Based in Timahoe, County Kildare, FJS Plant has been unveiled as Kubota’s first full-line dealer for the Republic of Ireland, adding Kubota tractors and groundcare equipment to their industry-leading construction offerings. We touched base with managing director Frank Smyth to find out more about this exciting new departure as well as the comprehensive range of other products and services provided by FJS.
Synonymous with selling and servicing Kubota’s construction equipment since 2013, FJS Plant will henceforth also stock a full range of Kubota tractors up to 170hp as well as groundcare equipment and RTVs. The appointment of FJS as Ireland’s first full-line Kubota dealer represents a major win for both parties – and also, crucially, for customers. While the integration of Kubota tractors and groundcare products into their existing business represents great news for both new and existing FJS customers, the partnership enables Kubota to further strengthen its position in the marketplace by serving a wider selection of customers through one business.
Since its inception in 1993, FJS Plant has established itself as a market leader in the sales, servicing, parts and repair of construction and demolition equipment and mobile quarry plant. By adding Kubota tractors and groundcare equipment to their product offerings, they are now well placed to capture a bigger share of the agricultural market.
In line with the extended dealership, which will see FJS Plant continue to serve both the construction and agri sectors going forward, proprietor Frank Smyth plans to open a second depot, incorporating showroom, workshop facilities and additional staff.
Behind Frank’s decision to become a full-line Kubota dealer is his unswerving faith in the high quality of the Kubota brand and a firm belief that it has tremendous potential for market growth through its robust and reliable agri range: “We’ve been a Kubota construction dealer since 2013 and have done very well with that,” he notes. “We built up a very good customer base and enjoy a strong working relationship with Kubota.
“When the opportunity came our way to expand and take on the full product line, we grabbed it with both hands. We have the full-line dealership for the Leinster area, including counties Dublin, Kildare, Offaly, Laois, Kilkenny, Wicklow and parts of Meath and Westmeath. We’ll cover it all from Kildare for now but our intention is to open a second depot in the south of the province next year, probably in Kilkenny or Wexford.”
Offering superb reliability and value for money, Kubota’s M Series tractors are packed with innovative features, helping them to deliver efficient operation and exceptional fuel economy, with their proven reputation for quality and performance resulting in low cost of ownership and excellent resale value. Meanwhile, Kubota’s range of groundcare products – domestic and commercial mowers, compact tractors, implements and utility vehicles – also provide power, precision, performance, comfort and efficiency in abundance.
“It’s a big addition to the business because the tractors and groundcare equipment will bring in new customers and different people with different experiences, which allows us to diversify,” Frank continues. “While there was already a crossover between construction and agriculture anyway – with farmers and contractors buying some of the construction equipment – this opens new doors and changes the dynamic of the business. We have the right structures and the right people in place to grow the business. We have an excellent team here already and we now intend to add more people across the board – in the sales department, service department and parts department.”
Numbers-wise, the experienced and dedicated FJS Plant team currently comprises just shy of 30 personnel but there are openings for five new staff members at present and Frank projects that he could be up to a crew of 40 by the end of 2022, if all goes according to plan.
“We’re busy and it was a good time to get the full-line dealership. It will help us grow the business. Last year was a good year for agri, so we are confident about the future. Stock of machinery can be scarce due to global supply issues but we have a reasonable supply of stock and more on the way. We’ve had a lot of enquiries since the new deal was announced.”
Having worked closely with the brand for coming up on a decade, Frank Smyth has only good things to say about Kubota: “There’s a reason why they are so highly regarded,” he states. “They are renowned for their reliability and build quality, while their aftersales is second to none. As far as an excavator goes, you simply aren’t going to have a problem with them. In the unlikely event that you do, they will have you sorted straight away.
“They are a great machine and they just keep going. Their residual value is outstanding and they are incredibly efficient, with a very low operating cost per hour. Kubota has been No.1 in groundcare in Ireland and the UK for many years now and their groundcare products are every bit as reliable as their excavator range. All in all, with Kubota, you know you are getting a great product and unbeatable service levels.”
Kubota M Series tractors are excellent all-rounders, offering superb versatility, power and fuel efficiency. The Kubota M7003, for example, boasts unparalleled lifting power, superior comfort, excellent ease of use and comprehensive Precision Farming solutions, so top performance is guaranteed. Meanwhile, with modern, powerful engine technology, great manoeuvrability and lifting capacity, the MGX-IV is impressive in tough practical use, offering enormous economic efficiency.
“Kubota tractors have been in use in Ireland for a good while and have a good reputation,” Frank observes. “I actually spoke recently to a farmer who bought two in 2018 and he told me he is very happy with their reliability and said he will probably buy Kubota again when the time comes to replace them. We’re going to demo them and get them out on the ground so that people can try them out.”
Aftersales has always been a vital part of the FJS Plant business model and in this regard Frank finds Kubota to be a great firm to work with: “In order to provide the best-possible aftersales service, you need the backing of the manufacturer. As far as I’m concerned, that has to be right – and it certainly is with Kubota.”
Thus, customers can have complete peace of mind that they will get unbeatable support from FJS’ own in-house team, who in turn have the full support of the manufacturer. “All our guys are really good at what they do and they are fully-qualified, trained, experienced and regularly upskilled, with excellent product knowledge. We have service vans on the road, manned by expert technicians and we also have great people in the workshop.”
Alongside Kubota, FJS Plant are also main dealers for LiuGong excavators and loaders and Furuakawa rock breakers. “We’ve been selling LiuGong excavators since 2015 – another very good machine with tremendous reliability. We have customers with six or seven units in their fleets and their reliability, durability and performance are outstanding. Furuakawa is a renowned Japanese brand of rock breaker and, again, they are fantastic in terms of reliability and performance. We’d do around 150 units per year in rock breakers, ranging from three-quarters of a tonne up to 60-tonne.
As is the case with Kubota, LiuGong and Furuakawa also go above and beyond when it comes to back-up. “Support from the manufacturer is the one thing we really look for,” the client-focussed MD of FJS Plant stresses. “We have to have support from the manufacturer. The customer has to be looked after and to do that correctly we need help from the manufacturer. LiuGong have a manufacturing plant in Poland, where their excavators and loaders for the European market are built and we work closely with them. Between the three dealerships, we carry a lot of stock and parts, with four guys working full-time in parts alone.
“The construction side is going very well, although supply is a problem. The supply chain has run into difficulty due to Covid, materials shortage and transport issues. If we had access to more machines, we could sell more, but I won’t complain. We have our allocation secured for this year and we’re happy with that. Despite the supply problems, we’ll still sell more Kubota and LiuGong machinery this year than in any other previous year.”
Dealing with the agri community is of course nothing new to FJS Plant, as they have forged lasting relationships with many farmers and contractors over the past three decades. “We’d have a lot of customers who are contractors and who do farm work, while farmers have also bought excavators from us, so there is certainly a crossover between plant hire and agri contracting – and indeed agriculture in general,” says Frank, who grew up around farms, driving machinery of all kinds:
“My father worked with Komatsu most of his life,” the Kildare man concludes. “He was a fitter and he ran a workshop and parts department. That’s where my interest in machinery came from. I was raised in rural Kildare, where summer work and activities after school would often have been around farms. So I had the best of both worlds really. Being around farms and machinery sets you up for life and I’m very encouraged to see a lot of young boys and girls around me today who have a great interest in machinery and the technology that’s going into them.”
FJS Plant Ltd.,
Timahoe,
Donadea,
Naas.
County Kildare,
Tel: 045 863542
Mobile: 086 6039007
Email: [email protected]
Web: fjsplant.com
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 10 No 3, May/June 2022
