FORKLIFTS
Multi-brand approach better serves Kemach Equipment customers
Traditionally a single-brand distributor, Kemach Equipment has over the past year transformed into a multi-brand equipment solutions provider, thus providing customers with the convenience and efficiency they need by offering multiple products and services under one roof. Following the end of its long-term dealership agreement with JCB in 2021, Kemach has adopted a multi-brand strategy that has seen the company entering into distributorship agreements with several premium equipment manufacturers. “We felt that by being linked to a single brand we were limited to a certain extent. There are several sectors of the South African economy which we couldn’t participate in. Previously, we were pretty much limited to the construction sector, and missed out on opportunities in the materials handling, mining, and quarrying sectors, among others,” explains Les Lothian, CEO of Kemach Equipment. Business realignment The business realignment strategy was put in motion in March 2020 when, in partnership with Anhui HELI, Kemach introduced its Kemach Forklift range, giving 20
Lifting Africa - Jan/Feb 2022
the company a footprint into the lucrative materials handling market.
spread across quarrying, mining, and recycling applications.
“The forklift business has performed beyond our expectations, especially given that we launched right before the COVID-19 outbreak in South Africa. We have already sold over 300 units, with some leading blue-chip companies among some of our first customers,” says Lothian.
“Adding McCloskey to our range of leading brands enhances our ability to satisfy the growing needs of our customers, while also creating the opportunity to strengthen our position as a total solutions provider to the markets we participate in,” he says.
This was followed by a distributorship agreement with McCloskey International in October 2020, which gave Kemach the footprint in the mining, aggregates, construction, and demolition, as well as recycling and infrastructure markets. Kemach has already recorded remarkable success with the McCloskey offering, averaging a machine a month since taking over. The machine population is evenly
In July 2021, Kemach took over the distributorship of the full range of BULL backhoe loaders in South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini. Leveraging an existing wide backhoe loader customer base, Lothian is adamant that Kemach will be a player of substance in the backhoe loader market in South Africa, which sells about 1 200 to 1 300 units a year. “We believe that with the addition of the BULL product to Kemach Equipment’s expanding world-class
