The secret to Cummins’ ongoing success in Africa and the Middle East is its extensive aftermarket support and well-established distribution network throughout the continent. This is according to newly-appointed Cummins Distribution Director, Kwame Gyan-Tawiah.
Apart from recently launching the Power Hub in Waterfall City, Johannesburg, Cummins has a Regional Distribution Centre (RDC) for Southern Africa, also based in Waterfall, a Regional Distribution Centre (RDC) in Ghana, and has appointed its first 100%-owned distributor in Morocco. This gives the OEM a significant end-to-end logistics capability throughout the continent.
“The strength of the company lies in our focus on customer support. That makes for better products at the end of the day, and is why we have distribution organisations at strategic locations,” Kwame explains. Currently, Cummins has a presence in 12 countries in Africa, including South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Angola, Ivory Coast and Morocco. In addition, it appoints independent distributors in other areas where it wants to make inroads, as well as entering into joint ventures, such as in the Middle East and East Africa regions.
Kwame elaborates that customer service, which is the linchpin for Cummins’ success on the continent, consists of two major elements. The first is parts availability to support the products sold. “All these entities have parts warehouses, and hold parts readily needed at any point in time by customers in those environments.”
The RDC strategy facilitates this ready parts availability throughout the continent. “It means we have made it possible for a parts supply line, by road and air, in Africa. We are therefore capable of making parts readily available to our customers when, and where they need them,” he says.
“The second major element is our technical capability. We continue to learn and improve as our engine technology continues to develop. Otherwise you lose track of what is happening in the industry. Hence, we ensure that our technicians are always up to date with the latest advancements by means of our training centres, which are located in South Africa, Morocco, Nigeria, and Dubai,” concludes Kwame.
Cummins
Deepa Rungasamy
Tel: (011) 589-8512
