LiuGong is committed to providing the comprehensive solutions that customers have become accustomed to from LiuGong, and customer segments are becoming an increased focus for the company.  

The first step in realizing these goals is a new international team responsible for developing LiuGong’s quarry and aggregate business. Leading the team is John Calder, Director – Quarry and Aggregates.

Mr. Calder has worked with LiuGong for the last two years in product support and brings extensive industry experience. After university, where he studied Economics and Business, John worked at International Harvester in Australia for 5 years.  John then joined Caterpillar in Geneva, Switzerland where he held a number of senior international positions in marketing, sales and dealer development over a 30-year career. 

The new team will focus on “Back to the Basics”, lowering quarry and aggregate customers’ costs and making them more productive and more profitable. “Based on feedback from many customers, the competition seems to be doing it the other way around, so we see great potential to grow internationally. Our strategy is simple and is based on going back to four basic critical success factors: people, product, parts and service and price” commented Calder.

Calder is developing a truly international team that has over 250 years of experience in the quarry, aggregates and mining industries. The team is multicultural, speaks 10 different languages and are all deep subject matter experts with sales, marketing, product development, product support, rental and used, finance and dealer development backgrounds. Their primary role will be to work side by side with global dealers to ensure their teams are well trained and focused on the specific needs of quarry and aggregate customers. The second key success factor is LiuGong’s products. LiuGong is well placed with a strong and well-balanced product portfolio that includes large wheel loaders, 50-, 70- and 90-ton excavators and rigid frame and wide-bodied trucks with more products and services under development.

The third critical success factor is parts and service. Machines working in quarries are in tough environments with tough materials. LiuGong knows that speed and backup with parts and service is essential. LiuGong has nine regional parts distribution centers with local support and is committed to world class parts availability of 95% within 48 hours.

Lower costs and higher profits for customers will be the final keys to LiuGong’s success. Through high performance machines using lower manufacturing costs, lower fuel & operating costs and lower parts & service costs through our dealers, LiuGong is committed to providing the lowest possible total cost of ownership for our customers.

Kevin Thieneman, Vice President, LiuGong Machinery, stated: “By focusing on the unique requirements of our quarry & aggregates customers, we want to develop enduring partnerships. John and his team are a great addition to LiuGong and are well placed to help LiuGong develop and maintain long-term relationships in this industry segment.”