Construction World April 2018

approach will cater for some industry standard specifications such as tippers and mixers. “Time is money in construction and we believe this approach will significantly help our customers with quick delivery times once the order is placed,” says Lehtiö. “As a customer-driven solutions provid- er, we want to be able to meet the short delivery lead times because most of the construction work is project-based and customers ought to place their vehicle orders when they are awarded the contracts. They ought to place those orders with an expectation to take deliv- ery of the vehicles immediately to start their jobs.” He adds that it is very important to have a strong network of bodybuilding partners who are ready to invest in completely-built vehicles. This allows the supplier to meet the often short and strict lead times for construction customers. “The OEM, together with its network of bodybuilding partners, must have the flexibility and ability to invest in a standing inventory of readily-made vehicles,” says Lehtiö. ABOVE AND LEFT: Scania showcased a line-up of six construction vehicles. Led by the flagship Scania G460CB8x4EHZ twin-cylinder mining tipper, the line-up also included the Scania P410CB8x4MHZ brick carrier with a crane; the Scania P410CB8x4MHZ 15 m³ construction tipper; the Scania P360CB6x4EHZ 12 m³ semi-rock tipper; the Scania P360CB6x4EHZ 16 000-litre water tanker; and the Scania P310CB6x4MSZ 6 m³ drum mixer.

regions, such as the Western Cape, but a greater focus on water infrastructure projects, such as dams, purifying plants and water reservoirs, has opened up a different leg of construction activity,” says Naude. Lehtiö is also encouraged by the new political dispensation in Zimbabwe. The new government has identified infrastructure development as a key focus area, and renewed efforts to kick-start the dualisation of the Beit Bridge-Harare highway is testimony to the concentration on rolling out the planned construction projects. “Due to the challenging economic conditions in the past few years, construction contractors have stalled their fleet replacement programmes, choosing to sweat their existing assets. With a bit of positivity and better business confidence, construction companies may be encouraged to finally renew their fleets this year, especially bearing in mind that many have postponed this for a long time,” concludes Lehtiö.  ABOVE : Raimo Lehtiö, MD of Scania South Africa believes that with a more positive outlook in the country and better business confidence, construction companies may be encouraged to finally renew their fleets this year BELOW: Scania’s impressive stand at the recently ended bauma CONEXPO AFRICA. The expo provided construction contractors with a platform to closely interact with manufacturers to help guide those critical equipment buying decisions

Lehtiö argues that only OEMs with that sort of capa- bility ought to be preferred suppliers in the construction industry. “Construction is a no-go area, especially when a company doesn’t have that sort of financial strength and resilience to build up the much-needed service structure for such an uptime-driven sector,” says Letio. Positive signs With several key indicators – such as the new political developments in a number of southern African countries (South Africa, Zimbabwe and Angola), improved mining activity and renewed business confidence – pointing towards a favourable economic outlook, Naude is optimistic that governments will soon start to roll out some significant infrastructure projects this year. This is considering that these countries understand that infra- structure development is a key economic enabler. “The outlook for construction looks positive in South Africa and southern Africa at large. Drought conditions have put a damper on construction projects in some

13

CONSTRUCTION WORLD APRIL 2018