ALPA Equipment Ltd has been selected the PONSSE dealer of the year, with Hydromec being recognised as the PONSSE service centre of the year. Both long-term family-owned companies operate as Ponsse's dealers in Canada.

ALPA Equipment, the PONSSE dealer of the year, has been Ponsse's dealer since 2000, covering eastern parts of Canada in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, as well as Gaspé Coat in Quebec.

“In addition to the sale of new and trade-in machines, ALPA has successfully developed its services by making significant investments in maintenance, spare parts and training. ALPA is a good partner for its customers and for Ponsse. The company focuses on its customers and receives recognition from its customers for its committed and reliable operations,” says Jarmo Vidgrén, sales and marketing director of Ponsse Plc, listing reasons for the selection of ALPA. 

Founded by Armand Landry 40 years ago, the company is currently under the leadership of the next generation, son Serge Landry and daughter Linda Landry-Firth. The logging conditions in the region vary significantly from coniferous to hardwood-dominated forests, from level ground to steep slopes, from natural mixed forests to large planted coniferous areas. The annual harvesting volume in the region is approximately 15 million m³. The best sold models in the area are PONSSE Ergo 8w and PONSSE Fox harvesters as well as PONSSE BuffaloKing –forwarders and PONSSE H7HD and H8 harvester heads to for track-based machines.

“Our most important guiding value is to offer the best possible service to our customers. We have large spare parts warehouses and maintenance services operating 24/7, a number of Ponsse mechanics, also in field maintenance, and training services, including simulators, operator training and Opti experts. Ponsse has helped us to succeed not only as a company and through its products, but also thanks to its culture”, says Serge Landry, general director of ALPA. 

In addition to PONSSE forest machines, ALPA sells, installs and maintains PONSSE harvester heads for track-based harvesting solutions, and acts as a retailer of construction machines. The company  has a total of 120 employees in four different locations, with new facilities being completed in Edmundston, New Brunswick, in autumn 2016. The previous service centre investment was made in Truro, Nova Scotia, in 2014.

Best service recognised by service businesses' quality assurance system

Ponsse's global service business network is assessed and rewarded annually based on the results of Ponsse's service business development and audit system ESW (Effective and Safe Workshop). There are three different awards: service centre of the year, Full Service project of the year and best developer of local operations of the year.

Based on the ESW results, the service centre of the year 2015 was Hydromec Inc from Quebec, Canada.  Marcel Trottier established the company in 1975, and it is currently managed and owned by his son, Jean Trottier. The company has strongly increased its sales in recent years in PONSSE forest machines as well as attachment harvester heads, in which Hydromec has a solid market share in its sales region. "We are engaged in excellent cooperation with Ponsse in a good spirit. The extensive model range offers machines to meet all customer needs," says Jean Trottier.

The key to success is committed customer service at Hydromec as well. "Hydromec's customer service is unique. It is difficult to find as professional and customer-oriented service as that provided by Hydromec anywhere," says Marko Mattila, Area Director at Ponsse Plc.

The annual harvesting volume in Quebec is approximately 35–40 million m³, and the conditions of harvesting are extremely demanding. The stands are often located up to 6–8 hours' drive from the nearest town, the mobile phone network does not always work and the winter is harsh, with temperatures as low as -40 degrees Celsius.

The conditions are varying also with regard to the trees. In the northern parts of the area, trees are small in many places and mainly black spruce, harvesting mainly comprises final felling and steep slopes. In southern parts of Quebec, there is also hardwood and larger trees. A lot of forest machines in Ponsse's largest size category, PONSSE ElephantKing forwarders and harvester heads such as PONSSE H7HD harvester heads for installation on tracked machines have been sold in the area. There are also lots of PONSSE Fox and PONSSE ScorpionKing harvesters in the area.

Full Service project of the year in Uruguay and developer of operations in Chile 

The Full Service project of the year award was granted at the same time to Ponsse Uruguay for Full Service cooperation with UPM. The award for best developer of local operations was granted to FC Ventas y Servicios in Chile. The award is granted to the service centre that has improved its ESW audit result the most compared to the previous year.

Vieremä, 18 March 2016

PONSSE PLC 

For further information, please contact:
Jarmo Vidgrén, sales and marketing director of Ponsse Plc, tel. +358 40 519 1486