By Tony Valenti
Every once in a while, I am fascinated by something that inspires me to take action. While my company, First Choice Tree Service, is celebrating 25 years in business this year, we are still growing, learning, expanding, and perfecting our business model. My recent trip to Vermeer only accelerated our momentum to keep up with the pace of our fast-growing company, to improve our processes while continuing to provide value to our customers.
My close association with Vermeer landed me an invitation to visit their headquarters in Pella, Iowa. I have always been impressed by Vermeer products. What I learned while I was there made quite an impression on me and the future of our company. The legacy of Mr. Vermeer lives strong in their company, and it all started with his philosophy for success: fill a need.
Gary Vermeer was a farmer who saw a need. In1948, he created a mechanical hoist to ease the process of unloading his grain wagon during harvest. Word spread quickly and a company was born. Soon, different product lines started emerging from Vermeer Manufacturing Co. In 1971, he invented the first large round baler. The Vermeer baler revolutionized the way hay was harvested and is still considered one of the most important agricultural inventions.
Today, Vermeer manufactures equipment for the hay harvesting industry, as well as grinders, brush chippers, stump cutters, horizontal directing drilling systems, mini skid steer, utility and track trenchers.
In later years, the company added Vermeer University, which provides product knowledge/training for its dealers and company work force, and employee job skills training.
Aside from the overall experience of being on the Vermeer property and learning about their company's culture and philosophy, the biggest take-away for me was learning about the "Lean Initiative." Using the company's core innovative thinking, Vermeer developed a process that improved their cost management, quality, lead time, customer service and many other aspects of their operations. After implementing the Lean process in the late 1990s, their productivity skyrocketed. One example of their improved efficiency is it used to take 52 days to manufacture a chipper, it now only takes 2 1/2 days. The hours per unit went from 80 hours to the low teens. Additionally, Vermeer experienced improvements in their production quality, safety and customer service.
Learning about the process of organizing a company that is streamlined, productive and robust in every way was the highlight of the visit. While Vermeer is in the business of manufacturing, First Choice Tree Service is a service company, in the business of providing the best tree care service in Southern Nevada. We take great pride in giving back to our community, educating our customers and our community about trees and conservation, as well as beautifying the cityscapes in the Las Vegas Valley. At the end of the day, it's a lot we are trying to do, and we're committed to being the best.
I'm excited to see how the Lean Initiative will enhance our company’s processes in delivering greater value to our customers.
