Capital Equipment News November 2016

CASE sells about 15 mini excavators per year in Africa.

MultiOne believes its compact articulated loader is proving to be a cost effective solution compared with the skid steer in most applications.

Enter compact excavator While the TLB and skid steer continue to hold a sizeable share of the market, several equipment suppliers agree that the next big thing may be the compact excavator. Graeme McDonald, CEO of JCB, says the compact excavator market is growing significantly, accounting for a whopping 100 000 units a year globally. In South Africa, the market is approximately 130-140 units strong, with model ranges varying in size and capacity, according to Kemp. “The most interesting growth prospect at this point is the compact excavator. To date, we sell about 15 mini excavators per year, but I believe in the next five years that number will grow tenfold,” says Invernizzi. “The compact excavator sector is the only market currently showing some type of opportunity for growth although the total volume is not the biggest in the compact machinery sector,” says Griesel. “There are application opportunities in plumbing, electrical and telecommunication, as well as in the specialised agricultural sector.” He adds that the compact excavator market is the main market driver for Wacker Neuson at this stage with promising growth opportunities. “We also have acceptable market specification and pricing at this point across our full range of excavators,” adds Griesel. Justin Nicoll, managing director of Force 8, the local supplier of the Yanmar range of compact excavators, agrees that the compact excavator is fast growing as a tool of choice on South African sites. He is of the view that customers are benefitting from the versatility of small excavators and increased productivity on sites. “The compact excavator is fast becoming a force to reckon with, having seen its abilities underestimated for a very long time,” argues Nicoll.

Challenging the norm Nicoll believes mid-sized units such as the 8 t are even taking trenching work away from TLBs, and argues that it is a matter of time before they upstage the TLB because of the comparative production speeds. Sectors with increased uptake of the compact excavator are pretty much evenly divided between construction and agriculture, according to Nicoll. “Applications are probably, in thirds, split between maintenance, site work and a very consistent call for demolition,” says Nicoll. In terms of market drivers, Nicoll says the compact excavator is built to work in confined circumstances and has become an invaluable solution in those specific applications. “The machines get into buildings, can be craned quite easily and Yanmar’s smallest can even get in a regular lift for internal demolition jobs,” he says. Nicoll believes innovation is also key in this market segment. “Technology and productivity go hand in hand. The Yanmar product is well refined and not costly to operate. Reliability is crucial in order to meet production quotas and targets, and innovative products such as the Yanmar range increase uptime,” says Nicoll. For Force 8, the prime market drivers in this range are the Yanmar models in the 1 to 8 t size category, and the 5 t is said to be the most buoyant nationally. In terms of demand, Nicoll says a few years back, one compact unit sold for every 20 units in the 20 t class and bigger. “In Europe it was the exact converse; 20 small units for every single large excavator sold. We are moving slowly towards the European ratio. So, I think the potential is massive.” Loading into market While the compact excavator is said to be challenging the TLB, the skid steer seems to be getting its fair share of competition from

the articulated loader concept where names such as MultiOne, Avant, Atlas Weyhausen and Wacker Neuson, to mention a few, come to mind. In its third year of operation, MultiOne SA, the authorised dealer of Italian compact loader maker, MultiOne, sees increased growth of the articulated loader in the market, though the company concurs that current market conditions are tough. However, Lofty van Wyk, managing director of MultiOne SA, says the company is on course to meet its sales target of 54 units this year. In its first year of operation, MultiOne SA made 47 unit deliveries across a range of sectors including agriculture, construction and landscaping. The company is targeting 60 units in 2017 on the back of increased footprint into other sectors such as green care, forestry and mining. Van Wyk believes that local fleet owners are fast grasping the benefits of the articulated loader compared with the skid steer. “For starters, the compact loader beats the skid steer on fuel consumption. The articulated loader consumes six times less fuel than a comparative skid steer,” he says. However, Van Wyk sees a big shift from the smaller ranges towards the bigger sized 9-10 t articulated loaders. Nicoll, whose Force 8 is also the authorised dealer of the Atlas Weyhausen range of compact wheel loaders, believes the compact loader and the skid steer markets are distinctly different markets, with a small degree of overlap. He believes that the two products can co-exist in the market, but elaborates on the benefits of the compact loader. “The small loader has a longer wheel base and doesn’t suffer from the fixed chassis issues that often plague skid steers in uneven terrain. An articulated loader is also easier to work on and less expensive to maintain on tyres, for example,” says Nicoll.

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