Capital Equipment News February 2018

TIPPER TRUCKS

end of this year or early next year. “Increasing the local value add of the trucks is in line with our commitment to further invest in South Africa and create meaningful employment opportunities, thereby contributing significantly to much needed economic growth,” adds Stephen Jones, group marketing director at Bell Equipment. “Most importantly we are confident that this partnership will once again better position us to help our cus- tomers to succeed by providing strong and reliable machines, complemented by our world-class support structures.” Early breakthrough Despite the fact that KAMAZ is a new product in southern Africa, Castle is confident that the product will gain immediate acceptance. “During testing, the KAMAZ trucks presented a strong value proposition. We have been testing the trucks on several customer sites, where they have been extremely well received and have tackled local conditions with ease, delivering great productivity and lower fuel burn,” says Castle. Of note is also the fact that KAMAZ just recently won its 15 th Dakar rally this year, testimony to its tough build to conquer challenging operating conditions. However, having a reliable product is one thing, and being able to support it once it is operational in the field is quite another. Rafail Gafeev, director general of KAMAZ Foreign Trade Company, is excited to have found a partner of Bell Equipment’s stature. “The KAMAZ product has been tried and tested in the most challenging environments. We believe that the KAMAZ product philosophy, coupled with Bell Equipment’s extensive distribution network of over 50 branches and deal- ers, world-class aftermarket service and technical support is a clear recipe for success to meet the southern African customers’ needs. We look forward to growing our footprint by investing in the region through Bell Equipment’s product localisation and distribution strategies,” says Gafeev. Based on these key strengths, Castle says Bell Equipment expects to gain between 5% and 10% market share during the first year as it gears up for local assembly. “This will be achieved by focusing on current relation- ships and ensuring that we are geared to fully support the new products throughout our network. Siginificant investments have already been made in both training of our staff and ensuring that we have parts avail- able in our logistics warehouse,” concludes Castle. ❂

Bell has already tested the KAMAZ trucks on several customer sites, where they have been extremely well received and have tackled local conditions with ease, delivering great productivity and lower fuel burn.

on order,” says Castle. “The models will include two 6x4 trucks with payloads of 15 and 20 t, a 6x6 truck with a payload of 19,5 t and an 8x4 variant with a payload of 25,5 t.” The 6x6 fits directly between the con- ventional tipper and the ariculated dump truck range manufactured by Bell, offering good ground clearance and right-sized tyres to work better in poor underfoot conditions. “The model comes with an impressive 396 mm of ground clear- ance, allowing it to operate well on less maintained sites or uneven work sites. The trucks have bigger tyres with better frictional properties, thus allowing them to conquer rough, muddy and slippery terrain,” says Castle. Due to the 6x6’s off- road capabilities, it is ideally suited for sites with tougher underfoot conditions. The truck will also be popular for special- ist applications like forestry fire trucks,

specialist maintenence vehicles and initial pioneering for mining or infrastructure sites Castle says the 8x4 is already a popular variant in Africa due to its two rear axles and two front steering axles providing optimised weight distribution. This allows the truck to carry extra payloads, espe- cially in high production applications such as quarries and mines. “There is a greater demand for the 8x4 due to the productivity of this truck,” explains Castle. The 6x4 is the more traditional tipper and is well suited for municipalities and small contractors that have both on- and some off-road duties. These can also be deployed not only to transport material in a conventional tipping bin for construction and infrastructure development, but they can also be spec'd with a variety of differ- ent body options like flat decks, skip lifts, refuse handlers and cement mixers. Second phase The second phase will see Bell Equipment commission a CKD (complete knockdown) assembly line at its Richards Bay factory to allow for the assembly of the KAMAZ tippers locally. During the first phase, the trucks will be shipped RORO (roll-on roll-off). “We have made an additional investment to establish an assembly line in our factory to localise the product. This will further create employment opportunities and also shorten the lead times,” says Castle. The first locally- assembled KAMAZ tippers are expected to roll off the Bell production line at the

“Increasing the local value add of the trucks is in line with our commitment to further invest in South Africa and create meaningful employment opportunities, thereby contributing significantly to much needed economic growth.”

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS FEBRUARY 2018 30