Page 2 - OPE November 2020

CLIPPINGS
Local and International News
High demand meets supply issues
Is this the prefect
storm?
• Springgrowth.
• Apost-lockdownsurgeindemandfor everything home and garden.
• Andissuesinthesupplychain... Demand for outdoor power products is
burgeoning, both at a DIY level and with contractor-level, pro series products.
Suppliers of outdoor power products will have for some weeks now been carefully monitoring stock levels and working on alternative offers if certain stocks dip to zero.
Now zero stock may enhance a dealer’s stockturns but, as they say in supermarketing, you cannot sell what isn’t on the shelf.
Hopefully, lawn mowing contractors will have by now ensured their machinery is up to another uber-busy season.
Because those who haven’t may well find it hard getting the servicing they need, the other key shortage being for skilled staff...
Steve Bohling, Group Editor
steveb@mpm.nz
09 304 2705 Hansa-C65rx
NZ Outdoor Power Equipment
is published 4 times per year
by Marketplace Media,
PO Box 28372, Remuera, Auckland 1541 Phone: 09 375 3097
Website : www.ope.co.nz
ISSN: 1177-4215
The opinions expressed and material published in New Zealand Outdoor Power Equipment
are not necessarily those of the publisher, except where specifically stated. The content is copyright and may not be reprinted in any form without the permission of the publisher.
Group Editor Steve Bohling 021 0223 6887 steveb@mpm.nz
Account Manager Karen Condon 0275 420 338
karenc@mpm.nz
Account Manager Susan Kennedy 021 317 176
susank@mpm.nz
Studio Manager Rachel Walker 021 169 0201
rachelw@mpm.nz
Publisher Simon Little 021 507 343 simonl@mpm.nz
OUTDOOR POWER INDUSTRY
Recruitment proving tricky as demand surges
02 NZOUTDOORPOWEREQUIPMENT NOVEMBER2020
moreat www.facebook.com/NZOPEmagazine
WITH SOME SUPPLY issues on top of the double whammy of spring growth coinciding with
surging post-lockdown demand for garden services and equipment, it’s certainly interesting times for the outdoor power channel.
Indeed, while nearly all the commentators we spoke for this issue’s walk-behind and ZTR mowing features (see pages 8 and 12 respectively) will admit to grappling with issues in the supply of products, they are also finding it challenging to fill certain positions.
When business is booming, people stay put: “People just aren’t prepared to shift at the moment if they’re comfortable where they are,” concludes Steelfort’s Gavin Lowndes.
“They’re sticking with what they know, and if they’ve got a safe, stable job, they’re staying put. It’s hard in that regard and it’s the same across workshops, warehousing or management.”
Steve Middleton agrees, saying Husqvarna dealers are battling to find trained staff for their workshops.
For his part, Bruce Wooding says Honda
is also hearing it’s increasingly hard to find the right people.
“Apprenticeships stopped on small engine mechanics a long time ago,” he says, “so we’re now feeling the knock-on effects in workshops.”
Turning to end users, major landscaping contractors like experienced contractor Robert Luijten, of Luijten Landscaping in South Auckland, are flat tack.
Robert confirms his order books are “absolutely full to the hilt. Yeah. It’s extremely busy. We were full tilt before lockdown and we’re full tilt now, if not busier. It’s just gone berserk!”
Over lockdown, having been shocked
at how much work simply could not
be carried out at a time when business should be ramping up, Ollie Newman of Onlandscapes now says Christchurch is also “extremely busy”, with enquiries from June- July now turning into actual commissions, to the point where his six teams of two are “under the pump”.
Saying “We’re pretty hectic to be brutally honest,” Stuart Baines, Director of Aspen Landscapes in Wellington, says there doesn’t seem to be any let-up going forward into
the New Year, with people investing in their property to both increase their enjoyment of being at home and add capital value.
Trouble is, as well as battling shortages in some plants and materials, in landscaping, just as outdoor power dealers are finding, there’s a bigger shortage – skilled people...
Indeed, says Robert Luijten, “If there’s a big shortage it’s the same old, same old – staff.”
WHAT POWERS YOUR PRODUCTS?
PETROL OR BATTERY? Both are
going well right now, but some major international corporations are opting for one over the other.
At the end of October, for example, Makita in Japan announced that it would stop producing engine products at the end of March 2022.
The change comes “in response to
the heightened awareness of global environmental issues and increasing needs for highly convenient, cordless products.”
Makita now “plans to focus management resources on development, production, and sales of cordless products while leveraging itsmotor,andbatterycharging/discharging technologies,andacceleratethedeparture fromengineproductsandtheapplication of cordless solutions to power tools and outdoor power equipment.”
Hansa reveals new chipper range
NEWS FROM THE NZ Arb
conference in Queenstown on 7-10 November included the very first sneak peek of Hansa’s new C65rx commercial chipper (photo above).
The C65rx is part of Hansa’s new Deutz powered range which is due for official release in early 2021 and comprises three machines:
• C45chipperwith7”capacity.
• C65chipperwitha10”capacity.
• C65RXchipper–atrackedversionof
the 10” machine.
Once launched, the new models will officially supersede the popular Hansa C40, C60 and C60RX and mark “a new era in chipper design”.
Key features of the range
include: powered by Deutz diesel, oil-air cooled engines; large feed openings (C45 7” x 13”, C65 & C65RX 10” x 18”); advanced IFM control system;kerbsidemountedcontrols; 250hrserviceintervals;andathree year/1000hourwarranty.
www.hansaproducts.co.nz