Responsiveness and shorter lead times have become staples of Specialised Roading Equipment’s service, and as Managing Director Mark Wansbrough explains, the company is committed to only getting better in this area.
Responsiveness is a core part of Specialised Roading Equipment’s (SRE) philosophy. From its experienced and highly trained staff to its innovative facilities and equipment, everything within the business is geared towards optimising manufacturing time – and more importantly – surpassing customer expectations.
Or at least that’s how Mark Wansbrough puts it. As the Managing Director of SRE, Wansbrough has led a mission to enhance the company’s responsiveness and production timelines, while ensuring that quality is maintained.
He says it begins with having the right company attitude. One that puts customers first.
“We’ll do whatever it takes to get a sprayer out on time,” Wansbrough says. “We believe it’s our point of difference. We recognise that sprayers are gold mines, that there’s often massive crews that rely on these machines every day.
“If there’s any issues or delays with the delivery, it can have a real impact on the profitability of the job. Whether it’s a new build, or a customer needs a unit delivered by a certain time, we’re there for them when they need us.”
SRE designs and manufactures a range of high quality, road construction machinery, including (but not limited to) bitumen sprayers, emulsion sprayers and tack coaters.
Despite being separated by the Tasman Sea, the New Zealand-based SRE takes great pride in offering lead times that are often shorter than even some Australian-based manufacturers.
Wansbrough says SRE customers know that distance is no object when it comes to product deliveries.
“We’ve always held the view that customers shouldn’t have to wait for any piece of gear for longer than 12 months,” he says. “To make sure we can keep delivering on this, we’ve worked to increase the capacity of the business to be able to meet those expectations.”
This commitment to improvement and customer fulfilment has led to constant expansion for SRE, in order to cater for a growing number of orders in Australia and New Zealand.
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“We’ve nearly tripled the size of our workforce and soon we’ll be moving to a brand-new facility that’s roughly three times larger than our current one,” Wansbrough says. “We’ve got to keep tweaking the business to make sure that we can deliver on those time frames.”
This is also true when it comes to after sales support. SRE goes to great lengths to ensure that customers are supported long after the initial delivery, with its team members even flying across to Australia to provide parts personally.
“We’ve had team members race to the airport in Auckland, an hour and a half drive away, to get a special component onto a plane, to make sure our Australian customer could have that part and an expert ready to go the next morning,” Wansbrough says.
“The customer didn’t ask for that, but that’s the level of responsiveness that we thought was appropriate. Some companies might think ‘oh well, we can send it to the courier, and they’ll get it in a few days’. But no matter what it takes, we’re there for our customers.
“When something happens, we pride ourselves on having the willingness to jump straight on it. The fact that the ‘Tasman’ is there is irrelevant, because we can back up what we say with actions for our customers.”
in the pipeline.
SRE is also launching its first permanent Australian parts site, offering a local touchpoint for customers.
“The biggest thing has been making sure that we’ve got the parts available to our customers in Australia. In the past, that’s been making sure we’re holding stock and had great freighting arrangements to send parts overnight,” Wansbrough says.
“That was the starting point, but now we’re taking it a step further. We’re developing a parts store in Australia, so that all key parts will be on hand in the local market. We’ve also got a 24-hour, technical support line through a dedicated team member.”
When it comes to the responsiveness of its support and servicing, SRE doesn’t stop there.
“Our top-of-the-line sprayers have a full diagnostic system, allowing us to hook into the sprayer remotely if there’s ever any issues. We’re always there when we need to be,” Wansbrough says.
At the end of the day, it’s about making the process as simple as possible, Wansbrough adds.
“I’m a big believer, particularly with these high capital value items, that you’ve got to be easy to deal with,” he says. “It starts with the very first interaction with us, even with our quotes, we’re turning these around in a day, while we’re hearing that others are waiting months.
“That attitude permeates across the business and that’s how we conduct our business, across the whole life cycle of the sprayer.”
And more’s on the way.
“Seeing the first fixed wing sprayer being delivered into Australia and building the momentum overall is really what excites us,” Wansbrough says. “Australia’s our major focus for 2025.”
This article was originally published in the March edition of our magazine. To read the magazine, click here.
