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CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS
NOVEMBER 2016
22
Enter compact excavator
While the TLB and skid steer continue to
hold a sizeable share of the market, several
equipment suppliers agree that the next big
thing may be the compact excavator. Graeme
McDonald, CEO of JCB, says the compact
excavator market is growing significantly,
accounting for a whopping 100 000 units a
year globally. In South Africa, the market is
approximately 130-140 units strong, with
model ranges varying in size and capacity,
according to Kemp.
“The most interesting growth prospect
at this point is the compact excavator. To
date, we sell about 15 mini excavators per
year, but I believe in the next five years that
number will grow tenfold,” says Invernizzi.
“The compact excavator sector is the only
market currently showing some type of
opportunity for growth although the total
volume is not the biggest in the compact
machinery sector,” says Griesel. “There
are application opportunities in plumbing,
electrical and telecommunication, as well
as in the specialised agricultural sector.”
He adds that the compact excavator
market is the main market driver for
Wacker Neuson at this stage with
promising growth opportunities. “We also
have acceptable market specification and
pricing at this point across our full range
of excavators,” adds Griesel.
Justin Nicoll, managing director of Force
8, the local supplier of the Yanmar range
of compact excavators, agrees that the
compact excavator is fast growing as a
tool of choice on South African sites. He is
of the view that customers are benefitting
from the versatility of small excavators
and increased productivity on sites. “The
compact excavator is fast becoming a
force to reckon with, having seen its
abilities underestimated for a very long
time,” argues Nicoll.
Challenging the norm
Nicoll believes mid-sized units such as the
8 t are even taking trenching work away
from TLBs, and argues that it is a matter
of time before they upstage the TLB
because of the comparative production
speeds. Sectors with increased uptake
of the compact excavator are pretty much
evenly divided between construction
and agriculture, according to Nicoll.
“Applications are probably, in thirds, split
between maintenance, site work and a very
consistent call for demolition,” says Nicoll.
In terms of market drivers, Nicoll says the
compact excavator is built to work in confined
circumstances and has become an invaluable
solution in those specific applications. “The
machines get into buildings, can be craned
quite easily and Yanmar’s smallest can even
get in a regular lift for internal demolition
jobs,” he says. Nicoll believes innovation is
also key in this market segment. “Technology
and productivity go hand in hand. The
Yanmar product is well refined and not costly
to operate. Reliability is crucial in order to
meet production quotas and targets, and
innovative products such as the Yanmar
range increase uptime,” says Nicoll.
For Force 8, the prime market drivers in
this range are the Yanmar models in the 1
to 8 t size category, and the 5 t is said to
be the most buoyant nationally. In terms of
demand, Nicoll says a few years back, one
compact unit sold for every 20 units in the
20 t class and bigger. “In Europe it was the
exact converse; 20 small units for every
single large excavator sold. We are moving
slowly towards the European ratio. So, I think
the potential is massive.”
Loading into market
While the compact excavator is said to be
challenging the TLB, the skid steer seems to
be getting its fair share of competition from
the articulated loader concept where names
such as MultiOne, Avant, Atlas Weyhausen
and Wacker Neuson, to mention a few, come
to mind.
In its third year of operation, MultiOne
SA, the authorised dealer of Italian
compact loader maker, MultiOne, sees
increased growth of the articulated loader
in the market, though the company concurs
that current market conditions are tough.
However, Lofty van Wyk, managing director
of MultiOne SA, says the company is on
course to meet its sales target of 54 units
this year. In its first year of operation,
MultiOne SA made 47 unit deliveries across
a range of sectors including agriculture,
construction and landscaping. The company
is targeting 60 units in 2017 on the back of
increased footprint into other sectors such
as green care, forestry and mining.
Van Wyk believes that local fleet owners
are fast grasping the benefits of the
articulated loader compared with the skid
steer. “For starters, the compact loader beats
the skid steer on fuel consumption. The
articulated loader consumes six times less
fuel than a comparative skid steer,” he says.
However, Van Wyk sees a big shift from the
smaller ranges towards the bigger sized 9-10
t articulated loaders.
Nicoll, whose Force 8 is also the
authorised dealer of the Atlas Weyhausen
range of compact wheel loaders, believes
the compact loader and the skid steer
markets are distinctly different markets, with
a small degree of overlap. He believes that
the two products can co-exist in the market,
but elaborates on the benefits of the compact
loader. “The small loader has a longer wheel
base and doesn’t suffer from the fixed
chassis issues that often plague skid steers
in uneven terrain. An articulated loader is
also easier to work on and less expensive to
maintain on tyres, for example,” says Nicoll.
CASE sells about 15 mini excavators per year in Africa.
MultiOne believes its compact articulated loader is proving to be a cost
effective solution compared with the skid steer in most applications.