Construction World October 2017

ROADS & BRIDGES

IN THE MIX

The current political and economic climate in South

Africa has led to a fair amount of uncertainty, especially for the infrastructure industry. The result is that mega projects are subdued as investors are hesitant to put money into companies and projects. There may not be another World Cup on the horizon, but larger projects have been broken up and divided into smaller segments so that a major project does not belong to a single contractor. This has saved many jobs and has kept the industry from ticking over – in challenging times. On the up In spite of a fairly suppressed market segment, however, Scania South Africa, which re-launched its range of construction vehicles to the local construction industry three years ago, has grown its market share in this segment from 3% in 2016 to 6% in 2017. Theuns Naude, the Segment Manager: Construction/Public and Special is pleased with the results overall, and adds that although the company’s focus has been on tipper trucks up until now, the focus in 2018 will be to grow the industry uptake of Scania concrete mixers and pumps. A major part of this will be to illustrate to end-users how the BUYING A MIXER? Scania provides peace of mind • Scania financial services (finance, insurance) • Application specific driver training • Full repair and maintenance contracts • Connected services • 24/7 assistance

Scania complete solution can add value to their bottom line. Road construction Naude says that a healthy number of the Scanias sold have been into the road construction sub-segment. “In the Western Cape, where Scania has done especially well, there is an almost 50/50 split between vehicles sold for general construction and road construction. In Gauteng the picture is very different – almost 100% of all vehicles sold have been for road construction. “One reason for this,” he says, “is that many construction head offices are situated in Gauteng and the vehicles bought here are used on projects throughout the northern areas of the country. “Some of the most significant road construction is taking place in the Northern Cape, Free State and Mpumalanga,” explains Naude. Hillary Construction, one of Scania’s top customers, is based in Polokwane, but says Naude, most of their fleet is currently working on the N2 project in the Free State. The mixer application Although currently a smaller part of Scania’s construction vehicle market share, the Scania mixer application provides the customer with everything that he would expect from a Scania: maximal uptime, optimal fuel consumption (especially given that mixers idle extensively), more horsepower for better than average payloads, an extensive dealer network and after-hours service. “Customers prefer to book mixers in for services after-hours, which enables them to be functional in the morning – a crucial aspect in this segment,” explains Naude. Clients can choose between a 6 or 8 m 3

drum which is fitted to a (respectively) 6 x 4 or 8 x 4 chassis. Naude says chassis that are already bodied are usually available and buying these take about a week from order to delivery, while unbodied vehicles take between six and eight weeks for delivery. Uptime “Uptime is critical for vehicles. Downtime implies a loss of income and potential additional costs should the concrete not be delivered as the agreement stipulates,” says Naude. “Additional downtime due to vehicle malfunction can be costly: the concrete may harden in the drum which is expensive to clean out and in worse cases the drum may have to be scrapped.” A drum mixer is an urban solution. It can only transport a load between 25 and 50 km from the batching plant to site. “During a shift of 10,5 hours, four of five deliveries can be made.” Naude adds that mixer trucks are serviced on an hourly basis. “We service these trucks every 400 to 450 hours – or roughly every two months.” This ensures maximal uptime for customers. Mixers for rural areas “However, Scania also has customers who need to work in remote areas. ”In the past we have supplied the chassis for these customers and have partnered with a company such as Reimer on the RA950, who attached a concrete mixer. This concrete mixer carries up to 9,5 m 3 of dry readymix. This truck can travel to a site, wherever that may be, and can wait if the site is not ready to receive the concrete. From one load the customer can get different strengths as the product is dry. “What’s more is that the customer also only pays for what is poured,” concludes Naude. 

The focus in 2018 will be to grow Scania concrete mixers and pumps by illustrating how the Scania complete solution can add value to customers’ bottom line.

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD OCTOBER 2017