INNOVATIVE THINKING: PART OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
The range of services and technical supports provided by Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute have always been, in modest terms, considerable. In fact, the nature of the organization is to adapt to the needs of its clients, provide research, engineering services and product development for a range of industries that rely on mechanical and physical processes.
Prairie Agriculture Machinery Institute (PAMI) studies, designs, builds, and tests machines, machine components, and processes across the agriculture, mining, and transportation industries. With 50 years of research and industry experience, PAMI is a dedicated partner in engineered solutions and is passionate about creating efficiencies. From crop processing development to custom wiring solutions, machinery testing, and more, PAMI helps prairie farmers and equipment manufacturers alike get to market faster.
PAMI’s bread and butter has been product testing and analysis of prototypes or existing products. “We do a lot of engineering, problem solving and innovating for our clients. Some of that involves testing, or it could be an evaluation of a product to see how it performs.”, Carl Havixbeck, Technical Sales Representative.
Some groups need research on a broader spectrum. Commodity groups may want one product variety tested against another, or they may mount a search for the best performing combine header for a particular crop application.
On the innovation side PAMI works with entrepreneurs who have a new product idea for development. Those clients represent the backbone of the agriculture industry on the prairies.
“My client may be someone who says, ‘I’ve got this product I want to build or this idea I want to pursue, but I don’t know how to do it.’ Within that process, there are multiple layers including advice from a design and engineering standpoint or getting started with research.”
At the other end of the spectrum are established OEMs with engineering and design departments that need PAMI’s support. Carl says sometimes it’s a limitation with capacity when the manufacturer is up against a deadline. At other times, it may be to connect with specialized expertise or equipment like digital modelling to advance a design. Whatever the case, Havixbeck connects the client to the PAMI personnel or resources best positioned to move things forward. Havixbeck says the value PAMI can provide, is to “de-risk” whatever process the client is going through.
“We want to help by testing the prototype to see if and how it might fail, how it’s going to stand up to the real world, and where it may need to be improved or built more robustly. You want to make sure that testing happens internally and not with the end user.
We often say, ‘fail fast’, learn from that, pivot, redesign as needed and retest.”
That dedication to precision and timely response means a product can get to market more quickly, with potentially fewer warranty claims and at reduced cost to the consumer which provides true value. It’s these levels of support and their industry impact that excites Havixbeck about helping to steer clients toward their success.
For Havixbeck, it’s about establishing relationships with his clients. “First, I need to understand their business, what is it they do, what they are going to market with, and what they are coming to PAMI for. I really enjoy discovering all the moving pieces of the businesses that we get to work with.”
Carl’s background in agriculture and mechanics comes in handy when the designs are related to cropping equipment. With his time in the digital ag space, sitting next to farmers in the tractor cab, navigating through the newest GPS and digital technology provides Carl with a connection to his work and the land.
Despite his background, he is transparent that he is not the singular solution. Behind him is an organization composed of teams ready to dive into the problem once Carl has done the mining to discover the nature of the task.
“I’ve got a vast amount of experience in many different areas but I’m not an expert, so I’m going to ask the simple questions that may be overlooked.”
It’s the ground level questions – the ‘why does it have to work that way, or why can’t we approach a different solution – that emerged from Carl’s diverse background. It’s the cross pollination of ideas and environments in which he revels, and which sometimes bears the most productive thinking.
Once the initial ideas are in place, some of which may be outside the conventional engineering box, the project can be presented to the development and research teams with some pre-loaded perspectives. Carl initiates client contact with an innovative approach born of curiosity and a wealth of in-field experience. It’s not about ‘making the sale’ – it’s about fulfilling a genuine desire to support the client’s vision in terms of immediate need.
“The satisfaction I get is not about making the sale. It’s more about having a client’s trust, and knowing they are investing their real dollars in PAMI so that we can help them to build a better future for their business. At PAMI, we are not about increasing the size of our own piece of the pie, we’re about increasing the size of the pie.”
Havixbeck is quick to point out that his involvement doesn’t end with the client’s initial engagement and the signing of a contract. There is a transition for the client and project moving into operations that he facilitates with the project leader. Carl likens it to a journey with the client in which he continues to be involved as needed, as the team takes the client through the stages of the project.
“PAMI is a great organization to work with for a number of reasons,” Carl maintains. “The biggest one is our reputation. PAMI has been in business for 48 years, and what I’ve learned in my time here is that if there is a PAMI logo on a product report, nobody questions the validity of the data. It is a solid unbiased opinion and people stand behind it.”
Havixbeck says that his enthusiasm is also spawned by the people he gets to work with in the organization and by the clients he serves. The operations staff are all entrepreneurial minded with a wealth of experience and expertise, he says.
The wide range of businesses that PAMI works with appeals to Carl’s affinity for continuous learning. He marvels at the simplicity and efficiency of some of his clients’ designs and he’s proud to be part of the team who helps refine those inventions.
Contact Carl here: https://ovou.me/chavixbeck
