Thanks for taking the time to talk with us, it is nice to see manufacturing going on in Montana.

 

We agree. It’s nice for us too! When we hear about the percentage of manufacturing firms compared to the other industries, such as retail, service-related, and government it’s a pretty small percentage. Everybody’s pulling for us and everybody wants to see us grow to become a big name in our respective field.

 

That’s great. Let’s start by talking about PFM manufacturing and Land Tamer.

 

PFM Manufacturing started out in 1998 and it was based on an idea to build a vehicle that could do just about everything. It could be used as a boat, an ATV, a snow coach, and a tractor all in one vehicle - and there are not a whole lot of options out there. The Land Tamer has evolved, from a recreational vehicle to a to a commercial grade remote access vehicle. It has always been an amphibious RAV but now it’s utilized more than ever in swamps of Northern Canada, now in Australia and about four or five other countries throughout the world. The Land Tamer is also used in 30 states.

 

The vehicle is used for oil and gas exploration, mosquito and weed control, because of its ability to go over soft terrain and still haul heavy cargo load without getting stuck, and be used day in and day out for long periods of time without having typical maintenance challenges. 

 

One of the things Lockheed Martin noticed in the Land Tamer is the robust vehicle design and superior off-road capabilities. Now they are sending four units to Afghanistan to support the troops as a robotic vehicle called the SMSS (Squad Mission Support System). One of the reasons they like our vehicle, in addition to its terrain capabilities, is it’s easy to robotize. It has a proven driveline system and virtually maintenance free. 

 

What we are trying to do in Townsend is grow this business. We feel like we’re a lot smaller than the market size in general. There are many disaster relief situations throughout the world, like the Philippines, Malaysia, and other regions that are very interested in our vehicle because of its amphibious abilities - transition from land to water seamlessly without having any difficulties is a big advantage.

 

Do you have a line of vehicles under Land Tamer or do you just design specialty vehicles per customer design?

 

We have three main models and one military model. We have two full size units. They come in a 6-wheel drive unit and an 8-wheel drive unit. We also have a small 8-wheel drive unit that’s sized similar in size to, say a utility vehicle, like a John Deere Gator, or something along that line. The smaller unit is needed purely because of small size for navigating through woods and tight spaces. A majority of our customers like larger units, especially our 8x8 XHD, more cargo space, it can haul the most weight, it is the most versatile. 

 

The military model has its own unique characteristics but it’s very similar to our full size 6x6 unit. 

 

Impressive. Let’s talk about the manufacturing aspect of the business.

 

We build the frame, hull, cab, roll cage, and other fabricated items. We bring in the engines, driveline components, electrical and hydraulic hardware. All the assembly, manufacturing, and fabricating is done on-site in Townsend.

 

How many employees do you have now Patrick?

 

We have nine employees, all full-time.

 

What are your goals for the coming couple of years?

 

Well, our goal is to grow the business. The biggest thing that we’re trying to focus on right now is being able to produce a consistent flow of vehicles every month. Right now we have a capability of four to five units a month and our goal is to hit that on a consistent basis. I would venture to guess that we will probably increase production as we get more military and commercial work as the market expands. 

 

Lockheed Martin believes the SMSS will gain popularity quickly could see an order of around 50 units by the end of this year or early next year, for various branches of the military to try. From there the demand could increase even more. Not to mention we’re growing our dealer network.   A big focus right now is growing our dealer network. We have two dealers in Canada and we’ve found having a local presence is really important. 

 

Talking about the Lockheed Martin project, you recently received a certification that you are pretty proud of

 

We, as part of our agreement with Lockheed Martin and contracting with the government, especially military, is to have to have a quality certification, AS9100. You don’t necessarily have to have an aerospace certification, but as our vehicle is being sling-loaded by helicopters into the battle zone they felt like it would be well worth the extra effort, and it would be good to earn that extra certification, the aerospace standard. It is one step up from the run-of-the-mill ISO certification. When you’re aerospace certified you are already ISO 9000 certified and all the others below that. 

 

It is the same certification required to build commercial aircraft. Lockheed also felt that if we had this particular certification it would allow us to do other kinds of work for them down the road.

 

Does that certification only apply to the Lockheed Martin vehicle; can you utilize the same standard across your total manufacturing capability?

 

We’ve decided to apply the certification to our entire line of vehicles, both commercial and military. Ultimately we had the choice to just focus on military but because it’s such a great tool to keep our company organized and develop systems to ensure consistency and minimize the possibility of big surprises when you’re trying to grow your business. We use it company-wide because of the pure foundational benefits it provides our company.

 

Well certainly a good business decision. Let’s talk a little bit about doing business in Montana. Patrick, what’s been-what do you like about doing business in Montana and are there any barriers that you face?

 

Most of the barriers that were put in place from past government regulation have been removed because everybody making decisions in government understand we need to build a more diverse economic base. The government and the programs that have helped small businesses grow in Montana have increased substantially. 

 

I love working here because it’s Montana. I was born and raised here and I had moved away from Montana for a period of time and realized that we have a lot of good things going for us here in terms of the quality of living. And the fact that we can build amphibious remote access vehicles, ship them all over the world is pretty cool! In addition bringing in new money into Montana from other countries on a regular basis is even better!

 

Find Land Tamer online at landtamer.com and find Land Tamer on Facebook . mtbusiness has also embedded Land Tamer RAV videos at mtbusiness.tv.