Company Announcement - Atlas Copco Construction Technique’s 21-strong official dealer network gives the global industrial group a wide geographical footprint throughout South Africa and neighbouring countries. The dealer network is a fundamental extension of Atlas Copco Construction Technique’s main Customer Centre in Jet Park, Johannesburg, as well as the company’s Western Cape and KwaZuluNatal branches based in Cape Town and Westmead respectively.

“We consider our dealers as valuable partners because they provide us with an essential route to market, bringing Construction Technique products and services to the customers’ doorstep,” states Atlas Copco Construction Technique’s Dealer Manager, Brett Mitchell. Mitchell explains that some dealers are specialised, focusing on certain Construction Technique product ranges such as Road Construction Equipment or generators and compressors for example. While not all dealers have access to the full Construction Technique product portfolio, all dealers carry spares and accessories and have full access to spares and technical service. Dealers are fully equipped with the necessary tools and skills to service and support Construction Technique products that come into their workshops or spares departments.           

The Atlas Copco Construction Technique dealer programme kicked off on June 1st 2007 with the appointment of Demolition Technologies in Cape Town to support the Western Cape region. The latest dealer to join the Atlas Copco Construction Technique family on 1 September 2014 is Outdistance in Gaborone which has a regional footprint covering the southern region of Botswana. “With Outdistance on board,” says Mitchell, “we now have seven dealers based outside our borders, further extending our reach and coverage into Southern African markets.” Alluding to future plans to appoint more dealers, Mitchell says, “We are constantly on the look out to improve our channels to market in areas where we feel we can improve in terms of our market share and service delivery and our dealers provide us with these channels.”

When it comes to dealer responsibility, Mitchell says that Atlas Copco Construction Technique depends on its dealers, who are a support base to customers, to offer the best product, support and service solutions to end customers. Dealer responsibilities include the sales and marketing of the Construction Technique product range as well as full product support through fully equipped, full-service workshops.

Mitchell stresses that as a partner, Atlas Copco Construction Technique also has responsibilities towards its dealers. “It is a two-way street. We aim to constantly add to our dealers’ value stream by increasing their business and market share. We keep our dealers up to speed in terms of latest products, technologies and developments. In addition to a sales and marketing training programme on products and equipment, we also have a full training program on technical support. Furthermore, we make available to all our dealers electronic tools and programs such as shop-on-line, parts-on-line, a dealer portal, etc. Our dealers also enjoy support from our branches and Customer Centre.”

In closing, Mitchell says, “Our extensive dealer network facilitates access for our end customers to new equipment, service and spares. Our dealers contribute to keeping lead times on deliveries and services to customers in outlying areas as short as possible. In close partnership with our dealers, we assist customers in moving their business forward by helping to keep their productivity at optimum levels.”