Landscape & Urban Design Issue 37 2019 | Page 28

KUBOTA Q&A WITH DAVID HART 1. The Kubota Dealer Apprenticeship opportunities, whilst the on-the-job One example of where Kubota has great opportunity for apprentices experience allows for the apprentices needed to adapt to this rapid change to climb the ladder and find their is with emissions regulations. Last niche. year we introduced the L2602, an Programme is fantastic and is a looking to work in the agriculture, construction or groundcare machinery sectors. Could you give Due to the flexibility of the why Kubota have invested in this change focus during their placement. us a little bit of an insight into programme, apprentices are able to programme? They may choose to start within the The Kubota Dealer Apprenticeship sales, parts or management, giving Programme is an excellent way to get them exposure to the many different a feel for the groundcare industry, functions of the business. which is growing rapidly. We have seen some exciting developments in the industry over the past few years, due to the increasing use and integration of technology being used and deployed across our full range of machinery. This is not only increasing product performance and efficiencies, but is also playing its part in reducing the operating costs for our customers and service department before moving into You can find out more about our Apprenticeship Programme on our website. 2. Over the past few years technology has really come to the forefront in any company manufacturing or supplying goods to the trade or end user. Have you businesses. found that the use of technology has The Apprenticeship Programme product or has it been hard to adapt enables the individual to earn whilst learning and more importantly, become a key member of a dealership. Those who enter the programme must remember that although it represents a starting point of their career, it has the potential to open up many 28 Landscape & Urban Design Issue 37 2019 helped you to create a better end with things rapidly changing? In order to stay ahead of the competition, new technology is continuously reviewed by Kubota to ensure the business is keeping up to speed with the rapidly changing technology and demands of today. innovative model which offers a premium specification designed to provide users with unrivalled levels of power, safety and comfort. This was the first of our groundcare, 60hp tractors to be fitted with a diesel particulate filter (DPF) in order to meet the new emission regulations. The technology needed to do this transformed our tractors from being mechanically governed into electronically governed machines, which enabled us to meet the emissions regulations but does come with the need for new investment. New service tooling is then required and more importantly, so is a new set of skills for our dealer engineers. The level of service training is a huge focus for Kubota in order for us to aim for ‘first time fix’ and dealer excellence, to make sure that our machinery keeps the outstanding reputation it has always had. 3. In a lot of successful companies there tends to be one specific product that people always remember and