A THOUSAND square metres of concrete slab and a steel building frame above it signals a major transformation is underway at AFGRI Equipment's Wongan Hills branch.
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According to branch manager, Brendan Barratt, a new service centre is being constructed beside the existing building and expected to be completed by the end of this month.
It will effectively double the John Deere dealership's ability to service and repair machines.
With more than double the roof height of the existing service bays and far more room around even the biggest machines which will enter through a 12 metre wide door on the northern side or a 20m wide door on the eastern side, the new service centre will provide a far more convenient, comfortable, efficient and safe working environment for AFGRI's technicians.
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"With our current facility, we were limited in the number of machines we could service at any one time, whereas with the new service centre we can double that," Mr Barratt said.
"At the end of the day we can keep our customers happy by getting their machines out quicker as we have more space available to increase efficiency," he said.
"It will also provide us with the capacity to increase our staff compliment.
"As the machine population has grown we are hoping to have a few more technicians and apprentices added to the workforce before harvest this year."
While site works started in January, the upgrade has been several years in planning to ensure no disruption to servicing and maintaining of customers' machines during the construction of the new centre.
It is only a part of a major redevelopment of the Wongan Hills branch, as newly appointed AFGRI Equipment Australia chief executive officer, Wessel Oosthuizen, who visited the branch last week, pointed out.
"This development (service centre) is the first phase of the upgrade of this branch," Mr Oosthuizen said.
"The second phase will be to reorganise the branch from a customer parts perspective - that could be alterations or a rebuild on the current premises.
"In terms of the facilities at the Wongan Hills branch we have run out of space for the volume of equipment that we sell and service.
"Over the past two or three years there has been significant growth seen from this branch."
Mr Oosthuizen said the upgrades at Wongan Hills were part of a broader program of "renewing branches" across the AFGRI group's 19 outlets.
"As AFGRI acquired dealership, we knew some of the facilities were not of the required standard and upgrading these were considered throughout our growth phase.
"We have already rebuilt our branches in Carnamah, Albany and Narrogin.
"The Wongan Hills upgrade will be followed by another two or three major branch upgrades at our other locations in the near future.
"Part of that is also showing a commitment to the local community, that we are here to stay, and it is about providing better facilities for our staff and customers.
"We are very excited to open the doors of the new workshop as it has been a long time coming.
"We are confident it will make a positive difference to our staff, our customers and the community."
