Plant Equipment and Hire August 2017 | Page 16

BUSINESS Articulated dump trucks are Bell Equipment’s flagship product. recycling equipment, enabling Bell to provide the mining, quarrying, and construction industries with material processing plants to complement its range of Bomag and Bell road building vehicles. Most recently, in June this year, Bell concluded an agreement with global excavator specialist, Kobelco Construction Machinery, for the exclusive distribution and support of the Kobelco range of excavators in the southern African region. Moving forward Bell manufactures most of its equipment at its factory site in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal. Measuring the true cost of machine breakdowns is difficult, as it goes beyond the direct costs of labour and parts to also encompass lost production.” 14 AUGUST 2017 The past 63 years have not been all smooth sailing for the Bell brand. The volatility of the global economy and commodity prices has affected Bell’s results. Like other OEMs around the world, Bell has been adversely affected by the current depressed market conditions and world economy. Throughout its journey, the company has continuously had to adapt to remain innovative, and to diversify, whether by manufacturing or procuring new equipment, or by diversifying its footprint geographically. The Bell name is well known throughout the world, from the US and Europe to South America, Asia, and Australia. But the OEM’s biggest impact has been the huge contribution it has made to South Africa, its people, and the economy. The company designs its own products and has its own