MAJOR, a global leading manufacturer of high-performance screening media, has introduced a training program – Hands-On SMS – to give operations the tools they need to maximize uptime. The manufacturer is first offering the program through General Equipment & Supplies, a Fargo, N.D.-based dealer, with plans to roll out the program to other qualifying dealers in the future.
“We have always been committed to ensuring our dealers are knowledgeable and able to give customers the best advice regarding our products,” said Lars Bräunling, MAJOR director of product development. “One of operations’ biggest challenges can be having only one person who knows how to repair everything. The training program helps spread that knowledge.”
The new program was born out of trade show presentations and seminars General Equipment used to educate its customers. The program involves hands-on training with a 6- x 20-ft. screen box, allowing participants to learn to spot and diagnose problems in the field, in addition to giving attendees a chance to teach the presenter about some of the challenges they face. The training also teaches participants how to reduce downtime and improve longevity and efficiency with MAJOR products.
The presentation starts with used screens and accessories pre-installed on a screen box, and finishes with new screens and accessories properly installed. Attendees use the same tools that would be used in the field to learn and experience best practices for the screen themselves.
“One of the accepted challenges of the traditional classroom-style presentation is that the nodding heads in the room had equal chance of someone fighting to stay awake as it was for someone to be agreeing with the content,” said Mark Roppo, MAJOR dealer development manager. “In the hands-on presentation, when colleagues poke each other, it’s not to wake them up, rather it’s to quietly share a challenge they experienced and what they did to address it.”
General Equipment has been one of MAJOR’s top dealers for the past 10 years. It is also the company’s first dealer to receive the “Certified Training Facility” designation. The company takes its core values of innovation, hard work, passion and doing the right thing very seriously, and those values align well with MAJOR’s value proposition.