Colin Oellermann
Service Manager — CLAAS Harvest Centre Gippsland (Warragul)
How and when did you start your career in agriculture?
I qualified as a truck mechanic with Mercedes Benz. I then went to work for AFGRI who were a New Holland and CLAAS dealership, but we still worked with a mixture of agricultural machinery and trucks. It was in 2012 that I was given the opportunity to move to Australia and work for CLAAS Harvest Centre Gippsland and that is when I started working on Agricultural machinery full time.
What drew you to your current role?
With the experience and knowledge I have gained over the past 25 years I felt I could offer a lot to customers and work colleagues especially to the Team in the workshop. I also felt I would get a lot of support from management.
What roles and experiences have led you to where you are today?
I have been a technician for 25 years and have gained a wealth of knowledge and experience on the way. I moved into a workshop foreman role a couple of years ago before taking up the challenge of service manager. Working for CLAAS Harvest Centre for the past 10 years has given me the opportunity to create good relationships with our customers which has made the transition to service manager a lot easier.
What do you love about our industry?
The diversity of the agricultural industry as well as the huge range of products that we have to offer. Coming from the truck industry day to day work can be very monotonous.
What advice would you give to someone thinking of working in our industry?
If you enjoy a challenge and are keen to continuously grow and learn then this is a great job for you.
The industry has developed and grown substantially over the last 10 years and the machinery requires both computer and technical knowledge.
What training and development have you undertaken with us?
I have done approximately 2 courses every year whilst working for CLAAS, ranging from AXION, ARION, Electrics & Hydraulics, JAGUAR, SCORPION, AMAZONE, Väderstad and CLAAS Greenline.
What do you feel are the key reasons you have stayed with the Landpower and CLAAS Harvest Centre team?
The team has always been supportive and encouraging and I have been able to grow, improve and succeed as a person.
There are a lot of opportunities for people to progress and diversify within the group.