 David Smith |
Since his recent promotion, David Smith senses a rise in consumer confidence and signs that end-users want to keep down the age of their fleets.
"I have seen some visibility of this thing starting to turn around," notes Smith, who is in his 10th week heading Snorkel North America.
"We are seeing customers quote a lot more, utilisation rates are up and rental rates are coming up a little bit," Smith says. "Construction projects are starting, and (many of) our customers have not bought much over the last 24 months" and, in many cases, are experiencing the downside of an aging fleet.
Among his travels, Smith measured the industry pulse at the annual conference of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers held on 7-9 November in San Antonio, Texas.
Smith grew up in Ames, Iowa. He received a bachelor's degree in business from William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa and a master's degree in business administration from Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas.
"We have been in Elwood for almost seven years," he says. "I started with Snorkel in materials for three years, was in product support for 1.5 years and then became vice president of operations in October 2008."
Smith was named president of Snorkel North America on 21 September.
"We have needed a strong leader to head up the US operation for some time, and David has proved that he really understands and believes in Snorkel's core values," says Brendan Campbell, chief operating officer of parent firm Tanfield Group plc of Washington in north east England. On an interim basis, Campbell had headed the Snorkel North American operation.
"As president of our North American operations, David's experience and leadership will be invaluable as we continue to strengthen our business and prepare Snorkel for the economy's rebound," Campbell notes.
In addition to promoting Smith, the Snorkel North America organization has recruited senior personnel in product support, finance and supply chain recently.
"We did what we had to do to survive in the last 2.5 years," Smith notes. "Now we are bringing in a team and leadership" to pursue market opportunities.
Publicly traded Tanfield had its own Aerial Access-brand trailer-mounted boom lifts before acquiring UpRight Powered Access in June 2006 and Snorkel International Inc in July 2007. The Snorkel business reports within Tanfield's powered access division.
Tanfield has unified its aerial work platforms under the Snorkel brand and discontinued use of the UpRight Powered Access identity
(Forkliftaction.com News #458).
Globally, principal Snorkel-brand production facilities are located in Elwood for North America and South America; Washington for Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and Levin, New Zealand and Jintan, China for the Asia Pacific region.
The Elwood facility occupies about 350,000 sqft (31,500 sqm) including a 2007 expansion of 100,000 sqft (9,000 sqm). Among new product lines in Elwood is the TL series of four towable boom lifts with platform heights ranging from 34-49 ft (10.2-14.7 m).
Also in North America, Snorkel has a Fresno, California facility serving as a spare parts depot and a site for research and development. "We will kick off the remanufacturing of machines there," Smith says.
Snorkel employs about 135 persons in North America including 100 in Elwood, 20 in Fresno and 15 in geographically dispersed locations for sales and service support.
"We have the capacity and facilities to do what we need to do" in the next few years, Smith says.
Smith says 85% of Snorkel equipment goes into the rental market. Customers include broadly based firms such as United Rentals Inc of Greenwich, Connecticut; RSC Holdings Inc's Scottsdale, Arizona-based equipment rental operations; Ahern Rentals Inc of Las Vegas, Nevada; and Hertz Corp's equipment rental division in Park Ridge, New Jersey. In addition, there are a "lot of smaller regional rental companies," he notes.
The Snorkel team is preparing now to focus on personal and low-level access in its exhibit at the American Rental Association's 2011 rental show taking place from 27 February to 2 March in Las Vegas.
Snorkel will show compact portable lifts that are designed for use by one person ,usually for interior applications, at heights under 40 ft (12 m). Low-level access is defined as a machine under 12 ft (3.6 m) platform height and weighing less than 1,800 lbs (810 kg). Also, the exhibit will include a reworked SPM20 mast lift with a new sequencing wire rope system for smoother elevation and descent and improved mast stability. The list price: USD14,899.
Snorkel competes mostly with Oshkosh Corp's JLG brand, Terex Corp's Genie line, Linamar Corp's Skyjack subsidiary and Haulotte Group SA equipment.