Grossenburg Implement moves into new building

Grossenburg Implement has officially moved in to the generous accommodations of its newly completed building. The staff made the switch a couple of weeks ago, says store lead Will Yemington, and only a few finishing touches now remain.

"I'd say, at this point, we're 99% done. There's little stuff getting finished up and signage and a couple of things like that that won't affect productivity," he says.

"It's working well. We're glad to be in here – and enjoying the air conditioning."

For the last year, the sales and tech staff have been making do with the old RC Oil building next door. The light and airy new building with its large windows and spacious areas is quite the step up, Yemington laughs, and has inspired plenty of fresh smiles among the occupants.

"It was a long year in the old building. It was very warm over there and tough for the shop guys as they didn't have any water for a year," he says.

"Between being able to actually use a pressure washer and having restrooms, pretty much every band of the spectrum has been well received."

Air conditioning makes a big difference to the techs working in the shop, which also now has an overhead crane that can pick up anything up to 10,000 lbs.

The sales side of the business is unlikely to change all that much in the new building, Yemington says, although the additional store space will make it possible to display smaller parts for customers to grab for themselves, rather than ask a member of staff. The increased parts capacity will also make it possible to have more of the larger items on hand in the main building, making them more easily on hand to fulfill a customer's request.

"The biggest upgrade, without a doubt, is the shop. We'd outgrown the old shop because equipment is larger now, so you need more space, and there's just more work to do than there used to be. Pulling cabs, putting loaders on, setting up equipment, having the extra floor space," he says.

Going from 3600 to 7500 square feet, Yemington says, will make a significant difference to productivity.

"Not only are we going to have more jobs going at once and be able to get more work done, we'll be able to get work done more efficiently, which will be better for the customers," he says.

The elements of a job will take less time, he elaborates, which means the overall task can be completed more quickly and therefore also at a lower cost to the customer. In the long term, the company is hoping that the quicker turnaround will generate enough additional work to create additional jobs within the community.

For now, however, the main goal is to provide more bang for a customer's buck.

Repairs aren't cheap on pieces of equipment that often represent one of the largest investments for a ranch and parts are also expensive, so it makes a difference if the company can bill for fewer hours on an individual job.

It's a symbiotic relationship, Yemington explains.

"Any time that we can do a better job for the customer, that affects us as much as it affects them. The better our customers are doing in this area, the better we do," he says.