Capital Equipment News June 2018

COVER STORY

Babcock’s flagship facility in Middelburg, officially launched in 2016, was designed to handle large pieces of earthmoving gear such as the 100-t rigid trucks.

883 kW of power, as well as the soft controls on the Allison H8610 ORS transmission. The electronic motor now speaks to the transmission, offering better shift protocols. “Because of the electronic motor, the shift protocols on the transmission are much smoother,” explains Buys. “Both the engine and the transmission are now down-shift protected.” Vaughan adds that there are several benefits associated with the new Volvo Dynamic Shift protocol in the transmission. “The shift protocol means that an optimal gear is always selected for whatever type of gradient the truck finds itself on. The transmission selects the right gear for the task at hand and this translates into greater fuel efficiency. It also increases the life of the driveline,” says Vaughan. Unparalleled backup Babcock’s preparatory initiatives ahead of the launch of the new Volvo CE rigid haulers are testimony of its unparalleled aftermarket support capabilities. Vaughan says the company’s philosophy is to support first and sell as a result of customer satisfaction. These efforts have already been acknowledged by both the principal, Volvo CE and the local customers. At a recent Volvo International Conference held in Portugal, Babcock was awarded the EMEA Best Dealer Volvo Services Award. The measuring tool of the award is an independent survey conducted by a Volvo-appointed company that seeks feedback from Volvo CE customers across the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region on the aftermarket performances of their respective dealers. “Babcock consistently achieved higher scores than its competitors in many aspects of the survey. In essence, according to our customers, we are ticking all the right boxes

The R100E’s deep tapered profile in the load bin with

longitudinal V-shaped floor plates provides good load retention and low centre of gravity for operating on steeper mining slopes and load stability in all mining conditions.

conditions over the past year on selected sites. Vaughan is also encouraged by the timing of the launch of the new rigid hauler range, especially considering the improving mining sector and better business confidence in South Africa. Industry figures show that the rigid hauler market in South Africa was in the 150-unit region back in 2015, and due to tough market conditions, the market lost half of its value in 2016, which was a very tough year for the local capital equipment sector at large. In 2017, the market made a strong comeback to reach the 2015 levels. “Q1 2018 figures show a positive rebound of the market, and if the rest of the year continues in line with the performance of the first quarter, this year’s figures should exceed the 2017 total,” concludes Vaughan. ❂

when it comes to aftermarket service,” says Vaughan. “The award is particularly pleasing as it recognises all the initiatives we have put in place to be able to support our customers throughout southern Africa.” Positive outlook Vaughan is particularly excited about the arrival of the Volvo CE rigid hauler range, which he believes gives Babcock advanced tech to wrestle for a larger share of the southern African rigid hauler market. Bear in mind that southern Africa is regarded as one of the significant RDT markets globally due to its large-scale mining. Testimony to this is that Volvo CE recently chose South Africa as a testing site for the new R100E. The flagship hauler has already completed stringent product testing in local South African

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS JUNE 2018 6