NPK Construction Equipment hosted a hands-on demolition event at its headquarters in Walton Hills, Ohio.
The event, dubbed Demo Days, served as a 40th anniversary celebration for NPK, as well as an opportunity for the company to showcase its partnership with Murphy Tractor & Equipment Co., a local dealer. Dozens of employees from each company attended the event.
Ken Skala, district manager at NPK, says Demo Days allowed NPK and Murphy Tractor employees – as well as end users – a chance to get first-hand experience with the company’s equipment.
“So many of our people have not been exposed to our product,” Skala says. “They make it every day, but they’ve not been exposed to it. Even some of our own salesmen don’t fully understand the true nuances of our product. So, we decided to bring the sales guys in and do some walkarounds. Then, we said: ‘Why don’t we get a machine, put a product on it, and do some training?’”
The company had a variety of attachments on display and several available for use on-site, including a hydraulic hammer, a demolition shear, a concrete crusher and a material processor. Attendees were able to get into the cab of John Deere excavators equipped with these attachments and process recycled concrete.
Skala says the timing of this event was perfect, as Murphy Tractor is beginning to do more in the demolition space.
“Murphy was all about it,” Skala says. “Murphy is now jumping into the demolition market in Ohio. Some of these products on display are theirs. They said: ‘Let’s use it for the show and then we’ll ship them to them.’ Most Deere dealers aren’t scrap and demolition concentric; they’re dirt guys. That was the driver behind this event: get everybody exposed to NPK’s products.”
Murphy Tractor was delighted to participate in this event. For two companies located so close to each other – Murphy Tractor’s nearest location being in Brunswick, Ohio, and NPK being headquartered in nearby Walton Hills – Demo Days was a chance for both companies to use their proximity to their advantage.
“We sometimes take for granted how close they are to us,” says Steven Schmidt, sales manager at Murphy Tractor. “We did training the past couple of days, and that was great because we have some new reps to get some hands-on training. They brought some of their specialists in from all around the country. This event was very beneficial to put faces to names.
“From a customer perspective, you can talk about something or have an idea to fix a problem they have,” Schmidt adds. “But when you get to come out and use the equipment yourself and see the end product, it’s very beneficial.”
Building a bond
Ask anyone from NPK or Murphy Tractor and they’ll likely tell you the same thing: The working relationship between the two has been excellent.
“NPK is fantastic,” Schmidt says. “Of all the vendors we work with, they are absolutely at the top. From their leadership down to their technicians and product support staff, everyone has been great to work with. I can’t say enough good things about them.”
Skala’s experience with Murphy Tractor has been much the same.
“When Murphy Tractor took the territory 12 to 13 years ago, they were a little hesitant to take our product,” he says. “They sold a different product out West. But they did take it on. As we’ve evolved in this relationship, our companies are almost symbiotic. We attend their events, and they attend our events; it’s a very close relationship.
“If we have an issue, I can call the president of Murphy Tractor, Bill Buckles, and say: ‘Bill, we have an issue,’ and we work it out,” Skala adds. “Same with them. If they have an issue, they reach out to us and we resolve it. We’re not going to jeopardize their sale of an excavator because we have a problem with the hammer. They trust us and we trust them.”
