The “Keep Running SEM” - 2018 SEM International Dealer Meeting was held successfully in Qingdao, China from October 16 to 18. About 80 SEM & Cat international dealers coming from AP, Am-S, CIS and AME, and more than 70 Caterpillar employees of SEM international team, EMD, GCI, DSD attended the meeting.

The participants were invited for a facility tour and a demo show plus machine walk around in Caterpillar (Qingzhou) Ltd. (CQL), a Caterpillar standard facility.  SEM demonstrated 14 machines in the demo show, which is the largest SEM machine demo show in China region since recent years. Participants were impressed with the production capability of CQL and the sturdy features of SEM machines. The dealers were more confident in SEM product supply and quality to drive future business. 

At the strategy review and dealer reward meeting on 18th, Hamid Lavassani, General Manager of SEM Global Sales and Distribution, reviewed the SEM business strategy and set the goals for next year. Then Hamid and Fred Istas, Vice President of Caterpillar Earthmoving Division, presented the awards to the best performance dealers in terms of Marketing, Parts Sales, Market Share Growth and Market Share in the past year. The winners were highly recognised on their hard work and contributions in the past year, and all dealers were motivated to achieve the goals in the next year. 

In the panel discussion session, participants had a good conversation with Fred, Qihua Chen, Vice President of Caterpillar and Chairman of Caterpillar China, Hamid and Marcio Vieira, SEM Global Product Manager referring to SEM brand positioning, product support, dealer development, marketing execution, NPI, etc. When talked about product supply chain and factory productivity, Qihua said: “we will leverage Caterpillar’s more than 40 years experiences and resources in China to support SEM business.” At the end, Fred expressed sincere appreciation to dealers for their continuous support and contributions.

The meeting ended with many positive feedbacks from the dealers. “The factory visit showcasing the products, plans and outlook / offerings based on the six pillars as shared by Mr. Hamid Lavassani was exciting and am positive that together we will deliver to the Brand promise of Machines that are Affordable, Available and Supported”, Mr. Rajesh Bahl, COO of Machine Business Group from Gmmco, India, commented after the meeting.