IMT Electric Cranes Help Dealer Provide Quick, Nimble Field Service

NMC Inc., Nebraska’s Caterpillar dealer, has been providing equipment solutions to meet the changing needs of its customers since 1938. Through locations in Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Utah, NMC offers a comprehensive line of equipment, parts, and services essential to many industries.

 

Equally vital and venerable, NMC takes pride in the quality and responsiveness of its field service department. The equipment dealer and rental store pledges full maintenance and repair support to fleet owners and rental customers, minimizing downtime with prompt, efficient attention to service needs.

 

“It’s all about taking care of the customer in the quickest and most efficient way,” says Dwight McDermott, Director of Service for the Cat Machine Group at NMC.

 

Guided by that philosophy, NMC recently expanded its field service capabilities with the acquisition of smaller mechanics trucks equipped with telescopic cranes — vehicles ideal for servicing compact machinery.

 

NMC noticed a need for smaller service truck-crane units a few years ago. The field service department was too frequently asking fleet owners to haul their broken-down compact equipment into the shop for repair. Technicians were forced to swap out rental customers’ compact machinery more than seemed necessary. Cramped job sites posed challenges.

 

NMC explored multiple options before adding Dominator CS, DSC12 and DSC20 mechanics trucks from Iowa Mold Tooling Co. Inc. (IMT) to its service fleet. Each truck body features an integrated IMT 3203i electric telescopic crane, offering 4,000 lbs. of maximum lift capacity and a maximum 15 ft. of horizontal reach.

 

McDermott says the IMT truck-crane packages have had a significant impact on the NMC service department’s efficiency, customer service and bottom line.

 

“We’re able to do more work in the field than we were before,” McDermott says. “We don’t have to have machines hauled in for work like in the past. We can send a smaller truck out and still pull a hydraulic pump or an engine. We can still pick up and install a track on a skid steer or pull the drive motor out of a skid steer. On the rental side, we don’t have to swap out as many machines as we used to.

 

“Our fuel costs are less; our maintenance costs are less. Plus, we’re able to get to more jobs in one day, which obviously is more revenue.”

 

Maneuvering in tight environments has become easier, too. McDermott lists basements, apartment complexes and parking garages as examples of space-challenged job sites that are more accessible thanks to the smaller truck packages.

 

“If you’ve got some kind of major problem with a machine, it’s quite the chore to get out of those places and into a shop,” McDermott says. “To be able to go out and repair those machines right where they sit is a big asset to those customers. It ultimately relates to more uptime for them.”

 

IMT's Electric Telescopic Cranes 

IMT electric telescopic cranes are specifically designed for equipment dealers and rental equipment providers, along with lighter lifting applications in the construction, utility, public works, energy and railroad markets.

 

IMT introduced design enhancements for its lineup of electric telescopic cranes at the 2013 International Construction and Utility Equipment Exposition (ICUEE). Enhancements to the 2003i, 3203i, 4004i, 5005i and 6006i models include:

• Single-sheave boom tip design with a reduced profile for added reach in tight quarters.
• Hydraulic power unit featuring a new polyethylene reservoir that reduces weight and the potential for system contamination.
• Updated pin design that improves the reliability of the pin retention system.
• More compact tethered remote control that provides added ergonomic comfort in a lighter package.
• The enhanced IMT electric-crane lineup has a maximum horizontal reach ranging from 6' 6" to 22 ft. and capacity ranging from 2,000 lbs. to 6,000 lbs. All models are compatible with IMT Dominator mechanics trucks.