S3 Enterprises Inc

Bringing growth, ingenuity, and experience to market for over 50 YEARS

AMC’s Influence on 50 Years of Success in Agricultural Manufacturing

by Treena Hein Among AMC’s proud founding members is S3 Enterprises, or as it is more specifically known, S3 Air Systems (pneumatic chaff management systems), S3 Delta Harrows (the number one flex harrow in North America), S3 Manufacturing (customized components) and S3 Wireform (custom steel springs for agricultural OEMs). Obviously this company has evolved and grown a great deal over time, but the importance it places on being part of AMC remains unchanged. “As an AMC member, we know we are not alone,” explains Richelle Andreas, CEO. “Sometimes when you’re inside your business, you feel like you’re the only one in the world struggling to understand foreign exchange hedging or social media technologies, the only business struggling to find qualified employees or feeling unsure about extending financing to a customer overseas. But we know that whether we’re battling Canadian copyright legislation or concerned about the carbon tax, AMC has our back.” S3 started out in 1963 as Rem Manufacturing. In the 80s, it purchased the GrainVac product line, which became synonymous with the Rem name. When the product line was eventually sold to AGI, Rem’s leaders realized a name change was needed to avoid confusion. At that point, S3 Enterprises was born. In the beginning, S3 sold product directly to farmers within a 20-mile radius of Swift Current, Saskatchewan. Over time, each of its subsidiary businesses developed organically and found its own appropriate distribution channels. At the same time, the firm built long-term relationships with other farm equipment OEMs. S3 now sells through North American dealers and distributors, international sales reps and “this past year we came full circle and opened our first online store,” says Andreas, “so that we can sell directly to farmers again.”

50 years of change

Over the last five decades, changes at S3 have focused on five areas. These are increased awareness and a proactive approach to employee safety, use of data to help make decisions, building a culture of continuous improvement, adoption of new manufacturing technologies and the use of computerized design. However, despite its heavy focus on product R&D and high-tech tools, Andreas says “this is a relationship business. There are some basic things all customers want. They want their product on time, on spec and on budget. They want you to do what you say you are going to do. And, if there is a problem, they want you to work with them to solve it. But technology, social media, the internet and other new tools are giving us more ways and better ways to serve our customers.” Video, for example, has become a tremendous tool for communicating, says Andreas, allowing S3 employees to remotely see what customers are seeing and solve problems more quickly with fewer assumptions and unknowns.

Andreas comments that in the early days, the biggest challenge for the company was managing the opportunities available inside the firm’s existing constraints, such as cash flow and market access. While it is true the same challenge remains today, constraints now are a little different. “Currently, we are facing a challenging regulatory and tax environment for manufacturers,” says Andreas. “In addition, we are dealing with workforce dynamics like a skills shortage and first-generation immigrant leadership development.”

What AMC means

Although business constraints and specific challenges have always evolved to some extent, Andreas considers the constant support of AMC to be very important for S3’s continued success. Andreas shares a story to outline what AMC has meant to her. It takes place about 15 years ago when Andreas attended her first AMC convention. “I remember the reception held at the Top of the Inn in Saskatoon on a ridiculously cold December evening,” she recalls. “Outside, the city below sparkled like magic. But what I remember most about that night is that the Board of Directors for AMC stood at the front door and greeted every person that came in like an old friend. Brad Nelson of Honeybee Manufacturing, an astute businessman but also incredibly charismatic and kind, went out of his way to make me and so many others feel welcome. That, to me, is what AMC is all about. It’s a community that genuinely cares about each other and wants to help each other out.”

And, having served as AMC board chair, Andreas can look both back and ahead to the future of the organization. She believes that in order to stay relevant, any association must balance being consistent with consistently evolving, a task with which she believes AMC is succeeding. “Driven by the needs of its members, AMC has moved away from services that can be provided by local chambers of commerce or other organizations, and focused on where AMC has the highest value proposition for its members,” she says. “AMC does an exceptional job of advocacy and member networking. The current COVID environment has made networking incredibly difficult and AMC has reached out to all of its members to gauge their appetite for how best to move forward.” That is, while other organizations went full steam ahead with virtual events, AMC heard its members say that they wanted to wait for a day – hopefully soon – when they could see each other in person again. Andreas adds that when it comes to advocacy, AMC is a small but mighty voice. “I had the humbling opportunity to join AMC for lobby days in Ottawa and appear before the Standing Committee on Finance,” she explains. “The federal lobbying AMC did in those events resulted in accelerated capital cost allowance for farm equipment. AMC was also an important voice at the table with the Saskatchewan Minister of Agriculture in modernizing the current Agricultural Implements Act. Today, AMC is still leading the charge, standing up for its members on the question of interoperability in the wake of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). I know that its advocacy for its hardworking members will continue.”

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