Capital Equipment News August 2017

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CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS AUGUST 2017 26
Osborn Engineered Products SA, part
of the Astec Group, recently an-
nounced its decision to discontinue
the representation of Astec Inc. and Road-
tec’s asphalt and paving products in south-
ern Africa, effective June 2017. In an ex-
clusive interview with Capital Equipment
News, Noel Bassler, sales director at Os-
born Engineered Products SA, explained
that the decision will allow the company
to focus on its core Aggregate and Mining
products.
“Strategically, a decision to remain focused
on the core products for the Aggregate
and Mining industries has necessitated
us to discontinue certain non-core product
dealerships,” says Bessler.
“The reason we have ended the
representation of the non-core products is
that we want to concentrate on our core
Aggregate and Mining markets, which
we have been servicing for almost 100
years now,” says Martin Botha, product
development director at Osborn.
Understanding the background
Osborn has been providing crushing,
screening and related products to the
mining and quarrying industries since
1919. In the past 10 years, the company
took on board a range of asphalt and
paving products from its sister companies
that form part of the Astec Group. Astec
had hoped to leverage Osborn’s existing
footprint on the continent to develop these
products in the local market.
Osborn initially brought in Canadian-based
Breaker Technology Industries’ (BTI) range
of rock breakers, before taking on board
Astec’s US-based KPI-JCI and AMS products,
more crushing and screening oriented. The
company later marketed Roadtec’s mobile
paving product range, and recorded most
success with the Shuttle Buggy, a ground-
breaking material transfer vehicle concept
that revolutionised the road construction
sector.
In future, both Bessler and Botha reiterate
that the respective principals will deal
directly with customers when it comes
to new equipment sales, but Osborn will
continue to support all the products from
an aftermarket point of view. “Osborn will
take full responsibility of spare parts and
aftersales service to ensure full customer
satisfaction, but will forward any new
equipment and plant enquiries received to
the appropriate company representatives,”
says Bessler.
Meanwhile, Osborn will keep some of the
Astec Inc. products that are in line with its
aggregates and mining business. “We will
continue distributing aggregate and mining-
BACK TO BASICS
BUSINESS
In a recent key structural change, Osborn Engineered Products SA has discontinued the dealership of non-core
asphalt, paving and drilling products. At the centre of the new development is the company’s decision to refocus
on its core Aggregate and Mining business. This is part of the local manufacturer’s new customer-centric approach
that seeks to offer an upgraded and technologically-advanced product range to improve productivity, safety and,
more importantly, profitability for its core aggregate and mining customers, writes Munesu Shoko.