CEBEKO and Yanmar strengthen their 25-year-old partnership

Dealer and manufacturer compact equipment show ambition

Since 1994, CEBEKO and Yanmar have been firm partners in compact equipment. To celebrate their 25-year partnership, ambitious decisions were made about the future. Both parties are confident and look forward to continuing an already very successful partnership.

Thanks to its exceptional experience since 1912, the Yanmar group is able to establish itself as a market leader in terms of quality compact equipment. Its extensive range consists of more than twenty models, with 3,500 configurations available. Yanmar is best known for its quality and durable mini and midi crawler excavators, but also has crawler dumpers, mobile excavators and compact wheel loaders on offer. Although the heart of Yanmar is in Chikugo (Fukuoka) in Japan, the company has had a presence in Europe since 1985. Its production sites in Saint-Dizier (France) and Crailsheim (Germany) build machines adapted to the needs of the European market.
Importance of the dealer network

Yanmar supplies in more than eighty countries, worldwide, thanks to its extensive dealer network. Customers can always come here for maintenance contracts, tailored advice, practical assistance and the complete range of original Yanmar parts. For Chris De Bisscop, responsible for buying and selling parts and accessories at dealer CEBEKO, a close cooperation with Yanmar is of great importance. "Thanks to the good organization at Yanmar, all contacts run very smoothly. Their extensive network ensures that all parts can be traded quickly. Because of our expert knowledge, technical support and personal contacts with the factory staff at Yanmar, we can be very responsive at all times."

"Thanks to Yanmar, we can offer a very good warranty scheme to customers and thus build a strong relationship with them. We also receive the necessary technical support from Yanmar, so that we never have to leave our customers in the dark," says Birgen Buffel, who is responsible for after-sales of machines, the workshop and the warehouse at CEBEKO. "We are involved in the entire process, from the search for a suitable part to its delivery and possible installation," adds Chris De Bisscop.

The business sites in the very beginning.

Quality and drive

We can certainly say that CEBEKO and Yanmar already have a very nice partnership behind them. For over 25 years, the two companies have been going hand in hand. "My parents started selling and renting compact earthmoving machines, including Pel-Job brand mini-excavators, in the 1980s," says Tom Dekoninck, CEBEKO's manager. "Because the cooperation with the importer at the time was not going so smoothly, my father was looking for an alternative. In the fall of 1994, he visited Yanmar's factory in Saint-Dizier. During this visit, he discovered the quality of the machines and the drive of the people. In the end, that turned out to be the seed of a success story."

Bart Verstraete, commercial director Benelux at Yanmar Compact Equipment Europe, attaches great importance to the partnership and has bright plans for the future with both Yanmar and CEBEKO: "Yanmar is one of the few market players to specialize solely in compact equipment. The extensive range can meet most of the needs of individual customers. The intention is to further expand the range of tire cranes and wheel loaders. Also in the 1.5 to 2 ton class in mini excavators, we plan to adapt several products to current standards."

Yanmar Premium Dealer

Yanmar annually evaluates the after-sales service of its dealers. To become a Premium Dealer, the company tests a number of criteria. CEBEKO has already been elected a Yanmar Premium Dealer for four consecutive years thanks to its high score. This makes CEBEKO part of a select group of European Yanmar dealers who stand out for excellence in after-sales service. To collect the necessary points, CEBEKO undertakes a lot of actions.

"CEBEKO consults Yanmar's intranet platform to use and apply technical data," Chris De Bisscop and Birgen Buffel explain. "Just as much attention is paid to equipment, safety and cleanliness in the workshops and warehouses. To the customer, we always offer to fit original Yanmar parts when repairing or maintaining their machine. Our technicians and (after)sales managers take part in training courses organized by Yanmar to improve their know-how."

Tom Dekoninck, managing director CEBEKO.

A yellow-colored future

CEBEKO was initially only dealer/importer for the West Flanders region. In 2008, North-East Flanders was added and in 2013 this was expanded to the entire province of East Flanders. Recently, the south of Flemish Brabant and the province of Hainaut were added to their region. Tom Dekoninck has big plans for this cooperation: "Within a few years, we would like to be present on the market with an extensive network of preferred partners and resellers. This network will of course be supported by all CEBEKO employees. Our goal is to ensure that there is at least one Yanmar machine at work on every job site!"

"The partnership between CEBEKO and Yanmar is based on three different pillars: sales, rental and service. In each of these three pillars, CEBEKO has always remained true to its basic principles as a very fast, correct and flexible organization," said Bart Verstraete of YCEE. "In their after-sales service, there is a trained team ready and always up to date with Yanmar's current techniques and requirements. We at Yanmar would like to reward CEBEKO's efforts and successes by awarding the Hainaut region to CEBEKO. Furthermore, it has also been decided that we will cooperate more intensively and differently in terms of the promotion and marketing of our tire cranes and wheel loaders. We feel that the market is quite ready for this."