BOMAG holds inaugural “Oktoberfest” event at new headquarters

Company growth strategy, facility tour and product demonstrations headline two day dealer event

RIDGEWAY, SC — Recently, more than 90 dealer representatives attended BOMAG’s inaugural Oktoberfest event, held at the new BOMAG North American headquarters located in Ridgeway, SC. The two day event allowed attendees numerous opportunities to collaborate with the FAYAT-BOMAG team, experience BOMAG and Cedarapids by BOMAG equipment in action, learn more about FAYAT’s vision for the North American market, and receive critical information on new and emerging technology.

Oktoberfest began with an evening network reception. The next morning, attendees visited the new facility, where Jean-Claude Fayat, president of FAYAT, Jörg Unger, president of BOMAG Worldwide, and Rob Mueckler, president of BOMAG Americas, addressed attendees by providing insight into the Group’s structure and overall strategy for the asphalt road building industry in North America.

“FAYAT continues to make significant investments in the BOMAG product range as well as strengthen support services for the North American asphalt road building industry, which now enables customers to have a single source for all their compaction, asphalt paving, and road rehabilitation equipment and support needs” says Mueckler. Dealer attendee Dan Soley, vice president of Sales & Marketing for Miller-Bradford & Risberg, Inc., added, “Jean-Claude making the time and monetary investment to spend time with BOMAG dealers impressed me. It exemplifies Fayat’s commitment to the North American road building market and makes it a privilege to be a BOMAG dealer.”

Attendees also received a technology overview from Dave Dennison, marketing manager, on new BOMAG digital tools, including BMobile and ELearning. “BMobile allows dealer personnel to access critical sales tools including product brochures, specifications, competitive comparisons, and applications and product videos from a smart device or tablet,” comments Dennison. “ELearning complements BMobile as it offers online training tools for the dealer representative, offering more in-depth knowledge of the equipment, so she or he can better and fully support the customer.”

Upon conclusion of the morning session, attendees received a full tour of BOMAG’s paver manufacturing areas, semi-automated spare parts warehouse and distribution center, corporate offices, service training bay and outside demonstration area. “I was impressed to see the 40-foot tall racks of bins and wire guided equipment inside the automated parts warehouse,” says Mike Cox, senior vice president of Brandt Tractor, Ltd. “You can tell the distribution center is set up for expediting delivery and lowering costs.”

The highlight of the day was the outdoor equipment demonstration. The BOMAG-5 series generation of single drum rollers climbed a steep earthen embankment constructed to demonstrate the rollers’ superior gradeability, which tops out at over sixty percent. Multiple asphalt lanes allowed BOMAG to demonstrate the capabilities of its new BM2200/75 cold milling machine, the largest in the line, as well as the production capacity of the BM1200/35 milling machine. A paving train consisting of a Cedarapids CR552 paver, a BOMAG BW191AD-5 tandem vibratory breakdown roller, a BW11RH-5 pneumatic tire intermediate roller and a BW138AD-5 finish roller simulated the paving and compaction process. Additionally, the BOMAG RS500 reclaimer/stabilizer and BW211PD-5 single drum roller executed the full depth reclamation process used for roadway revitalization. “The outside demonstration area was very well done,” adds Cox. “From beginning to the end of the asphalt construction cycle, it fully demonstrated the strong breadth of the BOMAG product line. The entire event went a long way toward instilling confidence in the dealers that BOMAG is challenging to be the premier equipment supplier in North America.”

“We are much better positioned to deliver outstanding products, provide the quality training this facility was designed for, and, most importantly, fulfill customer support expectations,” adds Mueckler. “BOMAG is definitely committed to the customer. Our new facility in Ridgeway features the resources required to help us maintain a competitive edge and further demonstrates our Group’s long term commitment to the growth of the North American market. Through our long standing partnerships with our dealer network, collectively we are in a much better position to deliver upon customer needs throughout North America.”