WALLA WALLA, WASH. — Duravant subsidiary Key Technology appointed John Dykstra as director of service operations for the company’s North and South American and the Asia-Pacific regions on Dec. 1. Dykstra will be responsible for managing Duravant’s SupportPro aftermarket services for Key Technology customers.
The SupportPro helps clients operate and maintain digital sorters, specialized conveyors and other processing equipment by providing support for installation, start-up, training, preventive maintenance and 24/7 emergency assistance. The service also includes remote monitoring, protection plans, upgrades, parts and other features.
“When food processors buy from Key, they’re getting more than state-of-the-art equipment – they get world-class service and complete lifecycle support,” said Hans Van der Aa, president of SupportPro at Duravant. “SupportPro is Duravant’s global service organization, which serves customers across all our brands including Key. Our worldwide network enables us to provide around the clock help, with local offices that quickly ship OEM parts and deploy nearby field service technicians with the right expertise to customers in need.”
Dykstra brings 10 years of leadership experience from service and sales teams. Most recently, he served as manager of global parts business development for Kohler Company’s power systems division. He also served as senior aftermarket support manager at Oshkosh Corporation earlier in his career.
“John is the ideal person to lead our SupportPro efforts,” commented Carson Brennan, president of Key Technology’s Americas and Asia-Pacific (APAC) divisions. “He has a lot of experience managing and growing successful aftermarket organizations. High quality service differentiates Key from other suppliers, and John’s dedication to continuous improvement and to forging strong relationships will help us identify new ways we can serve customers.”
Dykstra holds a master’s degree in organizational leadership and quality from Marian University in Indianapolis, as well as an MBA from St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis.
“Key’s customers receive exceptional aftermarket support, and we see opportunities to add even more value, such as offering new upgrade and retrofit packages, further enhancing our remote monitoring services and deploying more customer training courses,” Dykstra added. “We believe aftermarket services should proactively work to improve customers’ operations. The sky is the limit in terms of where we can take SupportPro, and I am excited to be a part of it.”
Read more about personnel changes throughout the industry.
