Capital Equipment News May 2021

COVER STORY

The expansion of the construction line-up gives African customers a total solution from one stable.

customers. Products include skidders, feller bunchers, tracked harvesters and forwarders. Dealer appointments A crucial step in John Deere’s venture to expand its construction line-up is the recent appointment of capable dealers to support the brand. Initial focus has been placed on the southern African region, where some of the products in the construction range were previously offered and branded in a partner’s name for a long time. Three construction and forestry dealers – AFGRI Equipment, Mascor and Senwes Equipment – have been appointed. While these dealers are traditionally focused on the agricultural market, Makgate explains that they have made significant enhancements to their models to be able to serve construction and forestry customers. “We adopted the same approach in West Africa where, in the past two years, our dealers in the region, Tata and DEM, have made great progress in customer experience, serving both contruction and agricultural markets. Key to their success is having dedicated business units looking after the respective segments,” says Makgate. “We have used our existing agricultural dealer network in southern Africa, with dedicated construction and forestry

Standard with machine presets or Automation Suite, Blade Stow adds a configurable setting to automatically stow the blade with the touch of a button. With Auto-Gain, the machine automatically adjusts the Cross Slope gain setting on the fly based on the operating conditions, eliminating the need for operators to make manual adjustments. Auto-Gain improves productivity for operators by ensuring accurate blade movement in ever- changing conditions. Additionally, leveraging the same technology, radio frequencies and approvals as on the agricultural equipment, John Deere is ready to launch applicable precision technology on select construction products. Meanwhile, a range of products and services will also be offered to forestry “Building on our global strategy and existing presence in Africa, we felt it was the right time to offer our construction product portfolio under the John Deere umbrella for the first time in these key growth markets in Africa.” Griffiths Makgate, sales manager, John Deere Construction & Forestry at John Deere Africa Middle East

TALKING POINT

previously offered Hitachi excavators branded as John Deere, Makgate reiterates that the available range is a Deere-designed and manufactured product. He believes, however, that the Deere motor grader range will be the most exciting product offering for the market, given the ground-breaking technologies recently added to the product line. For example, John Deere last year expanded the capabilities of its Grade Pro (GP)-Series of motor graders with new technology, including Blade Stow and Auto-Gain for Cross Slope. The new features, which also include Machine Damage Avoidance, deliver higher productivity, increased uptime and lower daily operating costs during operation. Blade Stow and Auto-Gain provide greater simplification for the operator.

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CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS MAY 2021