c-Systems customer to be featured in Gravely-sponsored seminar at GIE+EXPO

A few months ago, Lynn Pesson Jr., president of Southland Engine Company, Inc., Lafayette, La., discovered how much time he and his employees wasted on easily correctible things.

“We spent 5 minutes of every hour just looking for tools,” he said.

Labeling tools was just one of the many “lean” changes c-Systems customer Pesson implemented to streamline his business over the last few years. Now he’ll pass his knowledge on during the “Dealer Experience” at GIE+EXPO 2010, which will be held Oct. 28-30 in Louisville, Ky.

“We’ve implemented the lean polices,” he said. “We’ve been doing it, and a lot of dealers don’t know how.”

Pesson is scheduled to give his perspective on how employee leadership can streamline business in the Gravely-sponsored “Increased Profitability When Employees Drive Lean” seminar from 11 a.m. to noon Oct. 29 at the Kentucky Exposition Center.

“The owner can’t see the whole process,” he said. “Your employees do.”

The main result of Pesson’s effort has been a better work environment. He said his costs have been lowered, his employees work fewer hours, and his customers are happier.

“Change is very difficult for a lot of people,” he said. “You have to make the changes because the world’s changing around you. If you don’t, your bottom line’s going to shrink.”

Southland Engine is the largest-volume Gravely dealership in the world and was featured in the March 2010 issue of Outdoor Power Equipment magazine.