IN CONVERSATION
T
Dezzi is a well-established South African
company. As I understand it has been
manufacturing equipment for almost
25 years. What makes the company
different? How has it been able to thrive
in adverse economic conditions?
What makes Dezzi different from other
OEMs is that all the equipment is designed
and manufactured at our factory in Port
Shepstone. The Dezzi brand is 100% South
African. We are still a privately owned OEM,
financially strong and strengthened by the
pillars of the Desmond Group of Companies
to compete with big players, yet small
enough to retain personal relationships,
customise units for specific applications,
ultra-flexible, and service-orientated.
Communication channels are open
from top director level to any customer,
which results in quick decision making.
What makes us stand out, and how we
have weathered the economic storms,
is the diversities of industries we serve
Equipment and machines
manufactured by Dezzi
•
Articulated dump trucks (nine
variations ranging from 20t – 30t in
configurations of 4x2,4x4 and 4x6)
•
Wheel loaders (six variations
ranging from 1,2m³ to 3,5m³,
which includes a mega mover cane
loader)
•
Forestry skidder
•
Hauler tractors (nine variations plus
a shunting tractor)
•
Motor grader (niched at 7,5t the
smallest grader in SA)
•
Articulated water tanker
•
Articulated coal truck
•
Articulated crane mounted timber
truck
•
Three-wheel timber loggers
•
Three-wheel cane loaders
•
Three-wheel tri-saw
•
Brick handler
•
Seven trailer options including
timber, coal dumper, silage trailers,
ranging from 9m³ to 30m³ silage/
wood chipper trailers.
www.equipmentandhire.co.za
he Desmond Group of Companies
was established in 1973, with
experience in transport, quarrying,
brickyard, plant hire and rebuilding
of yellow metal. In 1995 the founding
director, Des Gutzeit and his wife, Louise,
decided that if they could rebuild their
own plant hire fleet, they can build their
own machines. In 1995 research and
development started on the first Dezzi
1200-wheel loader, which rolled off the
assembly line in 1996.
The Dezzi three-wheel logger has proved itself in the field with repeat orders placed
on the factory on a monthly basis.
from agricultural, sugar, forestry, building,
construction, quarrying, bulk materials
handling, surface mining and plant hire. We
find that when one industry is going through
a difficult time, we have other industries that
are showing growth.
Are there certain milestones that you
would like to emphasise?
Every machine we deliver to site is a
milestone; maintaining relationships with
existing customers and securing repeat
orders is a milestone for us. Breaking
into new markets and meeting new
customers who become part of the Dezzi
family is part of that. Without any outside
financial investors keeping the company
financially strong is a huge milestone, and
is testament to the quality of our product, it
is our loyal customers that have allowed us
to keep manufacturing and growing for the
last 24 years. Branching out to sub-Saharan
Africa is another milestone, as a local
manufacturer that is a huge feather in our
cap. Up to 90% of our business is repeat
business.
In which sectors of the economy has the
company seen the most growth over the
last two years, and where does it expect
growth to happen in the next five?
To pinpoint a specific sector for the
economy is challenging as our machines
are used in different sectors. For
example, the hauler tractors can be used
in agricultural, forestry, surface mining,
general farming, construction and plant
hire. The machines that we manufacture
that have seen the most growth is our
niche-market motor grader – it is the
smallest grader available and softer on
the end-user’s pocket than buying a larger
The flagship of Dezzi equipment’s machines are its wheel loaders, photographed is
the Dezzi 2 500.
MARCH 2020
21