HUNTER ENGINEERING EQUIPMENT IS BOLSTERING ITS CANADIAN OPERATIONS THAT WILL BENEFIT ITS DEALER PARTNERS
Since 1946, Hunter Engineering Equipment has come up with new ways to improve service bays for dealers.
“The core business of Hunter is alignment, alignments lift racks, tire changers, wheel balancers and vehicle inspection systems,” said John Peron, Director of Canadian Operations for Hunter Engineering Equipment.
To amp up its Canadian operations, Peron said Hunter opened a new state-of-the-art facility in Aurora, Ont. about 14 months ago.
Previously based out of Newmarket, Ont. in a 15, 000 sq.ft. building, Hunter now has access to over 45,000 sq.ft. of space, including warehouse and offices, along with a training facility.
Set up as a working training centre, the area allows up to 20 students to be work with the tools, and can hold up to 75 people in a special media conference and classroom.
Part of the training centre is an area Peron is proud of: the Power Bay.
This section showcases every type of tool offered by Hunter. It’s linked to a waiting room, replicating a dealership’s full service bay, with an adjoining customer service area.
This setup opens up efficient training possibilities, said Peron.
He added Hunter’s partners and customers can use the media conference and classroom for their own meetings, with or without the company present.
“We believe in partnerships as in helping our partners in any way we can,” said Peron. “Giving them access to our top-notch facilities is one of many ways we are happy to help.”
These new installations mean Hunter’s Canadian division can now provide training in Aurora, rather than share the main corporate facilities located at the company’s headquarters in St. Louis, Mo.
While the new facilities are exciting, Peron is most passionate about the inspections equipment that’s become popular with dealerships.
“These inspection racks allow a service department to highlight in less than three minutes the state of a vehicle’s brakes, tires, alignment and regulatory safety items like head or tail lights,” said Peron.
“All this while the car enters for a simple oil change. This allows a good and fruitful conversation between the service advisor and the customer.”
For Peron, all of Hunter’s solutions are about providing quality tools, servicing the customer quickly, and supporting dealerships.
“To this effect, the company has a four-48 policy,” said Peron. “If a problem occurs, we will be on site to assess the problem within four hours and guarantee the equipment will be back up and running in less than 48 hours. To do so, our service representatives carry inventory in their trucks and we have over a million dollars worth of inventory in our warehouse, ready to ship.”
