Local earthmoving equipment supplier Kemach JCB will showcase its LiveLink online monitoring and tracking system, another feature on JCB machines driven by the ‘innovation’ theme that JCB continuously strives for, at this year’s BAUMA CONEXPO AFRICA international trade fair, which runs at the Johannesburg Expo Centre from September 15 to 18.

Kemach JCB national sales manager Mark Senyard tells Engineering News that, while the system was launched in Europe in 2011, in terms of South African licensing processes, it became available locally only last year.

Company clients can access LiveLink to monitor the location of the machinery using the system’s global positioning system (GPS), as well as its movements, fuel level and consumption, depending on the equipment type. Additionally, it can monitor machine hours, send out service and maintenance alerts, as well as critical machine alerts. The system also has a curfew feature, which warns clients if a machine switches on outside of its designated operating hours.

Senyard also highlights the geofencing feature, which offers added security. He explains that using the system’s GPS mapping function allows for an imaginary border to be created around the machine’s work site, or operating zone. As soon as it moves outside of the zone, an alert is sent to the customer. Moreover, GPS tracking can be and has been used to locate and retrieve stolen machinery.

Kemach JCB also exhibited at the bauma Africa 2013 event (so called prior to its renaming). He believes that the trade fair is a good platform for exhibitors to interact with customers, acquire key contacts and cultivate good business relationships, further emphasising the importance of such visibility for company growth.

Meanwhile, Senyard reveals that Kemach JCB is planning to introduce a range of JCB generators onto the South African market. JCB Power Products, a division of JCB, was established in 2004 and its generator range was launched in the UK in April 2009. He adds that generators are specialised products, differing significantly from the earthmoving equipment that Kemach JCB usually sells. Therefore, the company is ensuring that the necessary support structures are in place before it launches the generator range locally. This is critical to ensure that the customer’s expectations are continuously met.

As the main distributor of JCB equipment in South Africa, Kemach JCB’s core business includes the plant hire and construction industries. It also supplies earthmoving equipment to some of the smaller mining companies and is currently involved in tender processes for government contracts. As a result, Senyard believes that Kemach JCB will weather the storm fairly well, despite the crisis in the mining industry being cause for concern.