Heavy machinery major looks at ‘reciprocal’ logistics partners

An aggressive marketing

drive has paid

dividends for Chinese

heavy machinery

specialist Sany Heavy Industry

which is making major inroads

into the southern African market,

with companies in Mozambique

among its prime customer base.

The company’s involvement in

Mozambique dates back to 2007

with the sale of

the first Sany

reach stackers to

terminal operator

Cornelder. “They

were looking for

a cost-effective

solution and

weren’t satisfied

with the support

provided by their

supplier at the

time.

“Over the

years they have

consistently expanded their

fleet and now have 30 units,”

Sany Central Southern Africa

managing director David Xiao

told FTW.

Sany machines are also in

operation at the Port of Nacala.

“They bought the first machine

from China and the remaining six

from us. A major shipping line is

looking to purchase some second

hand Sany machines in Beira and

have requested that we undertake

an inspection and provide a

report. It’s a service we offer at no

charge,” said Xiao.

The company’s South African

involvement in port equipment

began in 2010 and they initially

catered exclusively for Transnet.

“When the Transnet contract

ended we approached the market

very aggressively,” business

development manager of Sany

dealer Gijima Heavy Machine,

Donovan Stevens, told FTW.

“The industry norm was to

provide a machine on lease at a

fixed rate of around R120 000

a month for five years. We said

here’s our machine, take it, and

for every hour

you use it this is

the cost. If you’re

happy with it

and you’re happy

with our service

then we’ll talk

a contract. We

pushed machines

into the market

and now 38 of our

41 machines are

operating in the

private sector.

“We want to

grow the brand,” said Stevens.

“Our machines are ideally suited

to SMMEs as well as larger

organisations and are particularly

suited to rugged African

conditions.”

The logistics of importing the

machines is however not without

its challenges. Sany is currently

in negotiations with key logistics

players with a view to a reciprocal

business arrangement. “We’ll

give them our import business

in exchange for their support

when it comes to the purchase of

machinery,” said Stevens.

“Sany brings in a lot of

machines across the board,”

said Xiao. “These range from

cranes, earthmoving and mining

equipment to dump trucks and

pre-cast housing. We will start

aligning ourselves with people

willing to look at reciprocal

business.”

And it takes a specialist to

understand and optimise the

best solution. While some of the

machines are containerised – like

concrete pumps, trailer pumps,

graders and rollers for example –

most are moved on flat-racks or

ro-ro and breakbulk vessels.

The company was responsible

for the delivery of more than 20

cranes to the Medupi and Kusile

power stations. “The biggest was

750 tons in 2012 – along with a

630-ton unit for Medupi, and 400

ton for Kusile.

“The 750-ton crane required

63 trucks moving in convoy from

Durban to Mpumalanga and took

just under two weeks to reach its

destination,” said Xiao.

With seven years’ experience

in the country, he believes the

infrastructure and service is now

in place.

“We have a back-up team

and parts backup, and our own

new 2.4-hectare facility in close

proximity to the airport.”

For Mozambique customers,

South Africa is used as the

support hub – although the

machines are shipped from China

to Beira with no longer than a

two to three-month lead time for

orders.

“We have adopted the Sany

philosophy when it comes to

service,” said Stevens. “If your

client has an issue you must

respond within 15 minutes. In two

hours we must solve the problem

– and must be on site. In China

if in 24 hours we haven’t sorted

out the problem we agree to pay

a penalty or we rent a machine to

the customer at our own cost.

“We can’t do that in Africa but

we try to solve the problem in 48

hours or 72 maximum.”

INSERT & CAPTION

For Mozambique

customers machines are

shipped from China to

Beira with no longer than

a two-to three-month lead

time for orders.

– David Xiao

CAPTION

Sany’s Mozambique warehouse.