Babcock customers from as far afield as Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique attended the launch event
to see the machines first hand.
purchased from Babcock with Customer
Support Agreements offering preventive
maintenance, total repairs, and a number of
uptime services, as well as machine monitoring
via the CareTrack system, ultimately resulting
in increased profitability to customers and
retention of asset value.
In preparation for the roll-out, Babcock
has been appointed as an accredited Allison
transmission service dealer to be able to
undertake repairs and servicing of the fully
automatic Allison transmissions that form part
of the backbone of the A60H dump truck.
Volvo teams from Sweden and Korea have
also completed intensive sales and technical
training with Babcock staff in South Africa,
and Babcock has partnered with local vendors
to develop aftermarket solutions for both
machines, such as fire suppression, automatic
greasing, and collision avoidance systems.
The company has also ensured that there
is sufficient availability of Volvo spare parts
and other related elements, such as the
larger specialised tyres for the A60H. “Tyre
availability is very important. One of the first
concerns our customers had when ordering the
A60H was tyre availability, because it doesn’t
take the same tyres as the 40-tonners or the
45-tonners in the market,” says Vaughan.
“Three of the major tyre manufacturers
are now making tyres that fit the A60H:
Bridgestone, Goodyear, and Michelin.”
The parts commonality between the two
machines and others in the Volvo product
offering also ensures that Babcock will have
sufficient stock and that technicians who
regularly service other Volvo machines will be
familiar with many of the elements.
O’Callaghan emphasises that what sets
Babcock apart, in addition to the quality of the
equipment it sells, is the aftermarket service the
company offers. “At Babcock we pride ourselves
on our ability to deliver, and that goes beyond
the initial machine delivery. Volvo provides
a recommended parts list for every machine
that it sells, but this is for general worldwide
conditions, not necessarily local conditions.
To ensure we can offer our customers the best
service, once we receive the list from Volvo, our
technicians go over it and add what they believe
we will need given our customers’ operating
conditions and to maintain our service levels.
This initial investment pays for itself over and
over again.” n
JULY 2017
21