These days, the landscape industry is evolving constantly—a trait that's especially evident at industry trade shows such as Equip Expo—but one thing remains the same: Manufacturers are striving to manufacture equipment to make landscape pros' lives easier.
We spoke with product managers at Equip, and they let us in on the top challenges manufacturers in the green industry are aiming to alleviate for landscape professionals.
1. Labor
Almost every product expert Green Industry Pros encountered said filling the labor gap is a huge burden their customers shoulder.
To help with this, manufacturers have developed machines that allow them to do similar amounts of work in less time (and potentially pay current employees a higher rate).
"We're all professionals, but the universal currency is time," said Spencer Beckwith, product specialist at Bobcat Co. "The more you can do with less, the more money you can offer (your employees)."
Other companies, such as John Deere, have eased the strain by expanding mower deck sizes or using technology such as oil guards on its machines to extend maintenance intervals, said Greg Moyer, product manager for Z9 at John Deere.
2. Productivity
Going hand in hand with labor, landscape companies strive to make the crews they do have as productive as possible.
This is where autonomous equipment can come into play.
For example, if a landscape companies integrates a robotic mower into their fleet, the crew member that would have been mowing can focus on detail work such as trimming or blowing.
"The analogy I like is it's a little like, if you paint a room, someone has to do the details and put the initial trim in, but then someone comes along with a roller. This is the roller," said Charles Brian Quinn, co-founder of Greenzie. "What's so nice is that is we're seeing people nearly doubling productivity, which means landscape companies can start bidding more jobs and generate more revenue.
Kevin Caleca, commercial robotics and digital product manager for Husqvarna, adds that landscapers can look at robotics as just another tool in their belt.
"Some people look at robotics and think it's replacing them, but it's not going to replace a string trimmer, or edger," Caleca said. "There are a lot of little things you still need your crew to do. It's just that this machine is cutting for you, and now you stand out against your competition."
3. Increasing efficiency
To become more efficient in their everyday operations, many companies have implemented software and technology to get them there.
For example, some manufacturers have implemented tracking technology into their machines.
"Having data pulled from a machine is more than just the tracking perspective. It's understanding that data and how they can use it to do something different, especially around idle time," said Amanda Andruth, go-to market manager for technology for John Deere. "Then, from a maintenance perspective, the operatos don't have to tell you how many hours the machine has run. You can see that and make decisions from there."
Other technology integration happens on the back end of the business, such as business management software.
"A lot of businesses talk about how organizing everything is a big challenge for a lot of people," said Julia Starostecki, account executive at Jobber. "Some people are still pen and paper. We provide a lot of ongoing support training and equip everyone to be set up already when they get started."
4. Minimizing Downtime
If a machine is down, that means the landscape pros is not making money.
"When machines go down, they're out, so every day, we're making sure our machines are durable and we have the parts," said Brodie Milne, CMO of Yakta. "So, we need to make sure that when we go and choose the partners we're working with, that they are partners that are going to stand behind what we stand for as well stand behind the end users, especially commercial guys, because they're the ones that put a lot of hours on the machines."
David Finleyson, B2B public relations manager, Michelin, adds that Michelin's main goal of the Tweel tires is to keep people moving and keep equipment running.
"Productivity and uptime are the selling points of Tweel," Finleyson said. "The key point is that when you're mowing and you have a flat tire, your crew is down and you're not finishing the job, you're not moving on to the next jobsite, and you might have to wait for someone to come fix the flat or replace the tire."
5. Power concerns
Gas can be a large expense for landscape companies, so some manufacturers have put in effort to make their equipment's engines more efficiently, such as an engine control unit on John Deere's mowers, which will feed useful information to landscape fleet managers.
"Fuel efficiencies helps cut down on the emissions, but just as importantly, it helps the professional landscaping contractors take that money and put it back into their business," Moyer said.
For companies interested in battery-powered equipment, a wide variety of manufacturers have that covered as well.
"(With electric equipment), you don't have to worry about someone contaminating the fuel. You just have to remember to plug it in like your cellphone to make it go to work the next day," said Jeff Jacobsmeyer, regional business manager for the central Midwest division of Takeuchi.
6. Better asset utilization
Because jobsites are becoming smaller, landscape pros need to be able to go into those spaces with machines and do a lot of things, including better asset utilization, said Trevor Chase, senior product specialist at Caterpillar.
"Make the machines so I don't have six different machines on my jobsite to perform the specific tasks. I want one or two machines I can do most of my work with," Chase said.
Attachments used with compact equipment can also assist with the challenge of making machines more versatile, said Jacobsmeyer.
"As a contractor, you're selling the job and what you can get done as a contractor, where you can make money," Jacobsmeyer said. "We've got attachments, and I see a lot of guys putting things together of where they can make money."
Another benefit of smaller equipment, according to Sam Dando, senior product marketing manager with Toro and Siteworks, is that they're much easier to move around.
"Think of the bigger machines: They've gotten so expensive," Dando said. "With the Dingo, they've become more capable in the past, and so for a lesser price, you can have a smaller truck and trailer, and they're more cost effective and versatile."
