Establishing Trust and Learning Together

In any relationship, trust is important. The relationship between Cat sales reps and their customers are no exception.  But like anything valuable, we don't give trust; we build it over time.

Ohio Cat rep Andrew Smith has spent years supporting heavy construction before he first met Larry Kotkowski and Steve Chek of Lakeside Sand & Gravel. Quarries were new to him so his first priority was learning everything he could about their operation.  

“I wanted to really understand their operation and learn this business so that I can be an asset for them,” he said.

Andrew spent many hours on site with Steve and Larry observing and listening to their goals and challenges. He read Steve’s books on mining operations.  And he asked many, many questions.

“I spent a lot of time asking “why?” Why do you do this? Why do you use this machine? Why is something set up a certain way?” he recalls. 

Improving Operations through Site Analysis

Andrew also brought in a Caterpillar expert to do a site analysis of the Lakeside day-to-day operations. While the Lakeside team had fine-tuned their operation over the years, they were eager to use the analysis to optimize their production and inform their plans.

“We wanted to determine the most efficient fleet set up for how much material they're moving.  For example, one of the things we found from that was that sizing up from a 336 to a 349 or 352 would pair up better with their truck fleet,” Andrew explains. “We want to get their cost per ton at the lowest point possible to make them as profitable as possible. And that's the whole goal of a site analysis.”

Thanks to the site analysis, the Lakeside team could plan out their fleet needs for the next 5-10 years. And Andrew gained detailed knowledge of their operation that enabled him to make proactive recommendations for their fleet.

Big Savings with Fleet Management

Andrew’s deep knowledge of their fleet proved especially valuable in 2022.

“Back in 2022 I knew that they were going to need another 745 truck.  They have buying cycles like a lot of family businesses and typically look to have a CapEx purchase at the end of the year.” Andrew recalls.

But 2022 was anything but a typical year. The pandemic had left supply chains still recovering.

“We were seeing shortages across the board on machines,” Andrew explained. “And with the pandemic going on we witnessed the cost of commodities & directly correlated, the cost of machines rising”.”

He proposed an earlier-than-planned purchase and Lakeside agreed. The proactive decision not only ensured they’d have the truck they need, but also saved them over $100,000.

“And that was big for us that that Andrew brought that to our attention, and we were able to purchase a truck when there was short supply,” says Larry. “If we wouldn't have done that and acted when Andrew wanted us to, we wouldn't have been able to get a truck”.

Building Strong Relationships

Andrew's relationship with Larry and Steve has grown into a friendship.