Lano Equipment’s story began nearly eight decades ago, rooted in a small one-man operation in Shakopee, Minnesota. Today, the dealership has evolved into a three-location powerhouse serving the Minneapolis metro area and beyond. Known as the world’s oldest Bobcat dealership, Lano Equipment has built a reputation for quality and service that spans generations. Over the years, the dealership has expanded its offerings, becoming a trusted multi-line dealer—a growth story made possible by their dedication to efficiency, quality, and adaptability.
For Ryan Sabre, Operations Manager and IT lead, this legacy is personal. Ryan has been with the company since 2004, starting his career in the wash bay and working his way up through nearly every role in the business. Today, he oversees operations across all three Lano locations, managing both the IT infrastructure and the day-to-day logistics of the busy dealership. We spoke with Ryan to find out how he and his team harness ASPEN Mobile from task tracking to fieldwork.
The Need for a Mobile Solution
Managing operations across three busy locations presents daily challenges, particularly when it comes to communication, task tracking, and record-keeping. Before using ASPEN Mobile, Ryan and his team relied heavily on laptops for managing and documenting service activities, which often created inefficiencies.
Technicians would frequently have to trek back to their laptops or remember details until they could return to update records. The limitations of this approach quickly became evident, especially for a team that often works outdoors or travels between job sites.
The adoption of ASPEN Mobile became a turning point. With its user-friendly mobile interface, technicians could now easily document repairs, inspections, and time entries in real time, eliminating the need for constant back-and-forth to laptops.
“It’s created efficiencies out in the field, not having to always be by your laptop. The guys will go out to a job and have to hike back a half a mile or so to a piece of equipment and try to remember everything you did or what you’ve done to it in between the walk or when you get a chance to get back to your laptop.
It makes it nice to have a mobile-friendly version to be able to update your records and keep track of what you did, how many hours you spent, and all of the features that come along with that mobile app,” explains Ryan.
An Intuitive Interface Built for Technicians
According to Ryan, one of ASPEN Mobile’s standout features is its ease of use. With just a few clicks, his team can access job details, log updates, and track progress. ASPEN Mobile puts everything right at the technician’s fingertips.
“Everything’s pretty much laid out in a mobile form, so everything’s in front of you. Anything you want to use in the app is only a couple of clicks,” shared Sabre.
This app’s simplicity has made it easy for techs to adopt it quickly, maximizing efficiency without the need for extensive training. The intuitive layout also ensures that tasks are completed accurately, keeping every aspect of service and repair well-documented and minimizing potential errors that could impact service quality.
Tools for Sustained Growth
As Lano Equipment continues to integrate ASPEN Mobile into more areas of its business, there’s one feature Ryan and his team are especially eager to implement: unit selection. With the unit selection feature, technicians can take and attach photos directly to equipment profiles, saving time and improving accuracy—a feature Ryan believes will streamline Lano Equipment’s marketing efforts and enhance customer satisfaction.
“Right now, just trying to get pictures loaded to equipment is a huge task and time suck. Moving forward, once we’re able to utilize the unit selection, taking pictures is going to be a breeze.
We live and breathe pictures around here because of the social world and being in the social network of everything…The mobile app is going to be a total game-changer for us,” said Ryan.
Another standout feature of ASPEN Mobile for Ryan and his team is the customizable checklists. Each checklist serves as a step-by-step guide for technicians, helping them stay organized and thorough on every job, whether routine maintenance or a complex repair. This not only ensures consistency across projects but also gives Lano’s service managers clear insight into what’s been completed.
With checklists at their fingertips, Lano’s field technicians can easily confirm that all necessary steps have been completed and documented—a detail that, as Ryan notes, reinforces their commitment to quality.
“Whether it’s a new tech or a seasoned tech, to be able to create templates for checklists on certain things is pretty helpful because not only does it let the service managers know that you’ve touched all points, but it’s another reminder for the guys in the field to make sure that they’re being thorough with the projects they’re working on,” explained Ryan.
Looking Ahead
With ASPEN Mobile, Ryan envisions a future where his team can operate with greater flexibility, giving them a powerful tool that adapts as they grow.
“I look forward to having the power of our business platform in your hand and to be able to do the things that we couldn’t do before,” he shares.
For other dealers considering mobile solutions, he adds, “Sign up. It’s worth every penny.” As Lano looks toward the future, tools like ASPEN Mobile are helping this historic dealership continue its legacy of quality, service, and resilience in a modern age.
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