Celebrating a Milestone: The Millionth Bobcat Loader and Why It Remains Unstoppable

Bobcat Co. will manufacture its millionth Bobcat loader in 2014, and the company is celebrating.

To mark the milestone, Bobcat is holding a contest, giving away one of their loaders for the best answer to the question: “What makes a Bobcat unstoppable.”

Bobcat should be proud. Think of all those Bobcats—one million of them! Think of all the work that’s been done with them, all the money that’s been made with them, all the people who love their Bobcats.

Bobcat’s achievement causes me to think of how many other companies have had similar successes. With many types of equipment, there are manufacturers whose products are similarly ubiquitous—so much so that their product name is often used to describe the equipment type (e.g., “We’ll use a Bobcat for that” to mean “We’ll use a loader for that.”)

Ski-Dos, Sea-Dos, Jet Skis, Jeeps, Zambonis, Winnebagos, Tasers—these and many other highly pervasive products are like Bobcats in this way.

When a product reaches that status, you expect consistency when you use it. You trust in that product—which is exactly what manufacturers like Bobcat are working so hard to achieve.

Bobcat’s question about what makes their loaders “unstoppable” begs the answer: “great engineering and manufacturing.” Those are the things that allow Bobcat loaders to have the consistent quality that builds trust. I imagine the answer they pick as a winner will be along those lines.

But I don’t think that’s whole story.

I’m not at all questioning the quality of Bobcat loaders. My point is that it’s important to understand that for a Bobcat—or any other piece of machinery—to be “unstoppable” over the long haul, it must receive consistently attentive care and maintenance.

Any equipment—even equipment from a venerable, respected, and quality manufacturer such as Bobcat—needs to be regularly serviced and inspected. If preventative maintenance is neglected—or if minor problems go undetected until they’ve become larger problems—then even a Bobcat can be stopped.

Buying dependable, proven equipment is smart, but it doesn’t free you from the need to take care of it.

Just as you should never take those you love for granted, you shouldn’t take even your most erstwhile equipment for granted. It wants your tender, loving care—and you’ll be the better for giving it.

Congratulations to Bobcat, and to anyone who’s happily using one of those million Bobcats. Long may they run!

Image courtesy of Gabinho, Creative Commons.