Philippines is one of the top 5 global export destinations for Chinese mid-tier machines. Over the past 10 years, shipments have increased by ~55x. As a result, roughly 8 out of 10 EMD products sold in Philippines is Chinese branded. Hence, this market is critical for SEM & Caterpillar.  

SEM AP team held a Go-To-Market training on 3rd May 2019 for our SEM dealer in the Philippines, Castle Power Solutions (CPS) and their sister company, Monark Equipment (CAT dealer) at Manila for the extended Luzon teams. This was the 3rd training session, with the first two done at Cebu & Cagayan de Oro done late last year.

A total of 17 participants from both companies attended this training, including CPS Sales Manager Ricky Toribio and Monark Luzon Sales Manager Jones Estalane. The training was conducted by members of the SEM AP team - Alson Tan and Leonard Yap.

The training focused on leveraging SEM products as an additional tool in the toolbox for Monark in addition to their existing CAT Rental, Used and New machine business to maximize Caterpillar’s All-in-PINS in the Philippines. We first explained the SEM brand, strategy and key differences vs CAT. And also highlighted the importance of understanding customers economics and application to avoid cannibalization.

We shared our analysis of the CCED shipments into the Philippines, identified key competitive models and compared them with equivalent SEM models, along with key selling points. The training was concluded with walkarounds of SEM products (636D, 655D, 660D and 919) at Monark’s Mamplasan Yard.

From this training, participants developed a better understanding of the magnitude of the market opportunity, the main Chinese competition, SEM value proposition, and ultimately how we all benefit by maximizing Caterpillar All-in-PINS with SEM. The increased confidence will strengthen Monark-CPS collaboration in terms of lead generation / referrals.