Well said Commish.
I must say when my department decided to by a KME I had reservations but the committee explained that they were the most responsive to the bid specs. I will say after dealing with very MFGs over the years I was worried about walking into a yellow Butler building to do a pre build on a over a half a million rig but once inside and sitting down in front of a 60" screen hooked to a lap top it was an excellent experience compared to a mighty MFG's prebuild done on legal pads or another's dry erase board. One of our committee members sold rigs for a very large dealer in the state for 15 years and he was floored on how KME's process worked. On site CAD and 3D modeling made sure everything would fit and no extra shelves ending up on the bay floor after the rig was delivered. The rig met the specs, wants, and needs 100% even if there is no where to party in the LeHi Valley. The committee members raved so much about the experience a few met with very high ups of a very big MFG about the KME process which has now become the industry standard.
Two years later KME won on two more units and quite a few were upset that the MFG that built the previous units didn't win but again KME amazed them with the process and their willingness to make a "Crazy" component work and they did which other MFG's came in in the cover of darkness to meet with KME engineers to see how they did it. I would like to thank a very large FD out west for saving the "Classic Grille" but that was after our two rigs were under construction and it wasn't available when they hit the line.
Being a KME customer I get strange looks and hear all the bashing but over all it has been the best experience out of 15rigs I have been involved with. It had been 24 years since some one in my region bought KME's the last department has just now are dx'ing them. I will say for me its about customers service which KME and their dealer have done a great job taking care of us unlike after buying 9 rigs from a very close dealer from a very big MFG can't even say hi to me at a show. I guess once you land the big fish the little guys get dumped out into the pond.
So far so good with little to no issues except one component that isn't KME built but they are willing to fix it once I can afford to get the rig off the street. The FDNY deal does concern me but we shall see.
Funny about the light bar change in Syracuse, the same thing happen to the FD north of me for the same reasons but the rank and file are still upset. The again it's the fire service so traditions die hard.
I must say when my department decided to by a KME I had reservations but the committee explained that they were the most responsive to the bid specs. I will say after dealing with very MFGs over the years I was worried about walking into a yellow Butler building to do a pre build on a over a half a million rig but once inside and sitting down in front of a 60" screen hooked to a lap top it was an excellent experience compared to a mighty MFG's prebuild done on legal pads or another's dry erase board. One of our committee members sold rigs for a very large dealer in the state for 15 years and he was floored on how KME's process worked. On site CAD and 3D modeling made sure everything would fit and no extra shelves ending up on the bay floor after the rig was delivered. The rig met the specs, wants, and needs 100% even if there is no where to party in the LeHi Valley. The committee members raved so much about the experience a few met with very high ups of a very big MFG about the KME process which has now become the industry standard.
Two years later KME won on two more units and quite a few were upset that the MFG that built the previous units didn't win but again KME amazed them with the process and their willingness to make a "Crazy" component work and they did which other MFG's came in in the cover of darkness to meet with KME engineers to see how they did it. I would like to thank a very large FD out west for saving the "Classic Grille" but that was after our two rigs were under construction and it wasn't available when they hit the line.
Being a KME customer I get strange looks and hear all the bashing but over all it has been the best experience out of 15rigs I have been involved with. It had been 24 years since some one in my region bought KME's the last department has just now are dx'ing them. I will say for me its about customers service which KME and their dealer have done a great job taking care of us unlike after buying 9 rigs from a very close dealer from a very big MFG can't even say hi to me at a show. I guess once you land the big fish the little guys get dumped out into the pond.
So far so good with little to no issues except one component that isn't KME built but they are willing to fix it once I can afford to get the rig off the street. The FDNY deal does concern me but we shall see.
Funny about the light bar change in Syracuse, the same thing happen to the FD north of me for the same reasons but the rank and file are still upset. The again it's the fire service so traditions die hard.
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