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Contractor Roundtable Highlights
Dialog Needed - Manufacturers, Dealers and Contractors
 When discussing the concerns of equipment maintenance and parts problems, contractors noted that they need to contribute and do their part.
Said Fluor's Snyder, "I really think it's sort of a mutual burden. The dealer is not always going to know that a
contractor has moved into the region with a fleet of equipment. There needs to be that dialogue from both sides."
Asset Movement
When national contractors like Kiewit move large, important pieces of equipment on to other projects in another dealer's
territory, the parts should move, too, Ferry said. "With certain types of assets, we'd like manufacturers to transfer the parts
from one dealer to the next dealer, instead of sending them back to the manufacturer's warehouse for redistribution," he said.
Bechtel's Hall, who has spent much of his career working for distributors, said it's often difficult for distributors and
contractors to predict what parts a specific piece of equipment will need on any given project. He recalls one occasion when he
consulted the most knowledgeable user and distributor personnel to try to determine in advance what parts to stock. In the end, even
with their input, they did not come up with the right mix of parts over a three-year period.
Cooperative Inventory Management
"It's very difficult for the distributors in a lot of cases to figure out what exactly we need in certain categories
of equipment," he said. "And the manufacturers really need to kind of appreciate that, and to work with the distributors.
" What's required, Hall said, is partnering among all three parties: The distributor, the user, and the manufacturer.
"This illustrates the huge opportunity that we have in terms of use of the Internet, e-commerce, database software and
knowledge of inventory availability throughout the system," said Fluor's Snyder. "Today, we've got silos of inventory all
over the globe, at dealers, and at contractors' main shops and their projects. If we can somehow tie it together with better knowledge
of what's available from where, then you reduce overall investment and inventory across the board, and increase up time, availability
and responsiveness."
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