acquisition of Nortrax.
“Having this kind of critical mass
gives Brandt some unique opportunities.
Certainly, when the construction business
is as varied and seasonal as Canada’s
is, being able to concentrate on the specific
and unique needs of the Canadian
contractor – providing the very best
uptime, support and customized tools
to get the job done – serving the whole
country was the best way to guarantee
an unmatched customer experience.”
A key part of the company’s philosophy
is its focus on employee safety.
Bowes says it has become so ingrained
in the company’s corporate culture that
it plays a role in every decision made.
One example of that is the company’s
adoption of an extensive LEAN program
at all of its facilities. LEAN is a business
methodology that promotes the flow of
value to customers through two guiding
principles: continuous improvement
and respect for people. The company
first introduced the program in its manufacturing
facilities before adapting it
to meet the needs of its retail locations.
Mortemore says that the program is
unique in the Canadian construction
equipment retail sector.
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