Friday 16th

4:55 am and everybody is on the bus, doors are shut and we are moving towards Dallas Ft Worth Airport. WOW !  Everybody got on the bus, and 5 minutes early.  They must be really keen to get to Ringpower.  Just interesting that nobody wanted to talk to me. Maybe a 4am start was a bit cruel..

Getting off the bus at the airport and still nice and dark outside.



Then we had an hour to spare while we waited .. and it is still dark outside.  Jason must be out looking for something to eat, while a couple of others got some more zzz's in.

We arrived at Jacksonville, Florida and disaster struck in the form of luggage damage. Not sure what happened, but it was bad and there was no way my case was going to survive another flight. At first I was just going to move on, but then realised, that if this was a Caterpillar Dealership, they would want to know about the customer experience, right?  So bravely I charged to the AA baggage office ( brave because I had 7 strong Aussie blokes following me and nobody was going to mess with us). Initially things with the lady behind the counter did not go so well, but when she saw that I was getting a "little grumpy", she moved right into Service Recovery mode and I ended up with a $100 voucher to replace my bag and also an apology for the inconvenience. Knowing what I know about Service Recovery, she followed all the steps (STOP, DROP and ROLL) and has definitely had some training ....  but it worked. We all left smiling.

Our bus was on time, and they were waiting for us at the arrivals gate with a great sign - Australia Elite Team.

Arriving at the Ringpower Dealership just outside Jacksonville,  in St Augustine, Florida

Since I have been talking to the dealer a couple of weeks before our arrival, they were very excited to have us there and greeted everyone as they got off the bus.  Chip Handley (Vice President Training Director) and Chris Tompkinson (Service Manager) did an excellent job of making the guys feel very welcome.
Great how they focussed on the 5 guys ....

After a great lunch that they provided, we started off in the Training Centre. Make sure you get the guys to share the photo's they took, because the ones here just do not do this place the justice it deserves.

Here is the Hydaulic lab and the team getting a quick lesson on how the set-up works. It shows the path of hydraulic oil through the system and components and what happens when air is introduced. This is a fundamentals course and all technicians at all levels must complete it.

Next we went to the Electrical Lab. Typically they use the rolling smart board to learn schematics and apply it by building the circuit using the circuit board. The rolling smart board can also be taken outside to the shop.

Jason taking plenty of photo's to take back to Cavpower .....

Then onto the Engine Lab, which also functions as the Regional EPG & Marine training centre.

We then spent a short while discussing Customer Loyalty with Chip and Chris in one of the training rooms. They also invited 2 Field Service Technicians from Heavy Equipment and a Field Service Dispatcher to join us and allow the team to ask questions.

This is what each of the training rooms typically looks like ..

We all introduced ourselves and talked a bit about our program. Some wise words from Chip:  Customer Loyalty is all that really matters. There is one core group that has the biggest impact on customer loyalty and that is field service. No matter how nice looking your dealership is, it is when the customer calls for help when you as technicians become ambassadors for the dealer and Caterpillar. If the customer never has a problem, then they will never find out how good you really are. We talked about Transactional Surveys and the importance of following up on Alerts and resolving problems for the customer quickly.

Bruce (one of the Ringpower technicians with us) made a good observation:  Sometimes it is more important to take care of the customer than the machine. We have to continuously listen to the customer and change what we are doing to ensure that we meet their needs.

And with those wise words, we left and made our way to have a look around the place.

The main workshop. Track machines on the right and wheeled on the left. Concrete contains a special layer of fine ground metal that allows track machines to enter the shop with no damage to the floors.
Check out the neat workstation on the left hand side ..

A closer look at the technician work station.  They order their own parts and manage the job requirements themselves.

 Ringpower has 2 Major Component Rebuild Centers (MCRC), one located here in St Augustine and the other in Tampa.  They do Engine Rebuilds, Engine Dyno (up to 4500hp), Transmission Dyno (up to 300hp), Transmission and Torque Converter Rebuilds, Engine Component Services and Power Train Component Rebuilds. The guys took lots of photo's to bring back to their dealerships.

Transmission and Hydraulic Testing area ...

We then went through the other areas of Ringpower which included a Specialized Machine Shop, Fabrication and Welding Shop and the Undercarriage Reconditioning Shop.

Somewhere along there, Matt found himself a new friend ....

and once again, you will always find him where ever there is something our of the ordinary ..

And every day this past week, we have had to endure the excitement and flashing of camera's when Fire Engines come into view.  But today they hit the jackpot !!!!

 And if that is not enough !!   The ever elusive school bus. If only you knew how many missed attempts there were at capturing a photo of one of these on the road .. ( yes it is only school bus)

Back to something serious again.  The field service group at St. Augustine have 9 technicians, which is relatively small compared to other locations.  So here we have a service truck and a PM truck.

This is Bruce, who I mentioned earlier. Check out his name on the door of the truck! This was Chris (the Service Manager's) idea.  These trucks are F550's.

Here is Bruce with all his new mates ......

 F350 Field Service truck dedicated to CCE ( that is all the small stuff )

In Field Service, each technician has their own designated parts bin and have their parts delivered by the parts department. They order all their own parts.

The guys took heaps of photo's and gathered lots of new information to bring back home with them.

Our visit ended way to quickly and Chip took us to the merchandise store and sent us all off with a Ringpower hat. Some of the guys also did a bit more shopping....

So, reluctantly we got sent off in the bus and had to say goodbye to this very impressive dealership and its people.  Chip, Chris and their crew did an absolutely fantastic job in making us feel very welcome.  We can now understand first hand how they have become a dealership with a customer loyalty score of 9.3 !!

It seems Ringpower has just gained some new fans ......

So off we set for the long 2.5 hr drive from St Augustine to Orlando.  Saw lots and lots of interesting stuff along the way and there were photo's being taken all the time. Always something that someone on the bus needed too capture.

Here is one ....

and another one ... 

It was just a matter of time before the lights went out in Queensland again ....

Actually, it is probably a bit harsh, since at one stage 6 of them were all asleep, heads dropping down the side of the seats. Guess who was just not going to miss out for one second ....   Jason. If I was allowed to stand up in the bus, I would have taken a photo, but alas .... 

Being Friday afternoon, the crowds are heading for the coast, while we are going inland.  

We arrived at our destination around 6:30 pm .

And one last blurry photo infront of the hotel.  I will go out in the morning and get some better ones.

We finished the day off with dinner in a restaurant to posh for taking photo's.

Tomorrow is the Kennedy Space Center adventure .....