Craig Sandman from Hilltip Corporation, explains how one of the leading equipment distributors in Europe became a manufacturer and has now expanded to North America.
February 8, 2022 | Emma Tyborski
Hilltip was founded in 2002 in a little town called Pietasari, Finland, which is about 120 miles south of the arctic circle. Hilltip started in Europe as primarily an equipment distributor, then quickly segued into manufacturing. In 2008, Hilltip was a full-line equipment manufacturer, producing plow spreaders, pushers, brooms and pressure washers. Currently, Hilltip owns about 60 percent of the light duty market in Europe, so Hilltip’s approach to North America is very surgical and strategic.
Hilltip looks for very qualified, well experienced partners that will embrace all of the technological innovations that they bring to the United States. Their strategy is to attack the industry more from a technical perspective and bring some revolutionary patented technology and apply it to the snow and ice control industry. The industry for the last 40 to 50 years has been very stagnant as far as technological innovation. The equipment and systems that Hilltip is bringing in allows users to access and understand every aspect in their snow and ice control company.
The StrikeSmart™ controller features a detailed color screen, and allows operators to adjusts vibrator settings, blast settings and much more. Spreading exact material feed and all systems can be calibrated from within the cab using this advanced controller. The controller also automatically collects and saves essential data, providing operators with spreading reports that can reduce potential liability issues.
The exclusive HTrack™ tracking software option allows for maximum control and observation of ones equipment fleet from a computer, tablet or smartphone. The HTrack system allows one to monitor treatment routes, vehicle speed, GPS location and material usage in real-time. Also, the two-way GPRS communication channel allows application rates to be remotely set and adjusted for each customer’s site depending on weather conditions.