For more information on Champion Motor Graders, contact: Woody Ferrell, Vice President Sales & Marketing 8844 Mount Holly Road Charlotte, North Carolina, 28214 Telephone: 704-392-1038 Fax: 704-394-0802

Big ideas come in small packages at Champion

Champion's Vice President of Engineering and Customer Support, Jeff McKee, leads a team of designers who work closely with customers and the factory to turn new ideas into practical solutions quality, productivity and economy.

Charlotte, NC - As Champion Motor Graders adjusts to its recent return to the company's family business roots, President Gary Abernathy takes a moment to reflect on Champion's years as a part of the Volvo Construction Equipment manufacturing empire.

"Think of it as going to manufacturer's grad school," Gary suggests. "Not every small equipment company gets a chance like that. That door opened for us, now it's up to us to make the most of the lessons learned."

Gary's business originally began in 1980 with his father-in-law, Bud Lee, who created a successful line of compact graders to meet his own needs as an independent contractor. The line of small graders, all under 16,000 lbs., was purchased by Champion Road Machinery, then the world's #2 manufacturer and leading specialist in full-size graders. Volvo acquired Champion in 1997 but, this past summer, the corporation sold the compact line back to Gary and his son Bryan, who, together, had been managing the operation for Volvo throughout the intervening years.

While he's happy to be a family business owner again, Gary says "I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. First, we got to work hand-in-glove with some of the world's most experienced grader people. Then we got an insider's look at how things are done by a truly world class heavy equipment company. What an education!"

"As part of Volvo," he continues, "we were given all the help we needed to refine our operations and institute the same kind of procedures that the big guys use to ensure quality and support customers. We learned a lot about running the business end of things. We also learned – and this was really gratifying – that we were already doing a lot of things right!"

Throughout their 25 year history, engineering has been a primary focus in the development of the compact graders – a passion born in Bud Lee's initial frustration with the small graders being offered to contractors in the 1980s. "The fact is," according to Gary, "the industry needs small graders to do specialized work – but we still need the quality and productivity and operator features that a big grader provides. Our machines might be smaller, but the engineering ideas we put into them are full size!"

To carry out the Abernathy's commitment to engineering, Champion maintains a fully equipped professional staff led by the company's VP of Engineering and Customer Support Jeff McKee. The team of four engineers takes on wide-ranging responsibilities, from quality improvement on the production line to reverse engineering parts and attachments customers bring to Champion to recreate. Responding to customer needs to maximize equipment utilization, the Engineering Department works closely with many customers to customize their graders and develop specialized attachments.

Meanwhile, Champion has adopted a "Voice of the Customer" Program modeled on the procedures used by larger manufacturers to collect and apply customer suggestions for product improvements.

Some of Champion's "big ideas" for compact graders are obvious even from a distance. Whether a Champion customer chooses a canopy-style operator's compartment or an enclosed cab, the compartment frame is sized so even a beefy operator can work in comfort. Bryan Abernathy demonstrated how the inside of the Champion cab is filled with "big grader" features, too.

"We have always believed that a grader operator should feel at home at the controls, no matter what the size of the machine," Bryan says. "We based our controls on the familiar, industry standard arrangement with short-throw levers to give operators that "big grader" feel. On some small graders, the operator can only adjust the reach to the pedestal by tilting it forward, which means the levers and displays are all at odd angles; uncomfortable, for me. Again, we designed the pedestal like the big guys do, so the entire console slides forward." Bryan shakes his head as he points at a pedal next to the control console. "You wouldn't think this is a big deal – it's just a brake pedal. But you won't see one on most small graders. People seem to think we don't need a service brake with a hydrostatic drive. I think they’re wrong, but I don't want to wait until someone gets hurt to prove it!"

Some of the differences in Champion engineering aren't so easy to see. "With Volvo, you really see long-term thinking at work," Bryan claims. "The large contracting firms look for total return on investment when they buy equipment: not just the sticker price but the expected lifecycle, the maintenance and operating costs, and the residual or resale value. In my opinion, our customers should get the same kind of payback from their purchase. Our graders are powered by EPA Tier II engines, which means not only lower emissions, but lower fuel costs, too. We pre-engineer the hookups for all kinds of attachments, so any time our customers want to give additional jobs to the grader, the machine is ready for them, without incurring extra costs. Our All Wheel Dive is the only one on a small grader that delivers full power to all wheels with the AWD engaged, so the operator gets more production day by day. Our axles run on bearings designed to take the wear, where other graders might just run on a greased axle. We designed it that way so it costs a lot less to rebuild and keep the alignment of moldboard true – that's especially important if you want to run the grader with Automatic Blade Control. In the end, you can put lots of hours on the machine and still keep it in good condition; good engineering means you get more years of use from your equipment or more money back when you sell it."

Champion's "big ideas" continue behind the scenes, too. Before the Abernathy's purchased the business from Volvo, the manufacturing facility earned its registration for ISO 9000:2004 quality assurance. Gary describes the experience as a painstaking process. "It's one thing to go into a machine shop and just build yourself a grader. It's another to properly document every step of the process to make sure you build every machine the same way; to make sure all your drawings are always accurate and up-to-date; to make sure you inspect and record every checkpoint every time, from the design stages to delivery of the finished unit. All that "making sure" is what makes you an ISO facility. Getting there can be expensive, no doubt, and sometimes you really have to rethink your way of doing things. But it’s worth it. For us, it eliminates guesswork and costly mistakes. For customers, it means a consistent standard of quality from one machine to the next and the assurance that you can always get new machines and attachments and service parts that match your previous Champion. "

Since most compact graders also get put to work as tool carriers, every Champion Grader is pre-engineered with the mounts and hydraulics customers might need to add a wide range of attachments.

More big ideas are in the works. Additions to the Champion line are in design now, while the company rolls out specialized attachments that take advantage of Champion's engineered strengths. Recent developments such as a coldplaner attachment and a vibratory compaction drum could only be developed with Champion's structural strength and power profile to use as a foundation.

"Going to school with Volvo is making a lot of things possible for us here," says Gary. "There's no shortage of ideas for us to follow up. I think the "big ideas" we've picked up are going to mean big things for the small grader industry for a long time to come."

Champion Motor Graders, the newest company in the construction equipment industry that can also look back on a long and successful history, has their head office and manufacturing facility in Charlotte, NC. At this plant, they manufacture four basic models of single axle, tandem and All Wheel Drive Motor Graders with operating weights ranging from 12,000 to 15,500 lbs.