Porter Press Extra: New partnership with REDS
With a new strategic partnership with Road Equip Diesel Services, Porter Group is looking forward to bolstering its already rock-solid reputation for service excellence in the roading and civil sectors
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Porter Group is the exclusive distributor for BOMAG in NZ
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Irrespective of the nameplate on the side of the machine, if there’s one solid through line in the 76-year-long Porter Group story, it must surely be exemplary customer service, anytime, anywhere.
Speaking with Porter Group customers in every corner of New Zealand, it’s a theme that comes up again and again. Of course, cementing such a reputation built over time is no small matter. It’s a reputation that has to be earned out in the field.
The walking has to equate with the talking. Choosing a dependable service partner to bolster technical support for the highly specialised paving, milling, and stabilising equipment is not taken lightly.
After so many years in the industry, Porter Group has evolved a keen eye for talent and is well versed in predicting market success. When customers follow you from one business to another, it’s a fair indication that you’re pretty good at what you do.
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Jason Allen of Road Equip Diesel Services (REDS)
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And Jason Allen and his team at Road Equip Diesel Services (REDS) are definitely very good at what they do. Having established his own business after many years as a roading equipment specialist with the Wirtgen Group, Jason says less than 18 months later, his team has rapidly grown to six, including three specialists who service the whole country from two North Island workshops.
"Richard Watson joined us after a few months as a field service manager. He specialises in stabilisers and profilers, while I focus on pavers and profilers also," he says. "We have another technician, Andres Yerro, working with us in our Auckland branch. And we’ve also opened a branch in Wellington with Jonathan Buckley, another very talented roading equipment specialist with years of experience."
The company’s growth, while rapid, has been organic. With little more than a Facebook page for promotion, Jason says word of mouth is his main source of advertisement.
"I guess it’s supply and demand. In my previous role, I travelled all around the country, so people know me. And they come to me from Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington, and everywhere in between.
Jason’s name kept cropping up in Porter Group’s conversations with end users. To the Hamilton-headquartered company, it became clear that the combined skills and expertise of the REDS team would prove a valuable asset in the field, enabling them to provide customers with end-to-end support.
Seeing Jason’s potential, Porter Group extended an offer to form an exclusive national agreement for the service and repair of BOMAG specialised equipment. Jason says he was quite humbled at the prospect of working alongside Porter Group.
"We sat down together, and I soon realised that our two businesses share the same mentality. We’re family-owned and family-driven. BOMAG, too, is a family business. It’s a natural fit."
In collaborating with REDS, Porter Group—the exclusive distributor for BOMAG in New Zealand—can now offer an outstanding full-service package to clients who want quality paving and milling gear.
The two company’s combined resources mean customers anywhere in New Zealand can expect fast response times and reduced downtime, thanks to REDS’ focus on the demands of the market and the Porter Parts network and resources.
Furthermore, in partnering with Porters, REDS now has access to its South Island branch network and resources, and Porter Group can now also provide market-leading operator training to a sector that’s seeing demand to upskill employees and push the boundaries on quality control.
"My philosophy is ‘our customers are family, and you never let down family’", says Jason. "If a customer wants us on-site, we show up." As for innovations being rolled out by the trusted BOMAG equipment brand itself, BOMAP, a new app that provides real-time documentation of the compaction and paving process, has recently arrived.
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Johan Hanekom, Porter Group’s BOMAG and Sandvik product specialist
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"BOMAP from BOMAG is the solution for earthworks and asphalt construction sites, which can be used to document work results on-site in real-time," says Johan Hanekom, Porter Group’s BOMAG and Sandvik product specialist.
"The intuitive-to-use app can be installed on standard Android tablets and smartphones and documents the passes on all makes of rollers while an optional aerial provides even more precise GPS location data."
Additionally, BOMAG has also recently introduced A-Pave—a machine assistance function that supports the operator when moving or setting up the paver, making it quicker and easier to move the machine from transport to working mode with just one switch.
"The operator sets the configuration of the screed width and levelling cylinder to the parameters needed, and then saves this setting. After transporting the machine, flicking a switch will return the machine to the working configuration," says Johan.
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BOMAG offers a wide range of pavers, from mini-sized through to highway-sized machines |
BOMAG offers a wide range of pavers, from mini-sized through to highway-sized machines. The BOMAG BF600P-3 sits in the middle of the range and—with a paving width from 2.55 to up to eight metres to a thickness of 300mm—is ideal for New Zealand conditions.
Johan says the BOMAG BF600P-3’s clever screed design gives pre-compaction up to 95% with only one tamper, while homogenous heat distribution guarantees the best paving results right from the start.
This new model also offers a better view from the cockpit for the operator, with excellent visibility to the screed operators for better communication within the team and more safety.
BOMAG’s range of cold planers goes from compact, with a working width of 500mm up to a big 600hp planer with a working width of 2200mm. In the middle of the range, Johan says the BOMAG BM1000/35 and BOMAG BM1300-35 are ideally suited to a wide range of jobs.
These highly efficient machines are designed to be powerful, yet economic and quiet. The superior productivity they offer operators is further enhanced by the tool holder system on the rotor, with a complete change of tool holders taking only about 25% of the time compared to a conventional system.
Because the operating cluster is height adjustable, operators can work comfortably either sitting or standing. Comfort and safety are further enhanced by an innovative BOMAG ion dust shield, which works by sucking dust through an electrical field, where it’s charged positively and thereby attracted to the negatively charged housing. Essentially, this means fine dust particles clump together into less dangerous coarse dust that can then be removed with the milled material.
This new development cuts fine particulate matter by more than 80%, significantly reducing pollution resulting from road recycling, protecting both the operators and the wider environment.
With new product innovation and new partnerships forming, Porter Group is well placed for further growth in the roading and civil sectors. The implementation of world-leading machine technology results in the best solutions being brought to market, while collaboration with REDs ensures it continues to set the bar high, providing second-to-none service everywhere.
Irrespective of the nameplate on the side of the machine, if there’s one solid through line in the 76-year-long Porter Group story, it must surely be exemplary customer service, anytime, anywhere.Speaking with Porter Group customers in every corner of New Zealand, it’s a theme that comes up again and again.
Of course, cementing such a reputation built over time is no small matter. It’s a reputation that has to be earned out in the field. The walking has to equate with the talking.Choosing a dependable service partner to bolster technical support for the highly specialised paving, milling, and stabilising equipment is not taken lightly.
After so many years in the industry, Porter Group has evolved a keen eye for talent and is well versed in predicting market success. When customers follow you from one business to another, it’s a fair indication that you’re pretty good at what you do.And Jason Allen and his team at Road Equip Diesel Services (REDS) are definitely very good at what they do.
Having established his own business after many years as a roading equipment specialist with the Wirtgen Group, Jason says less than 18 months later, his team has rapidly grown to six, including three specialists who service the whole country from two North Island workshops.
"Richard Watson joined us after a few months as a field service manager. He specialises in stabilisers and profilers, while I focus on pavers and profilers also," he says.
"We have another technician, Andres Yerro, working with us in our Auckland branch. And we’ve also opened a branch in Wellington with Jonathan Buckley, another very talented roading equipment specialist with years of experience.
"The company’s growth, while rapid, has been organic. With little more than a Facebook page for promotion, Jason says word of mouth is his main source of advertisement.
"I guess it’s supply and demand. In my previous role, I travelled all around the country, so people know me. And they come to me from Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington, and everywhere in between. Jason’s name kept cropping up in Porter Group’s conversations with end users. To the Hamilton-headquartered company, it became clear that the combined skills and expertise of the REDS team would prove a valuable asset in the field, enabling them to provide customers with end-to-end support."
Seeing Jason’s potential, Porter Group extended an offer to form an exclusive national agreement for the service and repair of BOMAG specialised equipment. Jason says he was quite humbled at the prospect of working alongside Porter Group.
"We sat down together, and I soon realised that our two businesses share the same mentality. We’re family-owned and family-driven. BOMAG, too, is a family business. It’s a natural fit."
In collaborating with REDS, Porter Group—the exclusive distributor for BOMAG in New Zealand—can now offer an outstanding full-service package to clients who want quality paving and milling gear.
The two company’s combined resources mean customers anywhere in New Zealand can expect fast response times and reduced downtime, thanks to REDS’ focus on the demands of the market and the Porter Parts network and resources.
Furthermore, in partnering with Porters, REDS now has access to its South Island branch network and resources, and Porter Group can now also provide market-leading operator training to a sector that’s seeing demand to upskill employees and push the boundaries on quality control.
"My philosophy is ‘our customers are family, and you never let down family’", says Jason. "If a customer wants us on-site, we show up."
As for innovations being rolled out by the trusted BOMAG equipment brand itself, BOMAP, a new app that provides real-time documentation of the compaction and paving process, has recently arrived.
"BOMAP from BOMAG is the solution for earthworks and asphalt construction sites, which can be used to document work results on-site in real-time," says Johan Hanekom, Porter Group’s BOMAG and Sandvik product specialist.
"The intuitive-to-use app can be installed on standard Android tablets and smartphones and documents the passes on all makes of rollers while an optional aerial provides even more precise GPS location data."
Additionally, BOMAG has also recently introduced A-Pave—a machine assistance function that supports the operator when moving or setting up the paver, making it quicker and easier to move the machine from transport to working mode with just one switch.
"The operator sets the configuration of the screed width and levelling cylinder to the parameters needed, and then saves this setting. After transporting the machine, flicking a switch will return the machine to the working configuration," says Johan.
BOMAG offers a wide range of pavers, from mini-sized through to highway-sized machines. The BOMAG BF600P-3 sits in the middle of the range and—with a paving width from 2.55 to up to eight metres to a thickness of 300mm—is ideal for New Zealand conditions.
Johan says the BOMAG BF600P-3’s clever screed design gives pre-compaction up to 95% with only one tamper, while homogenous heat distribution guarantees the best paving results right from the start.
 |
|
The operator enjoys a good line-of-sight to the screed operators for better communication within the team and more safety
|
This new model also offers a better view from the cockpit for the operator, with excellent visibility to the screed operators for better communication within the team and more safety.
BOMAG’s range of cold planers goes from compact, with a working width of 500mm up to a big 600hp planer with a working width of 2200mm. In the middle of the range, Johan says the BOMAG BM1000/35 and BOMAG BM1300-35 are ideally suited to a wide range of jobs.
These highly efficient machines are designed to be powerful, yet economic and quiet.The superior productivity they offer operators is further enhanced by the tool holder system on the rotor, with a complete change of tool holders taking only about 25% of the time compared to a conventional system.
 |
|
Operator comfort and outward visibility are well catered to in BOMAG’s paver range
|
Because the operating cluster is height adjustable, operators can work comfortably either sitting or standing. Comfort and safety are further enhanced by an innovative BOMAG ion dust shield, which works by sucking dust through an electrical field, where it’s charged positively and thereby attracted to the negatively charged housing.
 |
|
BOMAG machines feature plenty of innovation, with operator controls all grouped together logically inside the cab
|
Essentially, this means fine dust particles clump together into less dangerous coarse dust that can then be removed with the milled material. This new development cuts fine particulate matter by more than 80%, significantly reducing pollution resulting from road recycling, protecting both the operators and the wider environment.
With new product innovation and new partnerships forming, Porter Group is well placed for further growth in the roading and civil sectors. The implementation of world-leading machine technology results in the best solutions being brought to market, while collaboration with REDs ensures it continues to set the bar high, providing second-to-none service everywhere.
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