Tag Archive for: New

New Life For Sports Surface Thanks To Replay

/in , /by

New Life For Sports Surface Thanks To Replay: The Pasture (Fairways) Sports Complex boasts an astroturf surface which is a hub for sport in the community of Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire. A true multi-functional pitch, it see’s many hours of play per week taking its toll on the condition of the surface. Synthetic specialists Replay Maintenance were recently called in to conduct their Rejuvenation® process, which has given the pitch a new lease of life.

Owned by Selby District Council, the day to day running of the site is controlled by Parish Council Clerk of 34 years Margaret Gibson. “The Pastures is a great asset and hosts a variety of sports including hockey, football and tennis. The upkeep of the pitch, together with the surrounding park, falls to a contractor but this is really just on an ad-hoc basis and following months of poor weather, and high play usage the pitch was in need of a more thorough deep clean.” The services of Replay were recommended by a local England Hockey representative, to which Replay are the sole official maintenance partner.

New Life For Sports Surface Thanks To Replay

“Replay came in to conduct their Rejuvenation® process at the end of April and the end result was fantastic. It refurbished the pitch to a point where it looked like a new surface which was welcomed by all of the clubs and players who use the site.” Replay’s unique Rejuvenation process uses constant air-flow plenum technology and compressed air to remove the contaminated top layer of sand; restore the pile to vertical and fill again with new clean infill. It can restore a surface to an ‘as new’ condition for appearance, drainage and performance and often double the playing life of a pitch for a fraction of the cost of a replacement carpet.

Following the successful Rejuvenation®, the Parish Council made the decision to appoint Replay on a service agreement basis which will now see them visit twice a year to conduct a deep-clean. Sales Director of Replay Maintenance Nick Harris reiterates the importance of planned maintenance. “Choosing regular, arranged maintenance gives you peace of mind that your surface is getting the treatment required, at a fixed amount and at intervals that suit the needs of each individual facility. With Replay we also conduct pre and post maintenance testing to show the difference the maintenance regime is making, enabling you to plan future requirements far more effectively.”

New Life For Sports Surface Thanks To Replay

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Pitchmark Takes New Lines In Expansion

/in , /by

Pitchmark Takes New Lines In Expansion: A family-run business based in Bristol, UK, Pitchmark has been innovative in raising the standard of line marking since the company’s inception in 2010. As expansion continues, they have made a number of new appointments and developments to consolidate the increasing demand for their range of high quality line marking paints, machines and accessories for all types of sport and sports surfaces. Pitchmark products are used in over thirty countries worldwide and were supplied to every stadium at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil in 2014 and UEFA Euro 2016 in France.

As part of the planning for the future, Darren Rodman (Marketing Manager), Tim Rodman (General Manager) and Jon Griffiths (Production Manager) have now become shareholders and directors of Pitchmark, working alongside existing directors Mark and Sue Rodman. The team has also been joined by Dave Blanchard who will be known to many in the industry and also represents Pitchmark’s ambition to grow the brand, while aiming to improve the quality of working life for ground staff.

Pitchmark Takes New Lines In Expansion

“We are always working tirelessly on research and development,” says Mark Rodman “and it’s all about regularly coming up with exciting and innovative ideas. That, and understanding what groundsmen want is what keeps us ahead.” The company has taken on five new staff in the six months to April this year, including a new Warehouse Manager who has been recruited to help improve processes and procedures as the business continues to grow. “These recent changes are very exciting and will allow us to secure our place at the forefront of the industry for many years to come.” Mark added.

Success has been recognised as well with Pitchmark recently winning Business Exporter of the Year for the South West in the regional FSB small business awards. The company is also shortlisted for the Bristol Post Business Awards in the Small Business of the Year category, whilst Tim Rodman has also been shortlisted in the awards for Young Business Person of the Year and was named recently on Insider Media’s ’42 under 42’ list for the South West. As a proud British manufacturer, this year Pitchmark joined the ‘Made in Britain campaign and in future will be using the distinctive logo on products and packaging. All of which is aimed at improving the standard of line marking internationally.

Call 01454 776666 or email sales@pitchmark.com and they will be happy to arrange a demo.

For more information, visit: www.pitchmark.com

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Kubota Invests In New R&D Centre

/in , , /by

Kubota Invests In New R&D Centre: Within the framework of Kubota’s ongoing growth in Europe, Kubota Corporation has announced that it will invest €55 million in a new R&D Centre in Europe. The new site will be located in Crépy-en-Valois, France and will be fully operational in 2020. 

Kubota Corporation continues to make significant investments into its expansion throughout Europe and will now invest in a brand-new R&D Centre that will be the Competence Centre of Engineering for agricultural tractor markets, and the base for Kubota’s research activities for tractors in Europe region.

Kubota Invests In New R&D Centre

By establishing a best in class R&D Centre in Europe, embedding up to date engineering and validation tools, Kubota will develop cutting edge technology for its new models to meet the specific requirements of European farmers while keeping the Group’s DNA: reliability, ease of use and best cost of ownership.

As part of Kubota’s globalisation process, Kubota Corporation intends to boost its product development, in line with its aspirations to adapt to the specific needs of its host markets. The new centre plays a vital role in this process, so Kubota will further develop agricultural machinery that is customised to work efficiently and effectively for local crops, field conditions and work processes.

Kubota, already present in more than 110 countries worldwide, aims to continue growing internationally, and this latest investment will accelerate this expansion and growth. Since Kubota Holding Europe B.V. was launched in 2017, the company has reinforced its corporate identity in Europe,  with employees  synchronising  processes and procedures so that there is a consistent approach to how all our business units work and can provide the best services and products for its dealers and end user customers.

Kubota’s tractor sales continued to grow in Europe during 2017 and its products have received prestigious recognitions and awards in Europe, including the FIMA TECHNICAL NOVELTY Award for the Agri Robo autonomous tractor, and the TRACTOR DE ESPAÑA Award in the ‘Specialty Tractor’ category for the M5101 Narrow Advance Cab model.

For more information, visit: www.kubota.com

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

New TYM Tractors Dealer

/in , /by

New TYM Tractors Dealer: TYM Tractors has welcomed Rafferty Newman in East Hampshire to its dealer network, and in doing so doubles TYM’s coverage to the groundscare market in the West Sussex area.

It’s not one of the biggest counties in the country, but Sussex has plenty of agricultural and groundscare customers, including private estates, smallholdings and farms in need of a compact tractor, says Mick Challen, owner of the 50-year-strong Rafferty Newman.

New TYM Tractors Dealer

“There was a demand to meet in our area. Tractors have been part of our range in the past and after hearing about TYM’s reputation for quality, we got in touch with its distributor Reesink Turfcare and joined forces with them.

“Often customers come into the shop without knowing exactly what kind of product they’re after but knowing the tasks they need it for. We’ve previously offered tractors but more recently, while we’ve been specialising in UTV and ATV vehicles, there have been times when customers’ tasks have called for more than a vehicle – for front loaders or PTOs.”

Now Mick can cater to these needs again, as he explains: “We now stock the excellent value TS25 with HST and loader, along with the popular T353 manual tractor and mid-duty T433 roll bar tractor, as we thought these would most appeal to our customer-base – clearly we were right as the latter has already sold! It’s great to know we can cater to any of our customers’ needs and order in any tractor from the TYM range, ranging from 25-105hp.”

Scott Turner, southern regional sales manager at Reesink Turfcare, comments on the new partnership: “There’s enough of a demand for TYM in Sussex to warrant two dealers meeting it and the appointment of Rafferty Newman ensures sufficient coverage in the area. There are a good many reasons why Rafferty Newman has such a strong, loyal customer-base and we are very glad to entrust them with the TYM brand by welcoming them to our ever-expanding dealer network.”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Development Of The New RANGER XP 1000

/in , /by

Development Of The New RANGER XP 1000: Two decades since the introduction of the very first Polaris RANGER®, the historic legacy continues with the launch of the new RANGER XP® 1000.

The RANGER XP® 1000 is the latest addition to our strong utility vehicle line-up, and sets a new industry standard with over one hundred user-inspired improvements. It features class-leading power (82hp) and torque (61lb-ft), industry-leading towing (over 1100kg) and ground clearance (330mm) – which make it is the hardest working, smoothest riding SXS built.

Development Of The New RANGER XP 1000

So what does it take to design the new RANGER XP 1000?

Steve Wilcox, Senior Industrial Designer at Polaris Industries commented on development:“The process of getting a new product ready for production involves research, sketching, clay modeling and then a full-size hard model is created. This is followed by A-side Computer Aided Design (CAD) data for tooling. During the early phases of sketches and clay development, a new model can take between 24-32 months to complete a ground up design, with several team members contributing up to 65 hours per week.”

Steve was the Senior Designer of the RANGER XP® 1000, and responsible for the creation of the 2D exterior styling concept that was chosen to go into production and also overseeing the development of the design in clay, Computer Aided Design (CAD) and production.

“I love the RANGER line-up and I’d say that the new XP® 1000 is my favourite as it’s a product of my own blood, sweat and tears – and it turned out great.”

The Industrial Design department can often have five to six major programs running simultaneously, each having their own designer assigned. Very often, Senior Designers like Steve can often work on more than one project at once.

“Typically I have direct involvement between three and five major programs at any given time and frequently have a few smaller programs sprinkled in as well.”

Customer insight was used for the developments made to the RANGER XP® 1000 with 100 customer inspired updates being incorporated into the product.

Tiger Bracy, Manager of the Industrial Design team, said: “The “Voice of Our Customer” is always present and taken into consideration in the development of our products. We use online studies, dealer research, ride clinics, and focus groups to gather as much feedback as possible. This way we can make sure we’re delivering on what the consumer wants.”

Steve agrees: “Without the consumer, we have no product. As a designer, I am provided with lots of research by the product team but on top of this I always try to collect my own data by having informal and personal interviews with real people and asking very specific questions.”

While customer demand is an important driving force for constant innovation, so is the desire to remain a global powersports leader.

“We update models because our customers demand improvement and they deserve them, but awe also do it so that we stay ahead of our very aggressive competitors. We aim to refine our models with new features, and push the limits of design to maintain our position as industry leaders,” explains Steve.

With so much valuable feedback and data from owners as well as years of experience and knowledge, how does the team decide which improvements and changes are the most important?

“It’s a balancing act between functionality, performance and style,” admits Tiger. “We rank the attributes that are most important to customer’s needs, and we turn them into characteristics that the vehicle must deliver on.”

Steve concurs: “It’s also a case of balancing what is feasible within the scope of the program. We use our own experience and creativity to solve problems and enhance the user experience. Sometimes the consumers don’t realise there are areas to be improved. We’re enthusiasts ourselves and scrutinise the experience – perhaps sometimes more than our users – this is where we have the opportunities to innovate.” 

Both agree that working on a product, and then seeing it being used by customers is an extremely rewarding experience.

“I love seeing the products that we’ve worked on being used by customers. For me, the RANGER DNA is ‘Hardest working, smoothest riding’ and it applies to all the RANGER’s I’ve worked on. I’d say the biggest challenge is always having to prioritise the most important styling features because during the engineering process, compromises will always be made. It’s hard to let some of the key elements go, but you must in order to balance other features. My favourite parts of the latest RANGER are the stance and the styling,” said Steve.

Tiger concludes: “For me, RANGER must have a powerful motor, large cargo capacity, smooth suspension, industry leading towing ability, and a comfortable yet functional interior. All these elements we have built into the RANGER XP® 1000.”

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.