Capital Equipment News August 2018

environment, there is so much talk about selling a “complete offering”. “You hear it across all industries. But what does it mean?” he asks. While he agrees that a lot of ground has been covered in the truck industry as far as service provision is concerned, there is still so much to be done for the industry to get to a point where it will truly claim to offer a total solution for the customer. Erasmus is of the view that there is still too much emphasis on the product (truck) and the soft products around it (R&M and warranty). His vision of future service is centred on truck suppliers becoming “the wheel that drives the customer’s uptime” rather than being a product supplier. “To be honest, a truck operator in today’s world is not necessarily concerned about loyalty to a specific brand. What matters to them today is hustle-free running of the product,” says Erasmus. For Erasmus, the industry will only get to a complete offering stage when, for example, customers will be able to go online and order their truck with a suite of services they require around it, depending on their application needs, and be able to get their truck between five and seven working days. “That online application should also be able to include the financing and insurance that goes with the deal. That’s where the industry needs to be,” he says. Erasmus sees services transporting more and more into a software subscriber- style as technology keeps on developing and making it possible. “If you look at the telematics we have today, there is a lot of information at our disposal from a truck every single day, where we can see the running history from yesterday, last week, last month and a year ago. To move to the next stage, we will have to maximise how we siphon that information and interpret it better to help customers optimise their running time,” he says. Erasmus is of the view that the current “total solutions” model available suits suppliers than customers. “We have gotten clever with issues such as R&M packages, warranties and CPK reductions, but ultimately we are still offering the same thing, and in my view, it’s not yet a total offering,” he says. Future matters of importance Erasmus believes that some of the most important things in the future will be mobility and flexibility of service. “I am of the view that mobile, flexible service operations are going to be the main cornerstones of future service, purely because of competition and the need for

QUICK TAKE

As everyone tries to grasp the fundamental concept of service, the industry has somehow idealised the “total service provider” model

Today’s vehicles are advanced and can determine their own service intervals and what has to be done during that service interval, which effectively reduces the amount of time a truck has to spend in a workshop

Some of the most important things in the future will be mobility and flexibility of service

The passenger car market has made significant headway in terms of technology and it’s normally the case that where automobiles go, trucks and buses eventually follow

“To be honest, a truck operator in today’s world is not necessarily concerned about loyalty to a specific brand. What matters to them is hassle-free running of the product.”

Mark Erasmus, GM Services at Scania South Africa

the next 100, is still relevant, a lot has changed as far as what a service regime should entail. “In the old days, the traditional way of looking at service was about just selling a truck and then keep it on the road in a reactive approach where suppliers would wait for the customer to book in the vehicle for its next service. This has somehow changed in recent years with suppliers taking a more proactive approach where, for example, they get to locate service workshops and personnel at customer sites to be actively involved in customer operations,” reasons Erasmus. Erasmus says this has further improved in recent years. A case in point is a trend where truck makers and their suppliers are now able to be more interactive in

terms of predicting customers’ repair and maintenance (R&M) requirements, re- placement cycles and routes. He believes that smart technologies on trucks are making it possible. “Today we have vehicles determining their own time, and what has to be done during that service interval, which effectively reduces the amount of time a truck has to spend in a workshop,” says Erasmus. “It’s all geared towards maximising uptime, getting the truck on the road, rather than stand in the workshop. If the truck is standing in the workshop, the customer can’t invoice and ultimately has no money.”

‘Complete offering’ Erasmus says in today’s operating

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