Capital Equipment News October 2020

Extended warranty for Bobcat skidsteers

SDLG resorts to virtual factory and product tour amid COVID-19 restrictions With many countries’ borders still closed amid COVID-19 and the need for safe social distancing, SDLG offered a tour of its smart manufacturing process and construction equipment over three live- streamed virtual events. “Since it’s hard for our customers and dealers to visit us in China, we wanted to bring SDLG to them, so we offered virtual tours of our smart manufacturing process and shared how we build SDLG’s equip- ment to offer reliability in action,” says Wang Xiaohui, GM of SDLG Import and Export Company. The virtual event was live-streamed via SDLG’s online shop at SDLG.en.Alibaba.com and was offered in five languages: French, Spanish, English, Russian and Arabic. SDLG business manager Zhang Shuai took participants on a virtual tour of the company’s assembly line for wheel load- ers and excavators. Plus, Zhang offered an in-depth look at the company’s research and development facilities, test yard and parts warehouse. “Just because our construction equip- ment is simple to operate and maintain it doesn’t mean our manufacturing process is simple, in fact we adopt smart manufacturing processes and use 5G technology in our factory,” Wang says. “For example, in our road machin- ery workshop, we use welding robots to ensure precision and accuracy, also we use AGV transport system to delivery materials instead of the forklift inside the plant.” Products highlighted during the virtual event included the LG936, L958F and L975F wheel loaders; the G9190F motor grader; the E635F and E680F excavators; and the B877F backhoe loader. Over 3 000 people watched the live stream event and it garnered

All Bobcat skidsteers (with the exception of the S18) now include an extended three-year, 4 000 hour warranty at no additional cost to the customer, reveals Arina van der Westhuizen national aftermarket manager at Bobcat Equipment South Africa. Van der Westhuizen says warranties ensure protection against repairs due to any failures in materials or workmanship. In ad- dition, an extended warranty greatly reduces a customer’s exposure to financial risk. It also gives customers a higher resale value in that if they decide to sell their equipment, any remaining warranty cover- age can be transferred to the next owner. The extended warranty also informs a prospective buyer that the machine has received superior care and maintenance. “We want to assure our customers of our continued commitment, give them peace of mind around the perceived value of their equipment and combine quality and price to increase the value we offer.

We strongly believe that providing this to our customers gives us a competitive edge in the market. We are thus continu- ing with this campaign for as long as the option is there from the OEM, and for as long as we believe that our customers will benefit from it,” says van der Westhuizen. Bobcat Equipment South Africa has ful- ly-equipped service centres and qualified technicians to take care of its customers’ maintenance and repair requirements. Proactive maintenance plays a critical role in extending equipment life, and strong aftermarket service is therefore absolute- ly essential. “It is no longer sufficient to simply sell equipment and not offer a comprehensive and cost-effective post-sales service offering. Customers pay good money for their machines, and deserve to have peace of mind in knowing that the com- pany that supplied them the equipment will be with them throughout its operating life,” concludes van der Westhuizen. b

Bobcat Equipment South Africa now offers extended warranties on its skidsteers.

The ECR58 F generation marks the start of a new philosophy for Volvo’s compact excavator range.

some 22 100 likes on the website. The event also included a Q&A session where participants had the opportunity to speak with SDLG experts. “We were honoured to see so many of our existing and future customers during the virtual event and look forward to meeting them in person in the near future,” Wang says. b

The LG936 L was one of the products highlighted during the virtual event.

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS OCTOBER 2020 39