McLanahan Corp. hosted its second Dealer Academy Jan. 22-23 in Nashville, Tennessee.
The two-day event, which aimed to educate and update McLanahan dealers, drew about 60 attendees. Speakers covered existing McLanahan equipment, company updates and equipment that’s coming in 2019.
Each educational session covered specific aspects of McLanahan equipment, including cyclones, separators, thickeners and presses. Attendees also split into teams for hands-on sessions, where they discussed case studies and applied what they learned to them.
“It’s a two-day event where we invite our dealers in to teach them some of the technical things about our equipment, about the culture
of McLanahan and who we are, and the industry and the trends we see going on,” says Mark Krause, managing director of North America at McLanahan. “Our dealers are kind of an extension of who we are, what we do and what we do for the industry.”
The Dealer Academy also emphasized the importance of consistency and reliability. With that in mind, McLanahan focused an entire day on the features of its equipment.
“A lot of what we are talking about here is consistency,” Krause says. “Our customers want us to know their plant better than they know their plant. They want to know that when people move or things change, they have somebody they can call that really knows what’s going on with their operation and can help them through it.”
New tech
The company also discussed its updated website and dealer application for iOS and Android.
“In 2018, we started doing a few new things for the website,” says Andrea Ritchey, director of marketing and communications at McLanahan. “We did a few webinars, we launched a new website, we have some how-to videos and we have a few new case studies coming.”
The website includes 3-D renderings of the company’s products, as well as troubleshooting guides for them. It also includes several resources for viewers, including brochures, how-to videos, infographics and webinars.
Additionally, the company plans to launch a McLanahan dealer app this year. The app will serve as an all-encompassing platform where users can find dealer information, including products, solutions, sales tools and more. Users can also create agendas and PowerPoint presentations within the app.
“You can have everything in a really concise area,” Ritchey says.
In addition, the company updated the McLanahan sizing data in AggFlow so it reflects the company’s current product line.
“The best part about AggFlow, in my opinion, is if users know how to use it properly, they can use it to help us help select equipment,” says Matthew Lear, regional sales manager at McLanahan.
The updates were primarily focused on the wet processing line. Product images also were updated.
“By adding all of our current equipment sizes, as well as our older stuff, people will be able to more accurately choose what we provide and produce,” Lear says. “With real-life data, we can see actual performance rather than theoretical performance.”
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Equipment launches
During the academy, McLanahan revealed that it will be launching its UltraWash modular plant, which includes the 150, 250 and 400 throughput versions, at Bauma 2019. According to the company, the plant is designed for quick assembly and efficiency.
“It’s about that ability to get a plant running fast,” Krause says. “It could be while they’re building a bigger plant, it could be that they want to move those assets around because the capital needs to move, or they don’t want to buy a fixed plant. They want to have a plant that can move. This can move.”
The company is also building a portable Ultra Fines Recovery System, which is expected to be completed in March. Historically, McLanahan has primarily produced static plants, but its recent acquisition of Anaconda Equipment thrust the company into the portable plant market.
“There’s a whole market out there for portables,” Krause says. “I think there’s a bigger market for this that right now isn’t tapped yet.”
Finally, the company will unveil its H Series Max Screen at the 2019 AGG1 Aggregates Academy & Expo in Indianapolis. According to the company, this triple-shaft horizontal screen increases operation efficiency with more accurate particle sizing.
“Our product portfolio needs it – especially if we’re going to get into portable things – and the old universal screen wasn’t going to cut it,” Krause says. “So now we have the true triple-shaft, adjustable mechanism that comes with it.”
