Docking systems manufacturer and supplier for South Africa’s materials handling market, DDL Equipment, has been acquired by private-equity investment company Helikaon Investments.

In an agreement announced in July, Helikaon Investments took 100% ownership of DDL Equipment. The company consequently installed a new management team to oversee day-to-day operations and capital allocation, increase local sales and expand into countries abroad.

In addition to locally manufacturing dock-levelling and cold-chain dock sealing systems and driving the development of professional docking in South Africa, DDL Equipment is the sole authorised distributor for two European door brands, Nergeco and Alpha.

While dominant in the Southern African market for many years, DDL Equipment has in recent years suffered from erosion of market share and a perception of declining flexibility.

New company MD August Winter says that the initial focus of his management team will be on stabilising relationships with existing customers.

“DDL Equipment has commissioned a new enterprise resource planning system to provide a better overview of transactions and stock, and enable the company to better communicate stock availability to the customer base,” he notes.

With that in place, the company is reorgan-ising and expanding the service department, increasing staff levels and re-equipping the service department with new tools, new vehicles and a stockholding of critical parts for quicker turnaround times.

“This represents a significant expansion and improvement of the old facility,” Winter adds.

The next step will be to grow market share and expand exports into new markets throughout Africa and beyond. A new sales director has been recruited and appointed to help achieve this.

“We already have steady sales into Mauritius and we have just completed a large project for a mine in Botswana,” he points out.

Winter mentions that, within South Africa, DDL has a proven name and product range of very high quality. He points out that this range will be expanded and supported with the improved service division that will place the company strategically to reclaim its position as a market leader.

“The local economy is undergoing a change of focus from manufacturing to importing, thereby creating a whole new market in warehousing and distribution. It is our intention to dominate this market,” he says.

Winter highlights other trends in South Africa that offer opportunities for industrial docking systems – such as increasing electricity costs that are forcing cold storage users to re-examine the efficiency of their environmental control. Users involved in maintaining the cold chain will then seek the best possible sealing solutions.

“DDL’s advantage is that it manufactures its sealing solutions locally, enabling quicker installation and faster service turnaround times than rival companies that import components from Europe and elsewhere,” he emphasises.

However, Winter acknowledges that the company will focus on cold chain applications, as a large section of the market has a requirement purely for docking solutions that can deliver the fastest possible loading and unloading times.

For that reason, the company will expand the range of dock levellers to provide the customer with more options in terms of the specific designs.

“Moreover, DDL has new offices, a new workshop and a new showroom, all situated in a new location central to one of Gauteng’s fastest-growing warehousing hubs and close to the airport and therefore to customers countrywide,” he concludes.