Pretoria, 22 Feb 2013
Yellow equipment, or "yellow metal" as it is sometimes referred to, has become a huge target for theft, vandalism and other abuse due to the sometimes isolated locations they are stored at. Yellow metal asset growth has returned to levels seen before the economic downturn, with contributing factors being mainly in the mining sector with the improvement in global demand for base and precious metals, but also general infrastructure development.
Business Monitor International reports a 6% growth for South Africa's infrastructure industry over 2013, and President Jacob Zuma announced a new $462 billion infrastructure plan in October 2012 to boost the country's infrastructure to further heights.
This is great news for the economy and the yellow metal industry, but operational risks still remain for dealers and agents who specialise in the yellow metal fields with regards to theft and general equipment abuse.
Burma Plant Hire, a construction company in the Western Cape province, is one such company that focused on infrastructure development, operating across all nine provinces in South Africa. One of its challenges has been to curb abuse, unauthorised use, and to assist with proactive maintenance and optimal operational performance.
In July 2012, the company began installing Ctrack's Yellow Equipment solution to its entire fleet to assist it not only with accurate billing for its clients, but to ensure optimal operational monitoring for cost saving and life cycle extension of its equipment.
"Our system provides Burma Plant Hire with proactive monitoring to ensure operating conditions are being optimised," says Hein Jordt, Managing Director of Ctrack Fleet Management South Africa. Furthermore, Ctrack's odometer and hour meters record distance travelled, operating hours for billing purposes and maintenance records. Burma Plant Hire's ability to react to specific problems identified by the monitoring and analyses is providing greater control over its assets and operations.
Burma Plant Hire has found that, through proactive analysis, using this Ctrack solution and monitoring of its fleet, it is able to save countless hours downtime and maintenance costs, and improved service scheduling.
"We are able to involve ourselves with operations remotely, to find solutions to eliminate equipment abuse, the possibility of system failures, and to ensure operator safety with impact and tilt over alerts," says Theuns Burger, Burma Plant Hire Managing Director.
Share