Modern Quarrying Q2 2019

there is still so much to be done for the industry to get to a point where it will truly claim to offer a total solution for the customer. Erasmus is of the view that there is still too much emphasis on the product (truck) and the soft products around it (R&M and warranty). His vision of future service is centred on truck suppliers becoming “the wheel that drives the customer’s uptime” rather than being a product supplier. “To be honest, the end user in today’s world is not necessarily concerned about loyalty to a specific brand. What matters to them today is hassle-free running of the product,” says Erasmus. For Erasmus, the industry will only get to a complete offering stage when, for example, customers will be able to go online and order their truck with a suite of services they require around it, depending on their application needs, and be able to get their truck between five and seven working days. “That online application should also be able to include the financing and insurance that goes with the deal. That’s where the industry needs to be,” he says. For Erasmus, he sees services developing more and more into a software, subscriber-style as technology keeps on developing and making it possible. “If you look at the telematics we have today, there is a lot of information at our disposal from a truck every single day, where we can see the running history from yesterday, last week, last month and a year ago. To move onto the next stage, we will have to maximise how we siphon that information and interpret it better to help customers optimise their running time,” he says. Erasmus is of the view that the current “total solutions” model available suits suppliers than customers. “We have gotten clever with issues such as R&M packages, warranties and CPK reductions, but ultimately we are still offering the same thing, and in my view, it’s not yet a total offering,” he says. Future matters of importance Erasmus believes that some of the most important things in the future will be mobility and flexibility of service. “I am of the view that mobile, flexible service operations are going to be the main cornerstones of future service, purely because of competition and the need for more efficiency out of the product,” he says. He thinks the establishment of mobile container workshops at quarry operations and any other customer site, is a step in the right direction, but it’s not the mobility that customers are looking for. “Customers don’t want the headache of carrying large stocks of parts for an OEM’s product because it impacts on their cash flow. Remember a lot of these operations are multi-branded and for them parts issues should be the duty of the OEM and the supplier. Instead of keeping a large and expensive inventory of parts, they are more concerned about investing in technologies that make their businesses more efficient and cost-effective than their competition,” reasons Erasmus. Adding to the need of flexibility of service, Erasmus says customers should be able to log online and be able to choose a CPK rate that suits their R&Mneeds. For example, let’s say one is paying a CPK rate for 500 hours per month, and they only do 400 hours thismonth, the 100 hours they didn’t use last month should be rolled over to the following month.

SERVICES

A lot of ground has been covered in the truck industry as far as service provision is concerned.

Some of the most important parameters in the future will be mobility and flexibility of service.

Mark Erasmus, GM Services at Scania South Africa.

“If there is any need to exceed this month’s limit, the customer should also be able to borrow from next month. It’s that kind of flexibility that I think we should have in place as we aim for the complete offering model. Customers should be able to go online and see how much it will cost them, where their services will take place and how long their vehicle will be in service for,” he says. How far are we from such a service regime? Erasmus believes that at the pace technology is moving, this may be within reach, but cannot give a specific timeline. “Technology is also getting cheaper and more accessible,” he says. He believes that the passenger car market has made significant headway in terms of technology and it’s normally the case that where automobiles go, trucks eventually follow. l

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MODERN QUARRYING QUARTER 2 - 2019