of healthy and successful collaborations.
We are confident that our unwavering
support of our new dealers will motivate
long-term partnerships,” says Vietze.
During the two-day Dealer Summit,
a business review of 2018, company
targets for 2019, as well as a detailed
strategy explanation of Wacker Neuson
were unpacked. Currently in South
Africa, Wacker Neuson is the market
leader within the product groups of
rammers, pedestrian rollers, and ride-on
rollers within the 2.5t class. “Our aim
is to become the market leader for
excavators up to 5t,” says Vietze.
Improving on communication and
transparency within the dealerships
was one of a number of the primary
objectives of the summit. “A Wacker
Neuson dealer is not meant to only
sell our premium equipment; we
want to treat them as part of the
family; therefore, trust within all
business activities is one of our most
fundamental drives,” affirms Vietze.
“For example, we are very proud of
our after-sales service — we’re firm
believers in product and service support.
We have an in-house training academy
to continuously train our own staff, as
well as our partners and customers, to
ensure high levels of service.”
Expanding on Wacker Neuson’s focus
on after-sales service, Vietze says that
the company is looking to introduce
telematics to Africa in Q3 2019. “We
want to proactively inform our customer-
base when a service or maintenance
is due — with each and every machine
from the Wacker Neuson portfolio,
customers receive a warranty certificate,
which ensures that the customer
receives a call when a service is due,”
he explains.
The second strategy for South
Africa is to focus on embracing
technology to improve efficiencies.
“We want to professionalise our
warehouse — become more future-
driven, with a warehouse management
system,” says Vietze.
“We want to improve our service
section by bringing our dealers on a
par with the Wacker Neuson service
standards, with a focus on reducing
potential frustration and downtime
through embracing technology.
The field-service technician can, for
example, through the use of Wi-Fi,
call the mechanic, who will be able to
see through his eyes and avoid any
misinterpretation of a minor issue to
avoid unnecessary downtime,” he says.
Vietze believes that e-commerce is the
future of after-sales service, “At the
34
MARCH 2019
EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
Wacker Neuson is the market leader within the product groups of rammers,
pedestrian rollers, and ride-on rollers within the 2.5t class.
click of a button, customers can order
and pay for parts online — it’s a quick
and extremely efficient way of doing
business, and definitely part of future
plans,” enthuses Vietze.
The summit also provided the
dealers with the opportunity to engage
with international colleagues and
representatives from Wacker Neuson
production sites in Germany, Austria,
and the United States, who, as product
specialists, were able to impart
invaluable knowledge. Vietze feels that
valuable insights can be extracted from
international experiences and imparted
to African partners to promote future
growth. “For example, while Europe is
one of our biggest markets, Asia-Pacific
is a tough market — you need to have
locals to help develop the business;
you need the help of the locals who
know the culture and the language.
We’ve recently opened a new
production centre in Pinghu, China,
to develop a footprint in the Asian
market. And we can all learn from this.
The unique African market relies quite
strongly on the local dealer network
to develop and expand on the Wacker
Neuson offer — and as such, one of
the major reasons for this summit
was to get all our dealers on the same
page,” says Vietze.
The Dealer Summit 2019 has brought
everyone closer together and has
staged a unique platform where know-
how was gained, and experiences were
shared for the ultimate goal of unitedly
growing the Wacker Neuson brand
across sub-Saharan Africa.
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