Trenchless Australasia sat down with KOR chief executive officer Andy Kimpton to discuss the company’s expansive offering for industrial clients.
Keep operations running. This motto is at the heart of KOR, and as an industry leader in vacuum, non-destructive digging (NDD), drain cleaning, and industrial sweeper products, the company continues to drive development in not only its people but also its cutting-edge technologies and innovative solutions.
This includes vacuum trucks, combination jetting and vacuum units, industrial pure vacuums and regenerative sweepers.
KOR is also the exclusive distributor of Cappellotto and Schwarze in Australia and New Zealand.
“When people invest in the equipment we supply, the expectation is higher utilisation, higher efficiency and higher effectiveness,” CEO Andy Kimpton said.
“Providing world class solutions to our clients gives them the ability to win and sustain strong places in the market themselves knowing that equipment is well supported and capable.
“We carry a substantial volume of parts, and we have the capability and experience to ensure that the units we do provide are utilised to the maximum of their ability.”
Investing in growth
Driven by the philosophy of simplifying, KOR aims to provide clients with a complete service, beginning with vertical integration.
“If you think about where the industry is going, so much of the decision making and the activities around technology and data-driven decision making is really important,” Kimpton said.
“What we can do from the beginning to the end is have a look at the lifecycle of someone’s unit and we can offer fleet optimisation processes.”
One example of this is trading a second-hand unit to upgrade to an updated unit, which is fully handled by KOR.
“We facilitate the trade-in, the refurbishment, and then the placement back in the market of those second-hand units providing a different point of entry,” he said.
Kimpton said the company’s investment in technology also shines in other areas of the business.
“We use technology for supplying risk assessments and training manuals, so customers don’t have substantial folders in the vehicles,” he said.
“Clients can easily view this on their phones and see the specific training material risk assessments, all the operator’s manuals and they can achieve competency-based training through our KOR academy.”
This focus on growth also coincides with building upon the company’s operations and engineering centre in Dandenong, Victoria, which provides tailored customer support.
Kimpton said KOR’s operations and engineering centre at Dandenong has everything from major service and repairs, the logistics of the arrival of a unit into Australia, through to the planning of pre delivery requirements.
“We provide a one-stop solution for all the customers’ because we are able to cater to the specific needs and requirements for the trucks they want,” he said.
In addition to that, KOR has recruited and developed a substantial team of engineers to support the OEM products, both in vacuum sweepers and specialised areas.
Customers can also access the service facilities through a 24/7 customer service line for booking in services for any breakdowns.
“We’re building upon our road service capability,” Kimpton said.
“We’ve strategically deployed operational mobile service vans to provide coverage in both Australia and New Zealand. Additionally, we have also established service agreements with reliable suppliers to further enhance and expand our capabilities in this region.
“In the last four months, we’ve also increased our facility capability in Queensland and New South Wales.”
Kimpton added that the investment in staff has contributed to the company’s success.
“I joined the company in February 2022, and since becoming CEO, we’ve experienced consistent growth,” he said.
“With over 100 team members now in place across Australia and New Zealand, our expansion is aligned with supporting the development of our clients.
“This has led to additional investments in capital, our people, and the improvement of our systems and processes, ensuring our continued leadership in the industry.”
Expansion goals
While KOR has an expansive range of equipment under its belt, the company continues to focus on enhancing its offering to clients.
Kimpton said when the company was looking at expanding its equipment line, it looked at what complementary or supplementary equipment its contractors were looking for.
“We attend international and Australian trade shows, so we’re always looking at what the market is presenting, what our existing OEMs and other people entering the market are showing to see what the latest is,” he said.
“That includes upgrades in safety equipment, which are complementary to the products of the vacuum and sweeper markets.”
As KOR continues to build upon its presence within Australian markets, the company has focused on its operations in New Zealand over the past 18 months.
The company recently secured a new site in Hamilton on the North Island, which is three times the size of its current site in New Zealand.
“We’ve been introducing the high-quality equipment such as the Cappellotto vacuum trucks, and we’ve exceeded our expectations there,” Kimpton said.
“We’re only in the North Island at the moment and the other opportunities we’re looking at is how can we serve the South Island.
“We have the mobile service vans, travelling both north and south to support our clients and looking at the future opportunities for a future site down in the south, or at least the mobile permanent placement there.”
Kimpton added that he was proud to be a part of an organisation with a strong dedication to its customers.
“I’ve been fortune throughout my career to work in some large powerful organisations both in Australia and Internationally,” he said.
“KOR is a dynamic, disciplined and organised company that has a tremendous reach across our regions.
“I’m proud to be at the helm of KOR that strives every day to go over and above every day to support our customers.
For more information, visit KOR’s website.
This article featured in the February edition of Trenchless Australasia.
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