Quarry Southern Africa July 2017 | Page 28

TECHNOLOGY regional footprint and a proven track record, Babcock offers full aftermarket support services and facilities. Both the A60H and the EC950E can be purchased from Babcock with Customer Support Agreements offering preventive maintenance, total repairs, and several 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 The 90-tonne EC950E is the largest excavator that Volvo has ever produced. 26 _ QUARRY SA | JULY 2017 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 “At Babcock we pride ourselves on our ability to deliver and that goes beyond the initial machine delivery.”