Stephen Plunk has been appointed the head of KD Sales and IMC Scrapers’ new marketing and product development team.
The team has been organized to meet the demands and the needs of the growing worldwide customer base for the IMC Scraper line as well as the demands of KD Sales. The team consists of industry leaders from Germany, Czech Republic, Mexico, Africa, Australia, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, United Kingdom and Russia.
“Plunk is a logical choice for this position” said Kevin Derden, owner, KD Sales and IMC Scrapers, Sherrill, Ark. “His many years of experience in the pull scraper industry as well as his vast knowledge of all sides of this business make him perfect for the job.”
“We have literally combined many of the world’s greatest players in the earthmoving industry from around the globe to build and market the best product so that we can continually develop and evolve to better serve the customer. We offer a larger product line than any other scraper manufacturer in the world, from a 40 foot wide ag finishing scraper to 25 cubic yard construction scraper, and over 50 current models to choose from in between,” said Plunk.
The team is currently creating and implementing new designs into existing IMC scraper models as well as a new line of scraper models based upon the most popular models of Reynolds International, which was closed and broken up in 2009.
The end user will begin to see these new product lines and changes in current models immediately, according to Plunk.
Procuring many of Reynolds’s old vendors and suppliers has allowed KD Sales to offer OEM Rome and Reynolds scraper parts to customers and past Reynolds dealers who lost the support of the product when the company ceased operations. Many dealers were selling off Reynolds Scraper inventory due to the end of factory support, however Plunk stated that IMC and KD Sales will fully support the Reynolds scraper line.
“This is a main reason for introducing new IMC models based on the Reynolds scraper design, but with much needed and past due improvements,” explained Plunk. “If we are going to build all the parts anyway, we might as well produce and offer the most popular scraper models to the public as well.”
The entire team is committed to customer service, according to Plunk.
“That’s all we have to offer is service. So we are committed to offering the customer satisfaction. We know we can’t please everybody, and we are fully aware that there is no one scraper that can be a perfect fit on every job, but this is why we offer such a variety of scraper models so that we can try to meet the individual customer’s needs, not to just offer him one single product that may, or may not work for him.
“We are always ready to listen to the customer; many of our best improvements have come from the field, not the drawing board,” said Plunk. “What looks good on paper or on the computer doesn’t always look good in the dirt.”
Plunk has been involved with pull scrapers from the time he was a young boy in the boot heel of Missouri and North Arkansas. He has owned and operated a land grading operation and a golf course construction company and worked with some of the largest dirt contractors in the United States as both a grade foreman and a job superintendent.
Plunk’s most recent endeavors include being sales manager for a John Deere dealer, a general manager for a Case IH dealership, a top five scraper dealer for what was Reynolds International as well as a top dealer for Miskin Scraper Co. Plunk also co-founded and managed one of the world’s largest tractor and pull scraper rental fleets, with Fleet Equipment of Savannah, Ga., owning and operating more than 100 rental units, with units available for lease across the United States and Latin America.
According to company’s Web site, KD Sales was started in 1987 by Francis “Sonny” Derden and his son, Kevin Derden.
From a small town in southern Arkansas, Francis and Kevin spent countless hours filling and shipping orders from a two-room warehouse to local and interstate dealers within the scraper community. As time went on, the two entrepreneurs outgrew the warehouse and staff that once was enough for the two of them.
As the demand for more business had grown, so had the space and staff available to keep up with the growing business.
KD Sales carries wear items for such lines as Reynolds, Harvey, John Deere, Scoopall, Miskin, Cepco, IMC, and other major scraper models.
For more information, visit www.kdsales.com/.
Today's top stories
