Roto-Screen USA Looks to Build National Dealer Network

Thu August 08, 2024
Eric Olson - CEG CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Sand Science Inc., a Beaufort, S.C., supplier of screening, conveying, crushing and recycling equipment, is currently undergoing a major effort to expand the availability of the Roto-Screen portable trommel screening plant in the United States through the formation of Roto-Screen USA and the development of a full-service dealer network.

As a long-time distributor of the product line, Sand Science has become the primary dealership of Roto-Screens in this country.

Located just off the busy Interstate 95 corridor in South Carolina's Low Country, approximately 30 mi. north of Savannah, Ga., Sand Science has significantly grown from a local and regional distributor of material handling equipment when it was first established in 1985 to a nationwide one.

That fact alone made Sand Science an obvious choice for Roto-Screen Canada in selecting the South Carolina distributor to represent its products in the United States. Another point in Sand Science's favor is that for three decades it has been an outstanding partner to Roto-Screen in the sales, rental and service of its trommel screens.

Now, Sand Science is the largest Roto-Screen dealer in America, said Eoin Kenny, vice president of marketing and sales for the distributor.

He, along with his brother, Adam, Sand Science's vice president of operations, work alongside their father, Gerry, the company's owner and founder.

Roto-Screen Dealer Network Sees Controlled Growth

Roto-Screen Canada began to express more of an interest in expanding its nationwide product availability following the end of the pandemic, according to Eoin Kenny.

"We were asked by the factory in Canada to take over its American distribution," he said. "So, over the past eight months, we have begun the process of building a master distributorship with dealers across the U.S. to fully focus on rentals and sales of the Roto-Screen in different regions of the country."

As a result, Roto-Screen USA was formed and has helped to bring on three new distributors for the Roto-Screen 454 trommel screener in that time, Kenny said.

"We have JGB Recycled Aggregate Materials, in Marshfield, Mass., which will be focusing on the Northeast for us. It already serves Massachusetts and Rhode Island, but now includes Maine and New Hampshire, as well," he said, "and MHK Equipment Services, based in Michigan, will be concentrating on the Midwest. Additionally, we just signed up another distributor, RTL Equipment Inc., that will cover Minnesota, Iowa and North and South Dakota. And more dealership opportunities are available."

Photo courtesy of Sand Science Inc.

Sand Science will serve as the dealer for the Southeastern states, Kenny said, and Roto-Screen USA will continue to expand and serve all remaining territories directly.

The agreements represent the first steps in a controlled, long-term plan to create a nationwide dealer network for the Roto-Screen product.

In the months and years ahead, Roto-Screen USA also wants to see its products offered through more dealerships in the Deep South, Texas, the Rockies and the Northwest states.

"If we are going to do that, we must also see to it that each dealership can offer the parts and service capabilities to support the Roto-Screen," Kenny said. "We want our customers to get the best, most timely help possible, no matter where they are."

Earlier this year, Roto-Screen USA delivered two machines to the JGB facility, south of Boston, where the aggregate recycling outfit intends to rent and aggressively expand its business, he said.

"JGB Aggregates had an open house day there in April where their customers came in and looked over the machines. We were able to explain everything about the Roto-Screens and do some training. JGB was really excited to get the machines out there, and the interest in the product is very strong in that area."

With the New England construction seasons being so short, Kenny said that "everyone has to get going pretty quickly when the weather warms, meaning JGB had machines on the ground as soon as possible to service that area, with more machines on the way. It's the same for MHK in Michigan. They had equipment on the ground and in their rental fleet prepared to move and ready to sell."

Dependable, Uncomplicated Design

Kenny believes the best feature of the Roto-Screen 454 trommel, designed to be stronger and more versatile than other screeners on the market, is its simplicity and ease of use.

"By that I mean it is easy to work on and a great machine for contractors, site preparation and land clearing crews, and companies making topsoil, mulch, compost and other materials," he said. "Roto-Screens are also made up of all North American-manufactured parts to keep costs down. It is very efficient, too.

"It might not be the fanciest, but, at the end of the day, the material coming off the discharge conveyor sells for the same price no matter what machine screens it."

Photo courtesy of Sand Science Inc.

Roto-Screens also make for a great rental product, he said, in that its prospective dealers can offer the machine to their customers to rent and try before making the commitment to buy. Its low cost of operation makes it the perfect machine for both short- and long-term rentals, including rental purchase options (RPOs), he added.

"After they have it rented, they can then put some of that money into the RPO deal, thus lowering the price," according to Kenny. "This offers a ‘try before you buy' situation that we find our customers really like."

Eoin Kenny's company has continued on an upward growth trend ever since his father, Gerry, started Sand Science in the Palmetto State almost 40 years ago.

The elder Kenny, a native of Ireland, has more than four decades of experience in the material processing equipment industry working with builders on several continents. Along with his sons, he established a reputation among construction professionals as being very knowledgeable, reliable and personable dealers of high-quality equipment.

The family business's inventory of Roto-Screens joins several other product lines at Sand Science, including a choice selection of portable shaker screens and jaw crushers, conveyors, hoppers, used equipment and parts.

For more information, visit www.RotoScreenUSA.com or www.sandscience.com. CEG