In three orders from December 2018 to February 2019, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) requested a total of four reach stackers and four empty container handlers, all Smart Connected Lift Trucks, to be delivered in May. The trucks will be distributed across MSC South Africa centers in Durban on the east coast, in Cape Town on the west coast, and at a new operation in the central Gauteng region.
As business continues to expand on the continent, South Africa must boost the activities of its transport hubs to move an ever-increasing volume of goods quickly and easily. A lively, constantly changing economy means MSC has to ensure their facilities function efficiently at all times.
MSC South Africa regularly updates their equipment in their annual fleet replacement for existing operations. As part of this process, they ordered two SMV 5/6 ECC 90 empty container handlers (ECHs) for Durban, and two SMV 6/7 ECHs for Cape Town. All four can lift 9 tons at different heights. With a lot of activity in their facilities, MSC South Africa must be able to position empty containers quickly for stuffing and shipping.
However, MSC has been so successful, they realized that they needed to do more than just replace equipment this year. So, for the province of Gauteng, they also ordered four SMV 4531 TC5 reach stackers, each with a lifting capacity of 45 tons, for a new project to handle growing demand in the region.
“In order to stay strong in the market, we need to provide a competitive service with maximum efficiency,” says Ashley Bechoo, MSC Fleet Manager for South Africa. “We want equipment that not only performs well, but helps us manage and maintain our fleet, and especially monitor and control CO2 emissions and fuel costs.”
The company was particularly interested in Konecranes’ Smart Connected Lift Trucks with TRUCONNECT Remote Services. This allows MSC to track the real usage of their new vehicles with information such as driving hours, carbon footprint, safety alerts and fuel consumption. It also provides a wealth of performance data to help schedule maintenance optimally and maximize uptime with less interruption to operations. The Konecranes equipment fit all of the MSC requirements – especially the monitoring service – so the decision to purchase Konecranes lift trucks was easy.
ABOUT EQSTRA
Eqstra Material Handling (EMH), a business unit of local dealer EIE Group, specializes in lift trucks of 8 tons or more, and played an essential role in arranging the order. They impressed MSC with their efficiency and their high level of after-sales support, one of the strongest in South Africa.
“With our years of experience in port handling equipment, we’re glad that we could partner up with MSC South Africa,” says EMH Key National Product Specialist Lenny Naidoo. “Our nationwide presence means we’re able to offer MSC the service they need to optimize their fleet of smart connected lift trucks, so they can maintain and improve their service to their own clients.”
“MSC South Africa is a brand-new customer for us,” says Winfried Lux, Regional Manager IMEA for Konecranes Lift Trucks. “We are looking forward to working closely with the MSC team to maximize their operational efficiency with our high-performing lifting equipment.”
