Hitachi Construction Machinery Zambia

H I TA C H I C O N S T R U C T I O N M A C H I N E RY Z A M B I A

Ensuring the supply of reliable machinery to projects nationwide

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Keeping Zambia Building By supporting clients with expert remanufacturing services, Hitachi Construction Machinery Zambia is ensuring reliable machinery makes its way to vital infrastructure projects across the country Writer: Tom Wadlow | Project Manager: Donovan Smith

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The country’s construction industry ambia, somewhat against the regional grain, is home to a is a vital contributor to GDP, which grew sturdy construction sector at by around four percent last year and is present. forecast to expand by 4.2 percent in 2019 The well-documented headwinds and 4.3 percent in 2020. faced by fellow Southern African neighAlso crucial to the sector’s current and bours, especially South Africa, appear to long-term stability is a resolute mining be shielded against for a sector, something which number of reasons.

Scott Johnston, GM of Public infrastructure Operations for Hitachi projects and investment Construction Machinery in commercial buildings Zambia (HCMZ), and residential recognises as a positive housing have ensured backdrop that the a continuing pipeline company is operating in. of demand, shown by “We are still seeing the fact that Zambian investment in the local cement production construction and mining increased by 10 percent industry,” he says, “and in 2018 according to with the rise of demand figures from the Africa Scott Johnston, General Manager on electric vehicles we of Operations at HCMZ Development Bank. only foresee the demand

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Hitachi’s remanufacturing centre in Zambia

for copper to increase. We therefore look forward to rejuvenated activity in 2020 and also see the trend that customers who sweated their assets from the last global recession are now starting to look for replacement equipment.”

Indeed, much of HCMZ’s activity is focused on remanufacturing key Hitachi machinery components throughout their lifecycles, its specialisms including hydraulic pumps, motors and cylinders, electric motors for excavators and alternators, wheel motors for diesel electric trucks, and transmissions for trucks and excavators.

Its customers are involved in various projects in Zambia, including dam construction, housing projects, specialist projects that include the improvement of water reticulation, and agricultural developments, among other activities.

“Our philosophy is to provide

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reliable solutions,” adds Johnston.

“One way this is achieved is by working closely with the customer, listening to their needs and then acting on them. This then provides the solution the customer needs as opposed to trying to tell them what they need. At the end of the day, reliable machinery is key to our clients. They need peace of mind that the machine is going to keep their construction tasks on time and on budget.

“In addition to this, Hitachi has invested heavily into Zambia and its customers through its remanufacturing centre.”

Based in Lusaka, the remanufacturing centre has recently undergone an expansion which has increased both technical and physical capacity to carry out work. Further, it has also elevated the facility to a status whereby it now serves Europe and Middle Eastern markets, as well as Africa-based clients.

Cummins is committed to keeping its customers Always On for the next 100 years

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ummins Inc. is celebrating its 100th year as a company throughout 2019. Today, Cummins, which is listed as a Fortune 150 company, employs around 60,000 people worldwide and serves customers in nearly every country across the globe. Cummins products range from diesel and natural gas engines to hybrid and electric platforms, as well as engine systems components, controls and related technologies and it continues to develop new advanced products and services.

The company’s humble roots date back to 1919 when Clessie Cummins and his business partner, William G. Irwin, built a company that was one of the first to take advantage of the groundbreaking technology developed by German engineer Rudolf Diesel in the late 1800s.

Cummins has been active on the African continent since the 1940s when a dealer in Morocco began servicing Cummins-powered trucks left behind by the US Army after WWII. In 2016, Cummins South Africa celebrated its 70-year existence as a distributor of Cummins.

Established in 1946 as an independent distributor, the company was acquired in 2000 to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cummins. Cummins later acquired several branches in neighboring countries such as Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Botswana to further boost its distribution footprint, which is the backbone of its business in Southern Africa.

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Cummins has invested significantly in Southern Africa with the recent launch of its 15,355 square metre Cummins Southern Africa Regional Headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa. The R350 million facility includes a Master Rebuild Centre (MRC), Africa Learning Centre, as well as a world class sales and service facility. In 2015, the company opened its new 20,000 square metre, state-of-the-art Southern Africa Regional Distribution Centre (RDC), air filtration and coolant manufacturing plant, also in Johannesburg, South Africa. The establishment of the Southern Africa RDC has resulted in increased overall parts and filtration availability with greater depth and breadth of product stocking in order to better serve customers in Southern Africa.

The key industries for Cummins in the region are the mining, power generation and automotive industries, as well as the supply of components and technical support to customers.

While most independent engine manufacturers no longer exist, Cummins’ leadership credits its longevity to its 100 years of commitment to its mission, vision and values, staying focused on long-term goals and standing up for what is right. This commitment has been beneficial to all Cummins stakeholders and will continue to guide decisions for the next 100 years.

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Another development made since Africa Outlook last spoke with HCMZ centres around new Hitachi machinery being launched.

Johnston reveals: “We have released our latest generation dump truck into the Zambia market in the form of the AC-3. This model is a totally new generation of truck which unlocks production and provides increases in safety for its operators.

“In addition to this and our expansion of the remanufacturing centre in Lusaka, we have welcomed the new -5A series wheel loader, a series of models which match well with our construction sized excavators.

CARING FOR THE COMMUNITY As well as supporting construction and mining clients with their Hitachi equipment, HCMZ looks out for those within its surrounding communities through a series of corporate social responsibility projects.

Since 2017 the firm has been running projects independently through its branch locations, offering support to local infrastructure projects and other community-driven programmes. It has previously worked in tandem with Development Aid from People to People, a body which aims to improve the livelihood, health and education of families.

Johnston adds: “We hold a strong belief in giving back to the communities we do business in.

“Our CSR programme switched from a top down to bottom up approach.

Rather than senior management selecting projects to participate in, we now encourage our employees to nominate a cause in their local area. This results in our CSR activities being more likely to have an effect on an area or subject close to home.”

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Last but not least, we have recently launched the -7 mining excavator which has up to 10 percent fuel saving compared to the previous model, while maintaining the same production levels.”

Transforming with technology

New equipment is also backed up with technology to optimise the maintenance and repair process, the concept of predictive maintenance an important one in that it ensures minimal downtime of machinery.

Hitachi Construction Machinery Zambia thus utilises a system called ConSite. A digital remote condition monitoring solution, it sends realtime alerts to email and mobile apps, effectively allowing HCMZ to keep watch over a machine’s health on behalf of the customer.

Given much of the company’s equipment is used on sites located in remote areas, the ability to detect a fault early is paramount to keeping downtime at a minimum, with owners alerted at the soonest opportunity.

This is just one example of technology futureproofing the operations of HCMZ and its clients, however.

Johnston cites several other examples, adding: “As you know, we are just at the start of the IoT

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revolution. Hitachi Construction Machinery is fortunate to have the parent company of Hitachi Limited, which is one of the global leaders in innovation.

“This allows us to provide the customer with innovative safety and production technology. Some examples are our aerial angle object detection systems, trolley line guidance systems and ConSite for mining operations.

“Our autonomous haulage solutions are also making great leaps and we recently made an announcement on how Hitachi intends to change the stereotype of autonomous haulage by making our system an open operating ecosystem.”

Johnston is referring to a platform called Solution Linkage, Hitachi Construction Machinery’s IoT solution that works in partnership with customers to improve safety, increase productivity and reduce lifecycle costs.

ConSite falls under this umbrella,

as does the FMS mine management system, geared towards creating a network of partners that integrate their systems alongside existing mine infrastructure and encouraging new tech entrants into the mining sphere.

By supporting a multi-vendor approach to autonomous construction and mining vehicle operations, Hitachi is enabling clients to reduce costs and take advantage of the freedom to choose vendors independent of their fleet management systems.

Such advances will help Johnston and HCMZ in their bid to achieve the remaining objectives for 2019 and the

longer term, the GM of Operations stating a desire to increase the company’s construction customer base, while at the same time ensuring it can supply feasible solutions to international customers long into the future.

On a personal level, having moved from Australia in 2011, he very much looks forward to the next chapter.

Johnston concludes: “I have enjoyed my time in Zambia over the years and have witnessed many changes in the industry during my time here. I am sure I will continue to enjoy the challenges and rewards that operating in Zambia and Africa have to offer.”

Hitachi Construction Machinery Zambia

Tel: +260 211 285 361 zambiasales@hcmaf.com www.hitachicm.co.za

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Hitachi Construction Machinery Zambia Tel: +260 211 285 361 zambiasales@hcmaf.com www.hitachicm.co.za

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