Capital Equipment News August 2018

“We also have a logistics hub in Johannesburg that replenishes the branches and dealers in the region. We have an extensive IT backbone comprising enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, customer relationship management tools and service software to ensure we can manage the customers’ end-to-end experience,” adds Van der Walt. Additionally, Bell operates a massive 11 000 m² Global Logistics Centre (GLC) located in Jet Park, Gauteng on the doorstep of Africa’s largest airport, OR Tambo International. The facility has a dedicated focus on aftermarket by delivering worldwide parts support. It has three types of storage, namely racking, shelving and electronic lean lifts for the storage of small parts. A 500 m conveyor system is the primary transportation within the GLC and, moving at 4 m per second, can manage up to 400 totes or ‘shopping baskets’ of parts, each weighing up to 25 kg. The GLC also houses a machine and component remanufacturing facility. Support evolves Aftermarket is evolving from just being the provision of spare parts and fulfilling maintenance contracts. The use of newer technologies, such as fleet management solutions, is further easing maintenance issues, for example. Van der Walt, agrees, saying technology has advanced at a rapid pace over the past couple of years and is allowing OEMs and their dealers to handle larger amounts of data much faster and accurately. “This is a trend that will continue. We have our own telematics system called Fleetm@tic that is fully integrated with our machines and tracks and records all critical machine and productivity data that is easily accessible through a web portal,” he says. Van der Walt believes that using this technology is definitely going to be increasingly important for end users. “It

“Aftermarket impacts the total operating and owning (O&O) costs. Construction and mining equipment operates in tough environments and it is the role of the supplier to help customers optimise their O&O costs over the lifetime of the machine.”

Samantha Swanepoel, executive head: Marketing and Communications at Barloworld Equipment

“In today’s fast-paced environment, it is all about productivity and efficiency. Something as simple as a failing hose could have dramatic consequences for the productivity of a project.”

Stephane Latini, Caterpillar aftermarket solutions area manager, Mining Industries

facility enables us to work more efficiently and has increased capacity to provide unmatched parts availability to customers across southern Africa,” she says. Latini adds that the facility stocks 110 000 different parts and components and serves over 10 000 customers in the region. “We have a co-location arrangement with our dealer, Barloworld Equipment, and a portion of the facility hosts their retail parts. Barloworld Equipment has been a Cat dealer since 1927, and has a strong presence across southern Africa with 77 branches and approximately 5 000 employees. It is our first dealer in the world to co-locate the parts warehouse and parts counter,” says Latini. Buys says Babcock relies on its widespread branch footprint in southern

Africa to respond to service requirements timeously. The branches are placed in strategic areas which are close to all the major machine fleets, which in turn ensures that the company operates an efficient support network. “We also operate main parts and logistics hubs in order to efficiently distribute parts throughout our areas of responsibility,” he says. Reiterating the significance of support infrastructure, Van der Walt says Bell Equipment has 20 branches in South Africa, complemented by nine others across southern Africa. “In addition, we have dealers covering the remaining southern African countries where we operate. These branches and dealers all have warehouses and workshops,” says Van der Walt.

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS AUGUST 2018 17