4Front drives directly to customers

4Front Engineered Solutions (Booth 2648) is not your typical trade show booth. It’s a custom-built, 53-foot semi-trailer, mobile showroom and demonstration van, complete with full-size production equipment and room for 30 people.

By Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 4/21/2008 10:31:00 AM

When it isn’t parked at NA 2008, it’s on the road showcasing a full line of dock levelers, vehicle restraints, doors, control panels, seals and shelters, and other products.

The idea is simple, but the impact is huge. According to Steve Sprunger, vice president of sales and marketing, “We bring our dock, safety and door solutions to the customer in order to enhance their design, evaluation and selection process.”

The trailer is an educational platform where people can literally walk on board to operate the products. The fully enclosed and temperature-controlled interior provides an interactive learning environment that incorporates a state-of-the-art audio/visual system, including a satellite dish and 42-inch LCD monitors that show live streaming video of 4Front’s manufacturing facilities. In fact, there’s nothing that can be done in a facility that can’t be done on board.

The mobile showroom provides an opportunity for upper level management and other decision makers to get together and see the products firsthand.  It also is a tool that allows the demonstration of real equipment. This is especially important when considering the purchase of equipment that could require complicated integration of existing systems.

The trailer has been on the road for about a year. According to marketing communications manager Michael Brittingham, it pays for itself every minute of every day. “We see about three to four customers every day and have had a number of trial orders and on-site signings.”