Meet The Solutions Specialists: Brandt

Oct 20, 2021 - 4 years ago

How Brandt’s customer-driven strategy turned them into a comprehensive solutions provider.

Meet The Solutions Specialists

For almost nine decades, the Brandt Group of Companies has grown around the products and services that its customers need to be successful. Whether that has meant showing up in the middle of the night with a replacement part to keep production running, driving to a remote worksite to help make financing a customer’s fleet easier, building custom engineered machines from the ground up, or something else entirely, the Brandt name has always been synonymous with value and commitment.

Meet The Solutions Specialists

The key to Brandt’s success is constant improvement and the expansion of its product offerings to meet the ever-changing needs of the market. Far from the small agricultural equipment manufacturer of the firm’s early years, the company is constantly acquiring businesses, securing new partnerships, and creating brand-new products. Brandt delivers value by making sure that desired products are readily available to their clients when and where they need them.

“Every decision we make is customer-focused. We listen to the needs of our customers to understand what they need to succeed, and then do whatever it takes to fulfill those needs.” – Shaun Semple, Brandt Group of Companies CEO

The company’s Brandt Tractor Ltd. division is known industry-wide for this strong commitment. Founded with just two Saskatchewan dealerships in 1992, Brandt Tractor has expanded over the last 30 years to become the exclusive John Deere Construction & Forestry equipment dealer for all of Canada. In an industry where a customer’s success is built on more than just equipment, Brandt has invested deeply in delivering unmatched product support to keep their customers up and running 24 hours a day, every day.

Meet The Solutions Specialists

The path to growth has been linear for Brandt Tractor, with success following everywhere they set foot. In 1995, they set out to transform newly acquired locations in Manitoba and Southern Alberta and, shortly afterward, acquired John Deere’s Northern Alberta dealerships. In 2001, they established their first foothold in Ontario with a Ditch Witch dealership in Milton and then added 13 dealerships in British Columbia to their network just a year later. By 2013, the company had 27 locations across the country, including five in Atlantic Canada.

Then, in the industry’s most talked-about acquisition of 2019, Brandt purchased Nortrax Canada Inc. and Nortrax Quebec Inc. from John Deere. This remarkable deal caused a major shift in the industry, uniting all Canadian John Deere Construction & Forestry dealerships under the Brandt banner. This agreement made Brandt the first and only true coast-to-coast equipment dealer network supplying Canadian contractors – with 56 locations, 100+ service points, and 24/7/365 Regina-based customer support centre, including a full-service call centre staffed by parts & service specialists.

While Brandt Tractor was growing rapidly, Brandt’s other divisions were expanding as well; engineering new products, and venturing into new industries such as agriculture, rail, energy, mining, and steel. As its engineering and manufacturing capabilities expanded, the company leveraged this capability to add complimentary products for John Deere customers, such as built-for-purpose attachments for their construction and forestry equipment, and the Work Ready™ utility and heavy haul trailer lineup.

Shortly after introducing their utility & semi trailer line, Brandt acquired Camex Equipment Sales & Rentals Ltd. in Nisku, Alberta. Camex was a market-leading truck rigging and specialized trailer supplier in the oil & gas, mining, pipeline, infrastructure, and municipal and environment sectors. This acquisition was a perfect fit for Brandt Tractor, as the audience for Camex’s extensive product, parts, service, and rental offering consisted, in many cases, of existing Brandt customers. The Camex acquisition also played a key role in the expansion of their trailer lineup into heavy haul models in 2019.

Meet The Solutions Specialists

With the Camex acquisition complete and their full trailer lineup in place, Brandt had strengthened their position in the market. Not only had they found effective ways integrate additional product lines, they were delivering significant value to their customers by providing them with a single retail channel for their equipment needs, backed by the only true coast-to-coast dealer infrastructure available. Then, in summer 2021, Brandt secured yet another opportunity to expand their product line and services significantly.

In a deal that is still pending at press time, Brandt has officially moved to acquire Cervus Equipment Corporation, a well-established dealer of John Deere agricultural equipment, after receiving overwhelming support from Cervus shareholders in a mid-October vote. Cervus is also the largest Peterbilt dealer in Canada and a major material handling equipment distributor. Like Brandt, Cervus has a long history of supplying world-class OEM brands to their customers across Canada. Brandt is looking forward to bringing their customer-service-first approach to these markets to enhance the customer experience across Cervus’ base.

The Cervus acquisition gives Brandt an additional 64 locations spanning three countries – Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. It will add 1,500 new employees and $1.2 billion in revenue and will empower Brandt to deliver even more value to their customers by offering John Deere agricultural equipment, Peterbilt trucks, and four premium material handling product lines – JLG, Clark, Doosan, and Sellick.

Of the Cervus acquisition, Shaun Semple, Brandt CEO said, “The Brandt team is excited about this deal as it will allow us to better serve our customer base across Canada. The addition of Cervus’ offerings will open the door to Brandt to deliver an exceptional range of products and services for customers in the Agriculture, Transportation and Material Handling industries. These segments, in addition to our existing specializations, will further establish Brandt as a total solutions provider across our diverse customer groups.”

A total commitment to understanding and satisfying the needs of their customers has always been the driver for growth at Brandt, and as long as there is an opportunity to deliver additional value to a customer with an unmet need, that growth will continue.

Meet The Solutions Specialists The Brandt Group of Companies includes a number of manufacturing and distribution divisions that service a range of industry segments including construction, forestry, agriculture, transportation, industrial technology, material handling, mining, roadbuilding, mineral processing, steel, energy, and more. Brandt also operates the world’s largest privately owned John Deere equipment dealer network. Not including the Cervus acquisition, Brandt has over 100 locations in Canada and the U.S., more than 3,600 employees, and a growing international audience. Brandt is one of Canada’s largest privately owned companies and is among an elite group of Platinum Club members of Canada’s Best Managed Companies.

Brandt Tractor has enjoyed a longstanding relationship with Supply Post, with their advertising partnership dating back to the first edition of Supply Post in 1972 as Coast Tractor, which was added to the Brandt family in 2002.

For more information on the Brandt Group of Companies and their product offerings, visit brandt.ca or visit your local Brandt Equipment Dealer.

Source: Brandt Group of Companies