An interview with Robert T. Moll, the Chief Executive Officer of MTD Products Inc. Robert is the grandson of the founder of the company, Theo Moll, who along with two other German immigrants, Emil Jochum and Erwin Gerhard, purchased the assets of the Modern Tool and Die Company in 1932.
Headquartered in Valley City, near Cleveland, Ohio, MTD has grown since it started making outdoor power equipment in 1958 to become a leader in the industry. Through their facilities across the globe, the company produces quality mowers, snow throwers, utility vehicles, trimmers, tillers, and more for both residential and commercial markets. MTD’s products can be found online and in all channels of distribution including, home improvement stores, hardware stores, mass retailers, independent dealers and farm supply stores.
MTD’s family of brands includes Cub Cadet® which is produced and distributed globally. MTD’s regional brands include Troy-Bilt® in the Americas, Rover® in the Pacific and WOLF-Garten® in Europe. The portfolio also includes Remington®, Yard Machines®, Columbia®, and MTD Genuine Parts® brands, all primarily sold in the Americas; and Robomow® which is sold in the Americas, Europe and the Middle East. Each brand is backed by a global network of MTD sales, service and support.
In addition to the commitment Robert Moll has to MTD’s brands and products, he is equally committed to MTD’s employees, the communities in which MTD operates, and the world “in which we live.” Even today, the company, under Mr. Moll, remains committed to its core values of Stewardship, Passion, Respect and Integrity. These values have been integral to the success and growth of the company since inception, and they continue to drive its management decisions today.
First of all Mr. Moll, we appreciate you taking the time to speak with us. It is always most interesting when we can listen to a member of the family that has been instrumental in the development and evolution of this industry.
1. What were your first memories of the original (MTD) Modern Tool and Die Company?
One early memory that comes to mind was spending summer Sundays on the farm, which, yes, is the property our corporate campus sits on today. Dad would put us on a tractor in the field and tell us to mow for three or four hours. It’s not like mowing a field gave me a great sense of accomplishment at that point in my life, and I don’t think I had a real perspective of putting lifetime hours on the product, but it makes sense now. We were testers.
(Wood blocks from floor of MTD factory preserved in MTD’s Heritage Center)
I also remember the floor in our Parma, Ohio factory was made out of wood blocks. When it would rain, the floor would rise and swell and need to be put back together again. Not only was MTD the place my dad went to work every day, it was in his blood. So, if that meant going in on the weekend or going back to work in the evenings to puzzle the floor back together, that was just what dad did. There was no job beneath him. He did whatever it took. He did it well and did it with pride; and he taught us to do the same.
2. As a child, were you fortunate enough to have a 1950’s MTD manufactured peddle car?
Well, I was a child of the 60’s, not the 50’s, so I didn’t have the peddle car. I do remember though, one of the coolest toys we made for Mattel was an X15. Instead of a steering wheel, it had a joystick in the front that connected to the two rear wheels. So, when you moved the stick to the left or right it would turn them. It had a little noisemaker with a slider that you could move up and down as you peddled to make more noise. It was a cool toy, and we made a lot of them.
3. When you first joined the company in 1990, tell us about your first jobs.
I joined what was our mass retail sales group in the fall of 1990. I was a young, single guy so they gave me all the west coast accounts, things that took a lot of time and travel to visit. So, I cut my teeth in California, Oregon and Washington working with some retailers that are still here today and some that are not. I did that for nearly a decade.
After that, I became responsible for Marketing. My first foray into that was kind of funny. Our ad agency didn’t have a public relations team so they created a strategic relationship to do PR with Edelman. Shortly after that, someone at Edelman said, “you know what would be really cool? If we found someone to mow across the country to raise money for charity and set a Guinness World Record.” Apparently, the ad agency had pitched this to my predecessor many times. He said no, but I was new and stupid so I said yes. Turns out, it was successful beyond our wildest ambitions! Our Yard-Man Mow Across America raised thousands for Keep America Beautiful and even made the play of the week on ESPN.
4. When you assumed the position of CEO in early 2009, what was the main challenge facing the company.
The main challenge facing the company, and the country, at that point was a significant downturn in the economy. We knew the economy was in a free-fall but we didn’t know to what depths and for how long the crisis would continue. Our main issue was maintaining the legacy and the successful business we’d been building for all these years to make sure we would make it through to the other side.
I remember one of the first things we had to do that spring was look at tightening our belt and cutting costs. Many companies were furloughing or laying people off. We wanted to be very thoughtful and understand just how we were affecting people that we knew were dependent on every paycheck. So, we worked nine out of every 10 days from Memorial Day to Labor Day. We were careful to never affect more than 10% of our employees’ income at one time.
As a leadership team, we went to each of the factories and locations to talk about what we needed to do to ensure we could make it through this crisis. We went into these visits worried about how we were affecting people’s lives and instead people were asking what they could do, apologizing for the position that we, as new leaders were in. It was unexpected and incredibly humbling, but I think it also showed the caring of our people and the trust between the employee base and leadership in the organization.
5. Under your leadership, the company appears to be placing a much greater emphasis on the development of commercial equipment dealers. The new Cub Cadet mowing equipment such as the Pro Z and many more turf renovation products is creating more attention with the commercial user. In the FocusOn GIE+EXPO reader survey, 1946 of our readers that attended told us, among many other things, what booths they visited. 26% visited the Cub Cadet / MTD booth. What is in the plans to further strengthen the commercial offering and the quantity and quality of dealers?
We’re recognized in the residential space as being the leading company, on a global basis, for innovative, high quality products. So, we’re very strong in residential but we need to continue to grow. Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve heard from my father and my grandfather how we needed to take the company’s profits and reinvest for continued growth. We’re creating opportunities for thousands of families based on an ownership responsibility to reinvest in the business. That’s important. Growing has been what we’re all about for eight decades.
Professional is a growing market, and I get it. My wife works. I work. Finding time to take care of the yard is difficult for us. I take great pride when I see our products being used commercially. I want to be the best that’s available anywhere; and, when I see professionals depending on our products for their livelihood, it means something. It’s important to me. So, we continue to make investments in the professional space.
You know, one of my pet projects is our dually (PRO Z 972 SDL) because we’re solving problems like no one else can. I also take pride in seeing our turf equipment cutting the best turf on earth. We’re cutting everything from my yard to Wimbledon and Real Madrid. That says something about Cub Cadet and MTD.
6. The battery powered outdoor power equipment market is growing quickly but, according to some of the major players in the commercial field, the acceptance is a bit slower than expected yet 65% of our survey respondents expect all of their commercial powered products fleet will eventually be battery powered. 15% are already planning to buy a battery powered zero turn this year! What other commercial grade battery powered products can we expect to see from MTD in the next few years.
We certainly see the world electrified. I drive a battery car. I do it because I want to see firsthand the positives and negatives of electric equipment. A year ago we announced a strategic relationship and an investment from Stanley Black & Decker, a proven leader in electrification. I can remember looking out over the showroom floor at our annual dealer convention and imagining how much of that product would be electrified in the next few years. My thought was an awful lot of it would be and that no one would be able to rival the strength of our two companies to effectively electrify this industry. I think you can expect to see a lot of exciting things from this relationship.
7. At FocusOn Landscapers, we have taken great interest in the evolution of the robotic mower though, while growing, we are not yet seeing this as a major consumer mower consideration in North America. While Europe already is a huge market for the robotic mower, do you see the Robomow becoming a big seller in North America?
Residential robots in Europe are a huge market, much more than tractors. Of course, yards in Europe are much smaller and landscape options for consumers are much different. Residential robots have taken off because they are essentially a substitute for a landscaper, albeit a lesser service. They reduce the time a busy person needs to spend in their yards.
I don’t know that residential robots will take off in the same way in the U.S. as a result of that. A residential robot is not going to take care of your trimming or your leaves in the fall. People that have chosen not to do their own yard care here appreciate those services and not just a reduction in the amount of time they spend on yard care. They’ve chosen to outsource completely.
There are signs of early ventures into a combination of landscapers and residential robotics that have potential to make residential robotics meaningful in the U.S. So, rather than the consumer buying the robot, landscapers are using the robots as an opportunity to augment the industry and address labor challenges.
8. In our discussions with manufacturers across North America, the lack of qualified, available workers is the number one problem. As one of the large employers in the region how difficult is it to find additional qualified people to work at the MTD companies?
We are certainly facing labor challenges across all industries in the U.S. today. We do struggle finding people, especially in our factories, and we know it is a huge constraint for our independent dealers, professional landscapers, and others that we work with regularly. That’s one reason we focus on robotics and productivity – to help our customers solve these issues.
9. Outside of North America, which market has the greatest growth potential for MTD and its brands?
North America is certainly the largest outdoor power equipment market in the world but, it’s important to understand much of the world doesn’t aspire to live in single-family homes like we do. They aspire to live in apartments which is why professional is important. A couple years ago, I was in New York City and said to my wife, “I want to make sure we’re relevant in Manhattan. If we can be relevant here, we can be relevant in Miami or Mumbai or São Paulo or Shanghai.” Although the world is urbanizing, people demand green spaces. We want to be a part of caring for those green spaces so people can enjoy them everywhere.
10. MTD always has an exciting presence at GIE+EXPO and this past year was certainly no exception. What makes GIE+EXPO so important for MTD?
GIE+EXPO is great. We love it for the demo area as well as the inside booth because we can really interact with our customers. We do a lot of research up front so we can make sure we understand our customers’ pain points. These landscapers and pros rely on us to make their living. GIE+EXPO is our opportunity to show them the thoughtful designs and innovative products we’ve created to solve real issues for them.
11. With the probability that the ethanol content in fuel will increase beyond the 15% level, what is MTD doing now in anticipation of a E20 or worse?
We’ve brought several engine innovations to market in recent years, including EFI available on Cub Cadet lawn tractors, snow blowers and push mowers. The ethanol tolerance of EFI is a contributing factor to the success these products are having in market. We’re extending EFI and our new Intellipower technology to more and more products and continue to innovate in engines alongside our electrification efforts.
12. What do you see as the number one challenge facing the outdoor power equipment industry in the next 5 years?
I sometimes hear people talk about the challenge the automotive industry is facing. There’s a huge technical shift happening as they move from traditional, internal combustion engines to electrification. They can’t stop investing in one while they still need to invest in the other. If I think about our industry, we face that same challenge. On top of that, they’re also facing autonomy challenges. And, so are we. We can’t take our eyes off of what has traditionally made our industry grow but, at the same time, we need to be reinvesting in our business in preparation for these very significant changes in our industry.
13. As a leading manufacturer, we expect you are constantly inundated with suggestions for new products. Can you share with us some of the more unusual suggestions…that didn’t make the cut?
Well, this one didn’t come from somewhere else but rather an internal discussion; and, since I believe it’s important to be able to laugh at myself and learn from my own mistakes, I’ll admit to championing it. We were talking about how people use a trimmer but then have to go back and get a blower to blow away what they just left on the sidewalk or driveway. We thought, “wouldn’t it be cool if we could combine those two things? If you could just flip a switch to go from trimming to blowing and not have to go back to the garage and get another piece of equipment?” We prototyped an all-in-one blower and trimmer product and tested it with consumers. It tested well but it was a commercial flop!
MTD is going to continue to be an innovative company so we have to be prepared for the fact that some ideas just won’t work. Even if sometimes they need to be measured to protect the business, we’re willing to take those risks. Not every risk will pay off but because we’re willing to take them and truly think creatively, we’ll continue to do really great things at MTD.
14. After the workday at MTD ends for you, what has made it a good day?
I am truly blessed to work with some incredible people that care so much for our business. A great day is to have spent time with them and to feel that we have done something with purpose. Not every day do we get to feel a huge sense of accomplishment but, we know we’ve been working and moving things forward. Family is really important to us at MTD. We think of ourselves as having a much tighter bond than people do at other companies. I’m grateful for that, but I’m also grateful to go home to my own family – my wife and my two boys – at the end of the day.