Burgers Equipment & Spares’ recent move to a larger, own facility in Pomona, Gauteng, is part of its overall strategy to elevate customer service through off-the-shelf spare parts availability.
Several hefty investments into support infrastructure by local equipment suppliers is proof that backup service is increasingly becoming a key consideration for the local equipment user, more than anything else.
In the heavy equipment space, having a quality product is one thing, and being able to offer crucial backup support once it is operational in the field, is quite another. Backup support is a very crucial aspect of equipment lifecycle. A well-maintained piece of equipment means less downtime, higher productivity, lower running costs and a boost to the bottom line for the equipment owner. For heavy plant, this is even more the case.
We recently witnessed three major investments by Babcock, the southern African dealer for Volvo Construction Equipment, Burgers Equipment & Spares, the southern African dealer for LiuGong, and Wirtgen South Africa, the local subsidiary of Wirtgen, to further improve their local support infrastructure, highlighting that equipment suppliers no longer leaving anything to chance when it comes to backing up their offerings in the local market.
When cash is this tight, equipment buyers ought to make careful considerations before spending their hard-earned capital into their equipment needs. The quality of a product is one thing, but the availability of crucial backup service is right up their checklists. It is encouraging that forward-thinking suppliers are investing into their future success through these big capital projects, ticking the right boxes on their customers’ needs.
Based on the continued understanding of these fundamental principles, Babcock, for me, remains one of the most customer-focused companies that continue to invest in improving service provision in the yellow metal equipment space. Its R100-million investment in an ultramodern, sales, parts and service dealership in Middelburg, Mpumalanga is aimed at offering improved regional support and service across Babcock’s construction and mining equipment customers operating in the coalfields of Mpumalanga.
The Wirtgen Group, for me, is also living up to its “closer to the customer” slogan. Its R50-million investment into a new facility for its Wirtgen SA subsidiary in South Africa gives the company the much needed infrastructure to support its southern African ventures. It now has a facility that suits the needs of this market and gives it the opportunity to address those demands in a competitive way.
Burgers Equipment & Spares’ recent move to a larger, own facility in Pomona, Gauteng, is part of its overall strategy to elevate customer service through off-the-shelf spare parts availability. LiuGong’s South African and Namibian dealer has further made its intentions known with recent new branches in Cape Town, Rustenburg and Polokwane, while a deal has also been signed for a branch to be opened in Northern Cape.
Bear in mind that the LiuGong name needed some serious damage control in the local market due to previous support issues when Burgers took over the agency some five years ago. Today, Burgers has done an incredible job through an expanded support network in its areas of jurisdiction.
For me, this is testimony that every brand is as good as its service, and it is encouraging that investments into backup service continue to be the order of the day, against all economic odds.
Thina Bhebhe
Publishing Director
