May 26, 2015 Dealer’s Choice

Volume 18 | Issue 3

Kalyn Siebert, a subsidiary of EnTrans International, is a world-class manufacturer of the highest quality heavy duty trailers and integrate

Click here to read the complete illustrated article as originally published or scroll down to read the text article.

For Kalyn Siebert, it’s all about the long haul. For its products, its dealers, its customers, and its reputation.

“For those who are familiar with our products, Kalyn Siebert is recognized as a leading manufacturer of quality-engineered, high performance heavy duty trailers,” notes Ryan Rockafellow, Executive Director. “But our brand recognition and distribution channel was limited to southwest states with an emphasis on the oil & gas industry. Customer and dealer feedback convinced us that there was a demand for high quality heavy duty products beyond the southwest region and it was time to go after that business. So in 2012 we developed our strategy and tactical plan and we’ve continued to execute that plan with great results.”

Ryan emphasizes, “What we’re doing is not about brochures or quick marketing blitzs. Most dealers represent multiple manufacturers so we have to go above and beyond to meet their needs. How? We focus on building mutually beneficial relationships with our dealers, customizing our support and product offerings to meet their specific customer application needs. This is the cornerstone of our strategy and is key to our ongoing success.”

“Gaining and maintaining the dealer’s confidence and respect requires an ability to live up to commitments. Commitments which include providing unsurpassed technical support in order to deliver the right platform to meet their customers’ commercial and in-service requirements. Everyday the Kalyn Siebert team does whatever it takes to deliver on our commitments, making it easy for dealers to turn to Kalyn Siebert as their first choice to fill customer needs. They know we look beyond making simply making a sale. Our focus is supporting the dealer’s efforts to build sustainable business and customer relationships. This is the only way to ensure mutual success.”

The Kalyn Siebert team appears to be on the right track. In 2013, Kalyn Siebert had three dealers in North America. As of March 2015, it has 32; and looking to add more. Last year, the company’s 45th anniversary, the company reported record sales. “We’ve made headway moving brand recognition beyond the southwest, driving awareness and making headway in the northeast and midwest,” Rockafellow says. He adds, “We’ll continue our strategy in 2015, capitalizing on the ground work we’ve laid and the momentum we created.”

Four Customer Segments
Kalyn Siebert segments its business into four distinct categories:

• Commercial, supporting the transportation, construction, tow/recovery and agriculture industries;
• Oil & Gas, delivering chassis and integrated equipment;
• Defense, both domestic and foreign friendly;
• Parts & Service, global network built able to service all segments.

Kalyn Siebert works hard to support the product needs of its customer base. For this company, market diversity is a strategic decision. “Serving diverse markets allows us to weather cyclical downturns. Case in point; the depressed price of oil has shifted the oil and gas industry into a down cycle. While this causes a shift in the models we produce, we find that during a down turn in the oil and gas market we generally experience an increase in demand in the other segments we serve.” Rockafellow continues, “Bottom line, there will always be a demand for high quality products, whether measured by an ability to build products dealers need or the level of service and support behind those products. Quality, delivery and service is what dealers demand for their customers regardless of market conditions.”

The breadth and depth of Kalyn Siebert’s commercial product line is impressive by any standard. Their line of hydraulic and mechanical trailers, including lowboys, sliding axles, drop decks, lightweight steel end dumps, heavy haul and folding gooseneck trailers are power houses in their own right. They are designed to haul low clearance construction equipment or hold oversized containers. Some models feature lightweight design and heavy weight performance while others allow for desired axle weight distribution with the flexibility of multi-axle configurations. There’s not a transportation, construction, tow/recovery or agricultural job these trailers can’t handle.

Even though its cyclical nature is driven by oil price fluctuations, serving the oil and gas industry is a perfect fit considering Kalyn Siebert’s location, it’s engineering expertise and flexibile manufacturing model. “We offer two basic product lines to support the oil and gas market; standard and custom chassis to suit on and off-highway needs as well as integrated platforms built to integrator designs and specs.” Ryan explains, “Integrators are company’s that design and build custom equipment for specific applications utilizing proprietary and outsourced components during assembly. Our flexible manufacturing processes accommodate custom application development. And our quality expectations meet their needs. We’re a perfect fit with this group.”

For military/defense customers Kalyn Siebert manufactures a line of vans and tactical trailers. “One of our newest products is a flat rack refueler (FRC), which we designed and manufacture for the marines. The FRC is a self-contained, transportable system engineered for flexibility allowing the refueling of tactical vehicles and stationary equipment as well as dispense and remove fuel from fixed and rotary wing aircraft.”

This team also reconditions military trailers returned from overseas deployment. “We view it as an honor and a privilege to support the diverse needs of our troops in whatever way we can,” comments Rockafellow.

Sometimes heavy duty trailers take heavy duty beatings. When that happens, the Kalyn Siebert parts team is ready to ship parts to customers – whenever and wherever they are needed. And for local customers, the service team has the ability to return trailers to like-new condition – both Kalyn Siebert and competitive models alike. “The sale is just the beginning of our relationship with dealers and customers. Professional parts and service support is an opportunity to continue to demonstrate our commitment to customers and attract new customers as well.”

Product Development
Kalyn Siebert is on track to introduce a combination of 25 new products/product enhancements in 2015.

“Sometimes end-users provide us with their specs; sometimes they ask us to design solutions to address specific issues. These touch points, combined with working closely with our dealers, allow us to regularly take a step back and look at the big picture, always making sure to fill product gaps or simply make enhancements that make the customer’s job easier and safer to perform.”

Rockafellow points out that Kalyn Siebert trailers are engineered to exceed the toughest standards in the industry, delivering:

• Maximum strength at low tare rates;
• Lowest maintenance costs;
• The best warranty in the industry;
• Unmatched technical and customer support;
• Highest possible service life.

The Kalyn Siebert manufacturing facility is spread across 260,000 feet of manufacturing and office space located on 31 acres in Gatesville, TX. If another indicator of the success of their strategy is needed, Rockafellow can point to the addition of 80 new positions during the last 24 months. “We are proud of the highly skilled and dedicated team we have assembled in Gatesville. And we know they are proud of the products they engineer, build and deliver to dealers and customers.”

It’s no accident that this team is able to consistently deliver high quality products. Above and beyond their individual experience and skillsets, the team is instrumental in acquiring and maintaining ISO certifications. It should be no surprise that Kalyn Siebert is the only trailer manufacturer in the industry to hold these ISO certifications:

• Environment (ISO 14001:2004);
• Health and safety (ISO 18001:2007);
• Quality assurance (9001:2008).

Above and beyond ISO, Kalyn Siebert certifications include:

• ASME U Stamp Pressure Vessel (New Build);
• National Board R Stamp, (Pressure Vessel, Repair);
• AS D1.1 certified welders and AWS inspectors on premise.

Certifications are just one aspect of their formula for consistent quality. “We utilize LEAN manufacturing methodologies and have instituted a variety of kaizen continuous improvement practices over the last two years,” Rockafellow notes. “If there’s an inefficiency in our process or system, our methods allow us to find it, develop and validate solutions, then implement the solution as quickly as possible.”

Even with proven processes in place, custom-built products typically take anywhere from three to six months from design and engineering to delivery. “While we produce many standard models, what really sets us apart from other trailer manufacturers is our ability to seamlessly work with any customer to engineer, manufacture and consistently deliver heavy duty, high quality products that fit their specific need.”

At the end of the day Kalyn Siebert has worked hard to prove itself as a world-class company delivering world-class products to a wide base of customers and the dealers. Its stated mission – to serve the diverse needs of our customers through strong relationships, building the highest quality products, and delivering the best customer service in the industry, are not just words on paper. It’s the foundation of their strategy and is demonstrated every day by the level of their commitment to facilitating the success of their dealers and customers alike. It appears that their growing list of dealers and customers agree.

Subscribe to Industry Today