Plant Equipment and Hire March 2018 | Page 5

CONTENTS REGULARS ON-THE-GROUND Quicksilver growth for Cape plant hire company 24 Over the past year, Western Cape-based QuickSilva Burcon Plant Hire has grown its fleet from 23 units to 57, and this year they are planning to push this number up even further, to at least 75 machines. Leon Editor’s comment 1 Africa news 4 World news 6 New equipment news 8 Regional directory of rental equipment 51 Insight 56 FACE-TO-FACE 36 Fresh perspectives from a new generation Qasim Abrahams is the vice-president of Sales and Service for Metso Africa and Middle East and the country manager for South Africa. He is also one of a new generation of young executives making a name for themselves in the industry. INNOVATION In our own image (Part 2) 30 Since the days of the automaton in ancient Greece, humanity has been working to create machines in our own image. Last month’s article looked at remote-controlled humanoid robots — this month, we take a look at human-piloted machines. PRODUCT FOCUS 40 Digging deep for future success As the increased focus on technological advancement, sustainability, and reduced operating costs permeates the construction and mining landscapes, more companies are looking at ways to merge these three ideals and come up with the next big thing in the excavator market. MARCH 2018 3