Capital Equipment News September 2016

Shane Naude (left) and Kobus van der Merwe believe their focus on aftermarket support will be a key growth driver for EarthComp.

IS THE BEST TEACHER

Leveraging many years of experience in the equipment industry, business partners Kobus van der Merwe and Shane Naude believe that EarthComp’s immediate success hinges on provision of supreme backup support. This is complemented by a diversified product offering ranging from new and used earthmoving equipment to compressors and used trucks, allowing the company to tread in diverse market segments. By Munesu Shoko.

Due to the 24/7 nature of the coal mining business, fast service turnaround times are very crucial, while downtime is obviously out of question for this industry. To try and service this area, say from Johannesburg, is unrealistic. From a backup service point of view, you are already running an hour late by the time you get to Middleburg from Johannesburg. We also saw a big service gap in the mas- sive Middleburg market. With most of the big equipment suppliers targeting big min- ing fleet operators in the area, smaller fleet owners in other key market segments such as construction and agriculture tend to be side-lined. We believe there is vast untapped potential within this market tier. There are constant road construction projects on the go, and we believe we are positioned to service the needs of these construction con- tractors with our range of JCB excavators, backhoe and wheel loaders, as well as the mobile compressor range from CompAir. We also see unexploited opportunity in the local farming community. Due to the flexible struc- ture of our business, we are well positioned to service even small-scale farmers operat- ing a single TLB.

truck range. Apart from that, we also buy and sell used equipment. Our key focus is to offer unparalleled aftermarket support service for every piece of equipment we supply. For that reason, we are only targeting a market within a radius of 100 km from our Middleburg workshop. This allows us to give proper, quick service to our customers.

Munesu Shoko (MS): EarthComp is a diversified supplier of several equipment brands. Tell me more about your business. Kobus van der Merwe (KvdM): Based in Middleburg, Mpumalanga, we officially launched EarthComp some four months ago. We are the authorised sub-dealer of Kemach JCB in Middleburg, responsible for distribution and aftermarket support of the full JCB range supplied by Kemach JCB. We are also the authorised distributor for CompAir’s full mobile and static range of compressors. We have also taken up a distributorship role for Apex Truck & Trailer in Mpumalanga, supplying its used

MS: Why did you opt to set up in Middleburg?

Shane Naude (SN): We realised we had to be strategically located to service and support customers in the coal mining fields of Middelburg and the surrounds.

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