Tadano’s Dean Barley: ‘We have some really big surprises in store’
07 January 2025
Ambitious and energetic, Tadano’s Dean Barley is ready to take on 2025 and beyond. D.Ann Shiffler reports.
Tadano Pan America President and CEO Dean Barley has been putting up impressive numbers over the past couple of years. Crane sales numbers were through the roof from 2022 to 2023, with his team notching a 57 percent growth in North American business. Even during a presidential election year with economic uncertainty looming, the division’s third quarter of 2024 grew 19 percent over 2023.
“The biggest market is the United States closely followed by Canada and then Latin America,” Barley said. “Leading up to the election, everyone was in a wait-and-see mode. Although we have a feeling where the market will go in 2025, only time will tell.”
But, Barley is very optimistic.
“The economic light switch will turn back on, but it won’t be a flip of a switch,” he said of the economic picture ahead in North America. “It may take a while for things to fully light up. Coming off the U.S. presidential election, the straight up sentiment on the street is that activity is picking up. Phones are ringing. We are optimistic about the future based on the news that we are hearing from our customers.”
Slight hesitation ahead?
However, the picture is not all rosy yet, he said.
Dean Barley, President and CEO, Tadano Pan America
“Personally, I think the market will be kind of flat the first part of 2025,” he said. “There may be a little lull. There was a lot of volume from all the crane manufacturers going into 2023 and a lot of carryover into 2024. But initially in 2025, there will likely be a hesitation.”
But then on the backside of 2025, he thinks things will get better.
“Right now, there’s some catching up to do,” he explained. “Interest rates haven’t changed much over the past six to 12 months. We believe activity will pick up, but it will take time.”
And look out for 2026.
“Things will start to trickle through the pipeline like we saw at the end of 2022,” he said. “2026 could be even better.”
Barley is a high energy person, always in motion and perpetually planning and strategizing. Last summer I travelled to Japan with him to see three Tadano facilities and visit the company’s corporate offices in Tokyo. Back then, we made a plan to have a year-end discussion for our first Q&A in 2025.
Barley is one of the most thoughtful people in the crane industry. He says what he thinks, but you can tell he has already thought through everything he says. I think you will enjoy reading what he has to say about the North American crane market and all things Tadano.
What are the biggest challenges and opportunities in the business?
That’s an interesting question and the answer is interesting. I think our challenges and opportunities are somewhat the same. For instance, interest rates are definitely a challenge, but this presents an opportunity. Inflation has clearly has been a problem for the last couple of years, and the supply base pushed up costs significantly. But that too has been an opportunity for Tadano.
The people who are buying Tadano cranes are those who can do the math. The cost of ownership of our cranes really sets us apart from many of our competitors. The overall cost of ownership and the value of buying a crane remain the same.
If you are putting a high quality product in your fleet, and the return is good because of the low cost of maintenance, you can look at the long term and see the value proposition. The challenge is for the customer who chooses a lower cost.
But honestly, the market has gotten a lot smarter. There is a lot more technology that is making the customer or owner savvier when it comes to the cost of ownership and residual values. As more people look at this data, that has really helped our business. The market has taken a closer look at Tadano.
Aside from that, in terms of opportunities, we have a wonderful team that I am very proud of. We have a great operation that we’ve invested in and continue to invest in, and we have great customers. It’s a great combination.
It’s my understanding that the market is ultra-competitive, in every crane class. How do you address increasing market share in a competitive market place?
People want to do business with people they trust. At Tadano, we live and die by taking care of our customers. We have grown market share in a very competitive market by offering a great product that has a low cost of ownership. And you work with people who you can trust.
One of our older slogans was “take a closer look at Tadano.” Our customers have taken a closer look.
As far as competition, Tadano cranes are not inexpensive. They are not cheaper on the front side. But it’s about the total cost of ownership.
Everyone is building a crane that is competitive in terms of specs. But it’s more than about the capacities or limitation of the crane, such as capacity or boom height. For the most part, the features and benefits are somewhat equal. But with Tadano, you get a team of people who are there for you 24/7. We’ve increased our parts inventory by more than 30 percent, when some of our competitors have dialed it back. We think it’s important to maintain uptime and having every part in stock will help with this. If you take care of the customer, the bottom line will take care of itself.
You rolled out two new truck cranes in 2023. How has this product line performed?
It has exceeded my expectations in every way. It’s not a secret, every truck crane we have built so far is sold. We are clearly in a good position in this market for 2025.
Our biggest problem is getting more inventory. We are building them as fast as we can, but we are not rushing production. We will still assure the product is perfect.
Several things have led to the market acceptance of our truck crane product. Clearly, truck cranes are industry leading because they can do 65 miles per hour on the interstate and go from one job to the next easily. And then you compare ride and handling due to the suspension and operation of the crane, and we are giving the operator a wonderful experience. This crane is built in the same factory as our rough terrain crane line and the quality and reliability is flawless.
We’ve been in this business a long time, and the market was ready for a Tadano truck crane. We are selling everything we can build.
Another thing is that many of the people who have taken a chance on the truck crane haven’t owned a Tadano crane before. The market was clearly ready for a new competitor in this space. I want to say thank you to this new customer and to our existing customers who have gone to the expense of switching brands.
The Manitex acquisition has not closed yet, but we would assume that you will be integrating a boom truck and articulating crane into the truck crane product line. What are your thoughts about adding this product line to the mix?
I just can’t talk about this right now. We are scheduled to close in the first quarter of 2025. It’s just too early to comment.
Tadano President and CEO Toshiaki Ujiie and Pan America President and CEO Dean Barley at the Kozai manufacturing plant in Takamatsu, Japan in July 2024.
Let’s talk about the EVOLT, the first all-electric rough terrain crane. What has been the reaction? (At the time of our interview, the first model had not yet hit the United States.)
We do not have the first crane on the ground just yet, but preparations are well underway. We focused on two key priorities: ensuring our team is fully equipped to service the machines and enhancing their understanding of key systems, such as battery management and the electrical components. While our technicians have already completed online trainings and some even hands-on sessions, as soon as the first machine is on the ground, we will be intensifying practical training to ensure everyone is fully prepared.
We have plans for the first crane to go to a customer in California. Ultimately we believe it will be received well.
The challenge is that the EVOLT is still a crane that is ahead of its time. Electrified construction equipment is new. They have many advantages, like working indoors and in places where you need quiet operation. If you have noise restrictions, this crane is really a good fit.
But the market is in a holding pattern, and it’s waiting to see how these cranes operate. This is not that first cordless drill you threw away a few months after getting it. Tadano has put this crane through the paces. This is a great crane, and it was the right crane for electrification.
How do you characterize the AT market in North America?
While the market for ATs is starting to rebound, the overall market is in flux. People are still waiting to see how the economic situation plays out.
We are seeing demand pick up. Some of the larger ATs, in the larger tonnage classes, slowed down and the market was sitting on quite a bit of inventory. But our market is picking up, and I’m more and more optimistic about ATs. We will be a strong player in this market, and we have some exciting things around the corner.
I understand that you will be taking a lead role in Tadano’s global crawler crane strategy. What does this involve?
Tadano purchased the Demag business in 2019, and initially, my job was to integrate the Demag business into the Tadano business. We had two AT lines, and we merged those. But Tadano had never had a lattice boom crawler.
As a former Terex employee, I would say that Terex didn’t invest enough time and money into the lattice boom crawler line. I know the market is wondering what we are going to do in the crawler market.
It appears we have a great product and that we haven’t given it as much attention as we should. But actually, we are now coming up for air, and we are giving this product line a lot of attention. There is a lot of opportunity in this space.
I can’t really say a lot but we are coming. We have sat on the sidelines for a time, but look out. You are going to see a bigger, stronger focus in the coming months. All I can say is watch this space.
Bauma is coming up. What can you say about new product development?
We are not going to disclose much ahead of time because we have some really big surprises in store. As a company, we put a lot of focus on product development and technology. The right technology can make our customers smarter and more efficient, and make more money at the end of the day.
Suffice it to say, some big things are coming from Tadano.
What are your new year’s resolutions, for work and personally?
Out of all your questions, this one was the toughest. From a business perspective, we have several resolutions. One of them is to delight our customers with our products and provide a focus on technology that will drive their success internally and externally. We will do more to build on that. As I said, we have had huge growth in Pan America. In the third quarter of 2024, North America was clearly the largest business unit. You can only get so big without investing in your team. So, for me, one of my resolutions is to invest in additional talent in North America.
Another resolution is a commitment to our new Tadano family members. We announced three acquisitions this year, and my resolution is to make these businesses, these employees, feel like they are part of the Tadano family, quickly.
And finally, personally, I plan to relax a little more. For those who know me, I don’t sleep a lot. But my commitment to myself is to sleep a little more and make a little more time for downtime. I love to work, but I also love my family. I want to spend more time with my family.
I used to be a bit more spontaneous. I want to get back to that. A few weeks ago, I gathered up the family’s passports and booked tickets for us all to go away over Thanksgiving. I plan to do more of that.
