2011 was another successful year for agriculture and Worthington Tractor Parts, Inc. as a whole. I hope that you are able to reflect the same as us. As you plan for 2012 I'd like to remind all that Worthington Tractor Parts, Inc. has a few different companies under our umbrella but don't let that confuse you our partner in parts. We are committed to being your economical replacement parts supplier.
In 2012 Worthington Ag Parts will show you renewed focus on providing you and all of our valued customers with the most economical, reliable and value added parts line in the industry. This includes our used, after-market new and re-manufactured parts line. We have over 100,000 after-market new parts in our growing line.
2012 also marks our 48th year in the replacement parts business. Over this time we have seen significant changes in the farming industry. We have been able to change as well to meet our customers needs but we never have stopped developing a relationship with our customers.
If you are curious about all of our different operation around the world their websites are below.
www.neils.com.au - Neil's Parts of Australia our sister company providing replacement parts to "down
www.capellousa.com - Implement Division providing Capello corn heads to the U.S. market.
www.exportagparts.com - Parts Export Export Division B2B site for our European customers providing after-market new parts to our world wide dealer network. We now have a warehouse in Germany!
Thank you for your patronage in 2011 and from the Worthington Ag Parts family - Happy New Year!
Sincerely,
Michael Winter
Wortington Tractor Parts, Inc. - President
DBA: Worthington Ag Parts, Capello Implement, Parts Express
Everyone needs to grow and to do that a certain amount of change in your life is necessary. The world is changing - twitter, face-book and mobile phones, almost everyone now has a mobile phone! Fifteen years ago that was not common. Can you imagine not having your mobile phone now? We have customers emailing us for parts from the comfort of their cabs! I have often said when you get comfortable in your comfort zone and you want to stay there then your done growing whether it's in your personal life or your career!
Worthington Ag Parts is growing and to do this it requires a certain amount of change. Our customers are constantly changing to farm their operations more efficiently. Our dealers are always changing to service their customers more efficiently. Everyone should be trying to do better and this requires the drive to embrace change. If you are standing still you are going nowhere fast. You wonder what has changed at Worthington Ag Parts? The answer is a lot the last three years!
Used Parts:
Everyone knows us as a used parts supplier for a value price versus the Original Equipment Manufacturer. We still are committed to providing you the "value" used parts or hard to find parts but we have expanded into carrying more late model equipment to provide parts for your tractor and combine that has been put into production the last ten years. Originally the business was founded on used parts for equipment in production 15 years prior! Now we are buying tractors and combines no matter what the year when the opportunity arrives to service your parts needs. Every piece of equipment we purchase is listed on our web page and has a minimum of four digital photos that allow you to view the salvage. You can view all the latest salvage by make and model on our web page click here! We have over 20,000 used parts now priced on our web page for you to order direct on line. You don't have to call the store to ask for your part and as all web pages our site is open for business 24/7!
New Parts:
Did you know we carry just as much after market new parts as used parts? We sell just as much too! We have an ever expanding after market new parts line and continue to expand through domestic and foreign manufacturers. All of our NEW parts are manufactured to meet or exceed Original Equipment Manufacture expectations. We are constantly trying to provide the best price on the market for our our new parts. Every new part we carry is available on our web page within seconds after it's added to our product offering. If you have a replacement number from your original part just enter it and search on our site and you can see where we have it in stock! The stores who have stock are listed. Check out this example - WN- MINIGACPLUS! DO NOTjust think of us as a used replacement part alternative - we have over 30,000 after market new parts available!
Capello Chopping Corn Heads:
Worthington Ag Parts has become the exclusive distributor of Capello corn heads in the last twenty four months. Capello has the best chopping corn head on the market and has been the OEM manufacturer for Klaas - Cat Lexion for years. They wanted to expand their reach in the United States to include CNH and John Deere corn heads. How does that happen to a used parts company? Well it's easy. We know equipment all makes and models, we know replacement parts as good as anyone, we know after market new parts to support the capello line and we have over 100,000 row crop farmers who are currently active customers! Find a dealer today or build your own at www.capellousa.com.
Parts Express:
Worthington Ag Parts also is a worldwide distributor of parts through our Parts Express division. We not only sell to the U.S. market but we now export parts to over 30 countries in the world. On October 1st we opened a distribution warehouse is Germany to better service our Eastern and Western European customers. All of our containers will be loaded in the new facility we are building in Sioux Falls, SD. We have out grown the existing leased facility in Renner, SD. Our new facility will open November 1st for business. It will be home to our Parts Express, Capello and New Product divisions! As you may know we will be moving our corporate headquarters to this location as well in 2014! You can have a peek at our B2B website which services our European customers at www.exportagparts.com. Remember we also do business in Australia as Neil's Parts with five locations on the eastern sea board and new operations to be opening in 2012 in the west near Perth! www.neils.com.au.
We are not just a used salvage yard anymore! We are a world wide provider of replacement parts from scrap metal processors, used parts suppliers, re-manufactured parts suppliers, after market new parts suppliers, used equipment resellers to new implements. We've changed and we'd like you to change and purchase all your parts from Worthington Ag Parts from used to new and perhaps even a state of the art chopping corn head! Thanks for your business!
Effective June 30, 2011 we will be closing the Worthington Ag Parts store in Blakely, Georgia. This decision does not reflect the overall financial stability of Worthington Tractor Parts, Inc. or Neil's Parts of Australia. It resonates more with the fact the market does not have the breadth to support operating a parts business in this area.
Worthington Ag Parts continues to grow and diversify to support it's customer base world wide. In fact just this week, we signed papers for our bonded warehouse in Warstein Germany. I will blog more on this next week. We are excited with the new ventures we have in emerging markets worldwide and we will continue to be a leader in our industry.
The last two weeks I have spent in Australia visiting every one of our Neil's Parts stores. To the left is a picture of the Sydney Harbor bridge as we flew out of Sydney to Coolongatta Queensland. As I write this morning I am feeling the effects of jet lag - wide awake at 5 AM and now at 9 AM ready to crawl in bed for the night. Having travelled the world I can honestly say the jet lag is the worst traveling to Australia but I wouldn't change a thing. The country and people are outstanding. I say all the time everyone should visit Australia once in their life time.
Used Inventory!The first week we flew to every store to appraise their used inventory, check after-market new parts and rebuilt parts inventory. Nick Moeller and Randy Mittlestadt, Directors of Operations for the U.S. appraised their used stocks and provided guidance on yard operations etc. Actually, being year three in the process, they more or less overseen Jason Atkins and Tim Allan who handled the appraisal process. It's just another example of how our two companies have become so integrated all on a focus to service the customer world wide. We continually purchase the latest model salvage for parts to insure we have the broadest inventory of used parts in the world.
New Location!The first day we visited our new location in Ayr, Queensland. The weather was tropical and the sugar cane fields were a plush green and very tall! This store once it gets a foot hold will be very successful. We are currently in the process of having sugar cane after market new parts manufactured to service the large industry. There is a large amount of used tractors for salvage parts waiting for dismantling and another 40 on the way this week. We had barrmundi fish for lunch and I have to say it was the best fish I had ever eaten, if you get the opportunity try it some time! I made a brief video of the new location in Ayr that can be viewed with a click here or below this.
On Friday we were back at the corporate office in Toowoomba launching the new and improved web site for Neil's Parts. The customers in Australia can now order their parts on line with a secure credit card processing system, check available stock at a store near them, view fresh salvage and review used equipment for sale. We also have a sale shed where all the overstocked parts are located and the customers can take advantage of liquidation pricing. I know Neil's Parts now has the most comprehensive ag parts web site in Australia.
We finished up the last part of the trip with manager's meetings. They were very productive and Neil's Parts has never had a stronger management group. Watch this video to meet the management team!
We look forward to expansion in the near future to Western Australia, the starting of our rebuilt division in Dubbo and continued growth in the existing stores. As the song goes "The future is so bright we gotta wear shades!"
THANKS! I'd like to take a moment and thank the Worthington Ag Parts team who sacrificed two weeks from their families unconditionally and focused on providing guidance and expertise to our sister company. We truly are one world one team. It's hard to imagine six grown men spending so much time together with no egos, issues or self indulgence just flat out teammates! (Randy Mittlestadt - Director of Operations, Nick Moeller - Director of Operations, Mike Chorzempa - Financial Controller, Jamie Neldon - Director of Business Development and Colin Taylor - International Export Manager) A big thank you to my Australian team who make our stay seem like home!
The one disappointment from this trip was the heavy travel schedule didn't allow me time to visit my sister Jane who lives in Sydney hopefully she can forgive me! Love you Jane I will visit later this year when I am back down - PROMISE!
Well that's enough for today - Sorry Michael Libbie I know the blogs aren't supposed to ramble on!
Well it’s been awhile since I’ve written a blog! A lot of things have been happening here at Worthington Ag Parts. Did you know Worthington Ag Parts and its subsidiaries sell more after-market new parts than used salvage parts? Yes that’s right! We are always looking to expand our after-market new product line and reduce costs along the way to our valued customers.
Recently I traveled to Argentina with Jason Atkins (General Manager – Neil’s Parts), Jamie Neldon (Director of Business Development) and Larry Frodermann (Director of New Product) to visit several manufacturers of after-market new parts for combines and tractors. While it’s a long way away from the United States, you will see many similarities in agriculture between our two countries! This trip was very busy to say the least. We did nearly 1,800 miles in a week driving from manufacturer to manufacturer.
As we toured the countryside the soybean harvest was in full swing. Trucks were rolling full of grain to the elevators and combines were marching through the fields. The one difference I did see was an actual palm tree in a fence line of a soybean field – now that’s unique!
The first day of travel had a few setbacks and the local people were more than happy to accommodate us, from Pablo (Michael J Fox's look alike brother), Cao our interpreter and parts sourcing company in Argentina (Tach Consulting) to our driver, Adria'n (Al Pachino look alike) Machado. Pablo dropped everything for a whole week to translate for us when our original translator pulled out with family commitments. We started the first day with our good friends at Tecnologi'a Parez. As always they were more than willing to drop everything and show us the plant and talk business. On top of this we got treated to an Argentinean BBQ with local cuisine, wine and the odd local beer of course! A warm thanks to Juan Carlos (President) and his family. Whose hospitality was warming to us, especially when you are so far away from home. They are real people with real family values. We are the exclusive supplier in the United States for Perez’s products. Their product quality is second to none. Like everyone we met over there, they are ready to increase our range and move forward with Worthington Ag Parts and Neil's Parts of Australia.
The next day the van was headed north to Rossmet. The day started two hours late due to political demonstrations but our driver made our trip light hearted with his mix of 80's music and his willingness for us to join him singing in English ... it made the 4 hours pass very quickly and it was a laugh to say the least. I am pretty sure he could tell I quit choir at an early age!
When we arrived at Rossmet, the family greeted us with open arms. It was amazing the work Luciana and Santiago Rossi (sister and brother) had put in to be able to speak some English with us. This made things a lot easier. I know I am going to have to start studying Spanish for the future. The children had great passion for their Father (Santiago Senior - President) and the business he has built from scratch. The products they manufacture are quality products with the consumer in mind.
Rossmet did their homework on us as well and were more than willing to have us represent their parts in the United States and Australia. We are proud to be their exclusive distributor and we are committed to strengthening the relationship over time! We had a wonderful dinner with their family and friends and it was sad to leave their hospitality.
The next day we made our way to Fagtor. We have dealt with this company for a long time and are the exclusive distributor of their products in the United States and Australia.
This is another very impressive manufacturing plant with an emphasis on quality. These businesses don't mass produce inferior products, they make parts that last and it shows with the commitment of the local OE manufacturers to deal with them.
Hern'an Pedro Torres and his father Manuel (President) gave us a tour of the plant and then had a local TV station do an interview with me. All of which was translated by Pablo Cao. It was difficult but I hope it turned out okay for production. Larry and Hern'an have a great relationship and I am sure both Worthington Ag Parts and Neil's Parts will benefit greatly from this. The meeting was concluded once again with another Family BBQ where nothing was spared to make us comfortable.
Jason and the team continued on to two more manufactures while Larry, Jamie and I made our way home. The personal thing I take away from this trip is each business we visited was built with family traditions. Those of you that know me or read my blogs know I always preach family first – your family then your Worthington Ag Parts family. These businesses all value family and with their extensive range of products they are a perfect fit with Worthington Ag Parts.
I would like to personally thank everyone that helped make this trip so beneficial and comfortable. I look forward to long lasting business relationships and friendships. I feel like we are all part of the same family now.
There has be a lot of press on our recent announcement of expansion in Sioux Falls - some truthful and some not. I'd like to set the record straight on what is happening in Sioux Falls. Yes we did purchase six acres of land from the Sioux Falls Development Foundation to build our new Export Division combined with our Capello Corn Head Implement Division. The Sioux Falls Economic Development Foundation was very helpful gaining our trust and business. The price was right and our new location will be less than one mile from interstate 29 and 90 with great access from the new Marion Exit!
The Worthington Ag Parts - Export Division is currently located just north of Sioux Falls in Renner on property we currently lease. The lease expires on August 31, 2011. The business has grown extensively over the last five years and we need more space than the current facility provides us. In 2010 we exported parts to over 30 countries. It's a emerging business unit for Worthington Ag Parts.
In 2010 Worthington Ag Parts became the exclusive distributor of Capello corn heads which are manufactured in Italy. The product has been a huge success and will continue to grab market share within the United States. It became necessary for us to have a facility to handle hundreds of corn heads annually for distribution to our growing dealer base. You can read more about the Capello corn head and it's state of the art stalk chopping system at www.capellousa.com.
The Worthington, MN retail store is not closing and relocating to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It will remain at it's current location. The business was founded there in July of 1964 and we have no intentions of relocating it. We remain committed to the local farmers in and around the Worthington area along with all of our domestic customers! In error some radio stations in Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota has been reporting we are relocating the operations. Careful consideration was given to expand the Worthington, MN facility and include the base operation plus the Export and Capello implement division. The problem was the expansion of highway 60 in front of our store. As a result of the highway expansion MN DOT will be removing all three of our exits and entrances to the highway and replacing it with a frontage road that dead ends at our facility. As of result of this it leaves us with a non-conducive environment that prohibits further expansion of the existing MN location. Thus Worthington, MN was eliminated from consideration.
The corporate head quarters is currently located in Maple Grove, MN. It handles all administrative tasks for our world wide operations, accounting, finance, human resources, purchasing, business development and information systems. We currently lease office space and that lease runs through 2014. It is our intention to relocate our corporate head quarters to the new facility in Sioux Falls, South Dakota once our lease expires. Having said this, we are actively pursing acquisitions of other businesses that will continue our growth and with them could come revised strategic plans involving the corporate headquarters!
The construction of our new facility begins in early 2011 with completion by August. It will consist of 20,000 square feet of warehouse space along with the potential of 8,500 square feet of finished office space.
That's the facts - we are excited about our emerging business units along with our long lasting parts operations in the United States providing quality used, new and re-manufactured parts for tractors, combines, cotton pickers and implements.
Thanksgiving is a time to sit back and reflect on all the things we are grateful for in our lives. Worthington Ag Parts is thankful for all of our loyal customers, vendors and friends around the world.
Here is a little story that one of our customers can be thankful for today. As many of you know a customer can order parts on our web site (www.worthingtonagparts.com) and pay by credit card. We use a very secure credit card processing system and we never see your card number only the processing company sees it. An order came in yesterday for a few parts to be shipped to California, not something out of the ordinary.
We always screen the orders when the ship to and bill to address don't quite add up. Katie Sanders our web order processor tried contacting the phone number that came in with the bill to address. It's a good thing because it was a brand new credit card received in the last two weeks and the customer had no idea that someone was using his card to order combine parts! The card is not formally charged and the authorization was cancelled on our secure processing software. That customer can be thankful that Katie and Worthington Ag Parts are always out to protect you! GREAT JOB Katie!
This past week I passed twenty one years with Worthington Ag Parts, I am thankful that I've had the fortune of working with one company as long as I have. Our customers are great people across the globe starting here in the United States to South Africa, Australia, Ukraine, Russia, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, New Zea-land, Malasia, Mexico, Argentina, England, Canada and many more. Day in and Day out I am thankful for the "team" of employees that I get to work with here at Worthington Ag Parts and Neil's Parts of Australia. While we can all agree to disagree from time to time and share some "robust" dialogue we always work together to satisfy our customer's needs.
On the personal side - I am most thankful for the three wonderful women in my life, Karen my wife of 20 years, and my two daughters Kristen (18) and Allison (15). My family and my Worthington Ag Parts family mean the world to me!
Take the time to ask yourself "What are you thankful for?"
Thanks for reading and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
I’m excited to announce Worthington Ag Parts has signed a purchase agreement to acquire six acres of land in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
It is to be the new World-Wide headquarters for Worthington Ag Parts’ Export/Import and Implement Division (Capello Corn Heads).
Construction of a new 20,000 square foot facility will begin in early in 2011 with completion and operation by August 31st, 2011. Plans for more growth on the facility will be implemented over the next five years.
This is a representation of Worthington Ag Parts' continued commitment to the United States agricultural market.
It's Sunday night and I felt compelled to write a blog this evening. So many interesting things have happened at Worthington Ag Parts since the last time I blogged! The busiest time of the year is upon us here in the United States - Harvest! Remember we are here to solve your parts problems and get you back in the field fast and at a value price! We have been providing solutions to your parts problems for 46 years!
Interesting events:
1. Our new web site has been rolled out.
2. Farm Progress Show and Capello Corn Head demo!
3. The farm show team, after a successful farm show at Farm Progress is loading up the semi for Husker Harvest Days this coming week then off to the Ohio Farm Science Review the following week. Not to mention harvest is starting to get into full swing.
NEW WEBSITE! The new website rolled out Friday. We designed it with feed back from our valued customers. They don't need flashy text our customers want to find and buy parts easily and be assured if they order the wrong parts they can return them. You need to know we have a 30 days no questions asked return policy. Order with confidence our web site that if you get the wrong part we will definitely take it back!
We designed just that, a website with the best parts search technology in the business! The front page is a real time scroll of pictures which contain the latest salvage received our stores in North America. The website also has a chat with a parts specialist option. If an agent is available you can chat real time about your parts problems. I logged in this morning just to check it out and within minutes I help two customers. They purchased a John Deere Final Drive and a radiator for International M tractor. Do you want to know if a part is available at the store nearest you? Well we offer this too, click here to view one of our parts and the locations it's in stock! Don't worry about using your credit card ordering parts on our site. The secure payment processing of Pay Trace assures you that your credit card details are protected! You may be reading this blog on our new website, as my blog automatically integrates to our new web site if your not please check out our new site with a click here!
2010 Farm Progress Show! The booth looked awesome with our new rock base along with the professional displays. You can view pictures of Farm Progress on Worthington Ag Parts face book page click here! The Capello corn head was featured at the front of our booth. We were supposed to demo three days but the last two days were rained out. It didn't matter though because it only two one day and the results spoke for themselves versus the competition. The corn head performed outstanding! Here is a video of the field demo's day one with the corn head chopping twin row corn.
Interested in building your own Capello Corn Head quote? You can do it on the web click here!
The farm show team is in route to Nebraska this evening for Husker Harvest Days this week. Please remember to stop by and see our folding Capello corn head at the show. You can also take advantage of 10% off and free shipping that we offer in the booth. Please note if you have visited our booth at Husker Harvest Days in the past we have moved! Our new booth number is #1029, different location same great service.
The Dakota Fest show was great last week! While our show team felt attendance was down from prior years, once again the customers were taking advantage of our 10% off and free shipping. Worthington Ag Parts set a sales record for that show! It's the first time Worthington Ag Parts had two sites at the show. The old site contained the new Capello corn head and the new site was our stand booth. The Capello corn head was a big draw at the show. We heard from a lot of farmers they wished they had ordered our corn head as opposed to the competitions. We also talked to quite a few that look to pre-order later this year after harvest. Don't worry need a head now, we have stock in the country ready for sale.
The trucks are reloaded in preparation for the big show next week - Farm Progress! Our booth number at the show is 7N and as always we will have the "A" team there providing solutions to your equipment problems. We will also have a Capello corn head display set up in our booth. You can stop by and watch it fold up right before your eyes. This twelve row head folds up to fit within the duals on your combine for easy transport to and from your corn fields! The owners of Capello will be in our booth on Tuesday to ask any questions you may have about their state of the art corn head!
Worthington Ag Parts will also be conducting field demos daily, where you can watch the Capello Corn Head in action. I will also be loading the videos up to our Vimeo video account and YouTube web site after the first day of field demo's, provided by internet connection is good at the hotel.
I will be tweeting from the show and if you would like to follow us on twitter we can be found at @worthingtonag or my personal account is @mtwinter. You can also become a fan of Worthington Ag Parts on face book! Click here!
Look forward to seeing everyone in Boone, IA next week.
