EPIROC South Africa recently extended its longstanding agreement with Demolition and Drilling Equipment (DDE) in a bid to continue building on the partnership’s success in growing the Hydraulic Attachments market in South Africa and to further strengthen the service offering to customers.
The extended agreement, which will be revisited in 2026, covers Epiroc’s complete Hydraulics Attachment (HAT) range: Rig-mounted hydraulic hammers, breakers, grabs, drum cutters, deconstruction equipment, spare parts, kits, consumables as well as ground engaging parts for all of the above.
DDE Director, Robin Jackson, said that the extended agreement will serve to reinforce and grow the relationship between the two companies. “Moreover, this latest agreement brings DDE closer on-board, helping to further bolster customer focus, support, and response times for Epiroc’s Hydraulic Attachment range.”
He said the extension also provides certainty and confidence in the additional investment DDE needs grow the Epiroc product within the company.
DDE have been renting out half its premises located in Jet Park, Boksburg, just behind Epiroc. As from 2022, DDE will now be taking over the entire premises in order to accommodate the increased Epiroc business, including new products, sales and especially service activity.
“In addition to doubling the existing Epiroc physical floor space, we are also adding additional sales and service resources which will help to increase focus on the Hydraulic Attachment product range,” Jackson said, adding that extra personnel will help to significantly add to the service and field support available to all customers, to meet their objective of growing the Hydraulic Attachment market in South Africa.
The expansion will also see re-equipping to adequately handle the full range of Epiroc Hydraulic Attachment equipment, including new products released by Epiroc globally. This will include the installation of new presses, cranes, forklifts, etc., some of which will come over from Epiroc.
“With all stock coming from Epiroc previously, probably the biggest recent change brought about by the Epiroc/DDE partnership extension is that we have begun importing directly from Epiroc’s Essen Distribution Centre in Germany.” Jackson said control of the logistics and forex and insight into data at the factory source now enables the DDE team to provide more accurate order information and delivery times to customers.
“To provide more localised support, DDE is also establishing relationships with other partners and agents in other cities, mining areas and activity hotspots. This includes engaging with local community businesses in mining areas where community support is becoming an increasingly important socio-economic imperative.”
Kathryn Coetzer, Regional Indirect Sales Manager at Epiroc, said, “We have enjoyed a successful a long-standing relationship with DDE and by continuing our partnership with them, we believe that we will see continued customer satisfaction and value. The expansion of their workshop facilities is a large investment from their side, and evident of their continued commitment to better serving the Hydraulic Attachment customers throughout South Africa.”
