Solving the Biggest Challenges Facing the Equipment Industry—with AI
The conversations at this year’s EMDA Fall Convention made one thing clear: dealers, distributors, and manufacturers are all feeling the same pressure. Technician shortages, growing service demands, and increasingly complex equipment are pushing teams to their limits. That’s why we’re excited to spotlight the work of our silver provider member, VisorPRO. In this blog, John Schmeiser, COO of Vi by visorPRO, explores how AI is not just easing these pressures but helping every part of the channel respond faster, work smarter, and deliver the level of support today’s dealers expect.
Solving the Biggest Challenges Facing the Equipment Industry—with AI
By John Schmeiser, COO, Vi by visorPRO
I’ve spent most of my career listening to and advocating for equipment dealers, manufacturers, and distributors across North America. No matter the size of the operation, the same issues come up: service pressure is rising, technicians are hard to find, and equipment is getting more complex by the year.
Dealerships everywhere are stretched for expertise. Senior technicians are retiring, new technicians are learning on the job, and customers expect answers right away. Nearly 90% of dealerships say they would hire a technician today if they could find one. That is the world manufacturers and distributors are supporting daily.
With labour this tight, every minute of technician time matters, yet too much time is still lost digging through manuals, jumping between portals, scrolling PDFs, or tracking down internal knowledge. Twenty minutes of searching instead of diagnosing may not seem like much, but multiplied across technicians and locations, it becomes hours of lost productivity every day.
What the Industry Is Saying
This message came through clearly at the FEMA and EMDA Annual Conference in Las Vegas. In sessions and conversations, one theme stood out: dealers need faster answers and better support.
During the dealer panel, Tim Brannon (B & G Equipment), Eric Reuterskiold (Johnson Tractor), David Orr (Intermountain New Holland), and Cami Erickson (North Star Ag) emphasized the same point: dealers remember who helps them solve problems when the equipment is in the shop and the customer is waiting. Fast, reliable support builds trust and it is quickly becoming the biggest differentiator across the entire channel.
Faster Fixes, Happier Customers and Better Alignment
AI is already making a real impact. By unifying manuals, error codes, bulletins, work orders, and past repairs, it gives dealership teams answers in seconds. This speeds up troubleshooting, reduces support call volume, accelerates training, and provides manufacturers and distributors with clean field data.
Faster diagnosis leads to better outcomes for customers: more uptime, fewer repeat visits, and quicker responses during busy seasons. AI is also beginning to identify patterns before they turn into failures, building trust with customers who rely on dependable equipment.
At the same time, AI strengthens alignment across dealers, distributors, and manufacturers. When everyone uses the same knowledge base and troubleshooting steps, service becomes more consistent. Support teams answer fewer duplicate questions, reports become more accurate, and information stays current. This all goes towards creating a shared foundation that improves collaboration and reduces errors from the manufacturer to the distributor to the dealership.
Stronger Aftermarket Performance & Realized Growth
Aftermarket is one of the most profitable areas of the business. According to McKinsey, it accounts for 25-30% of OEM revenue and generates 40-50% of profit. Boston Consulting Group reports that spare parts and service often carry gross margins of around 50 percent.
AI strengthens aftermarket performance by recommending the right parts, keeping repairs within the OEM ecosystem, and giving manufacturers and distributors real-time visibility into field activity. With clearer insight into what’s breaking, what’s being repaired, and what customers actually need, manufacturers and distributors can improve forecasting, optimize inventory, and support dealers more effectively.
These insights also feed back into engineering. AI helps reveal patterns in reliability, common failures, and true operating conditions, which allows manufacturers to update designs and parts with greater confidence and alignment to field feedback.
The demand for service and maintenance is only growing. North America construction equipment repair market reached $34.6 billion in 2024 (GMI Insights). Global heavy equipment parts spending is projected to reach $237.7 billion by 2031 (Verified Market Research). Industrial machinery repair services are projected to nearly double internationally by 2031 (Transparency Market Research).The manufacturers and distributors who give their dealers the best support will capture the most growth.
Moving Forward Together
Our industry has adapted through every major shift: from mechanics to electronics, GPS, telematics, and automation. AI is the next step. It doesn’t replace people. It helps them work faster, learn quicker, and serve customers better.
The message at the EMDA and FEMA Fall Convention was clear: fast, consistent support is now a competitive advantage. That is what Vi by visorPRO is built to deliver. It provides instant access to technical information, repair history, and dealer knowledge so every answer comes faster.
About the Author
John Schmeiser is the Chief Operating Officer at Vi by visorPRO, the AI-powered knowledge platform built for equipment dealerships. A longtime advocate for dealer innovation and performance, John previously served as CEO of the Western Equipment Dealers Association, President of NAEDA, and Executive Vice President of CEDA.
