Al Ahlia Heavy Vehicles Selling & Import Co. (AAHV), the heavy equipment and commercial vehicle division of Ali Alghanim & Sons Group, represents brands such as MAN Trucks & Bus, Putzmeister, Fassi, Kalmar, Baoli and Hyundai Construction Equipment in Kuwait.
Having acquired the dealership for Putzmeister in 2019 and Hyundai Construction Equipment in 2020, AAHV is positioning itself as a one-stop-shop for heavy equipment in Kuwait. More than 70% of AAHV’s business comes from infrastructure projects. The company estimates significant increase in demand for concrete pumps and mixer trucks for mega projects such as the Al Mutlaa Residential City and several other road and bridge construction projects in the pipeline. This is despite the impact of COVID-19 and the liquidity crisis faced by the Kuwait government.
Adham Zeidan, general manager, AAHV, says: “Everybody has been affected by project delays and the current pandemic, but we expect work to resume by the end of 2020. A financial crisis is a temporary setback that can be resolved with an appropriate stimulus package. The heavy equipment industry has several large-scale projects to forward to in 2021, mainly, infrastructure development. Putzmeister complements our offering with the most advanced concrete pumps that can be combined with our range of construction trucks and heavy equipment.”
Adham Zeidan, general manager, Al Ahlia Heavy Vehicles Selling & Import Co.
Since 2019, AAHV has sold eight Putzmeister pumps in Kuwait – five BSF 56-5.16 HLS truck mounted pumps and three BSA 2110 HPD stationary pumps. Four of the truck-mounted concrete pumps sold were to a single customer, and they were supplied with the Putzmeister Machine Cockpit, an information hub that provides real-time status of the pumps and enables remote diagnosis.
“The customer was highly satisfied with the Putzmeister Machine Cockpit that he ordered the system for more than 20 of the company’s older pumps. The Machine Cockpit is available will all new pumps. We can also retrofit all older models with the system,” says Adham.
Adham indicates that Putzmeister’s new 51-5 truck-mounted concrete pump has been generating a lot of interest lately.
“The 51-5 pump with the Ergonic 2.0 control system will be suited to several new projects in Kuwait, and we have been receiving inquiries for next year. The average lead time for a truck-mounted pump is six months. As we don’t maintain a large inventory of pumps in Kuwait, all new deliveries will happen next year. Demand for Putzmeister stationary pumps is equally strong because there’s no room for failure or breakdown on jobsites,” he says.
Having a diverse product range also presents the opportunity to integrate Putzmeister pumps with MAN trucks.
“Ideally, we’d like to offer the combination of Putzmeister pumps with MAN trucks, because that would make it easy to manage aftersales, maintenance and repairs. The customer would not be required to talk to two suppliers, and it would also be easier for us to service the truck and pump as one unit. However, this decision is entirely up to the customer,” says Adham.
Adham points out one of the biggest advantages of having all services under one roof is that AAHV is able to truly function as a one-stop-stop to supply and service its equipment. AAHV operates from an integrated facility that houses its office, showroom, spare parts and service centre, bodybuilding division, training centre and a 6,000m2 underground storage area for up to 100 trucks. The company extends its services to jobsites with two mobile workshops.
“We have an additional advantage: our technicians and support staff are accommodated within the premises, which enables us to offer 24×7 support and respond to customer needs rapidly and mobilise equipment and technicians from our facility. We’re planning to introduce mobile container workshops using 40-feet shipping containers equipped with spart parts and consumables to function as a service centre for trucks and other equipment installation on large jobsites. For example, we could install such container workshops the Al Mutlaa site, which would help us ensure uptime throughout the duration of the project,” says Adham.
Since the pandemic struck and businesses were unable to operate in full capacity, AAHV has been providing additional support to customers along with maintenance and repair services, to ensure the uptime of their heavy equipment and vehicles.
“During the past few months, we have supported our customers as much as possible despite facing payment delays. We have identified the unique challenges faced by them as a result of the pandemic, such as a significant drop in vehicle utilization; to compensate for this, we are considering offering additional discounts to customers that have badly affected. We have rescheduled payments for several others, and we will continue to supply spare parts and help them maintain equipment uptime by providing online instructions on how to inspect and maintain equipment when not in operation,” says Adham.
“I couldn’t emphasize enough why we are highly selective about the brands we represent. None of the equipment we have supplied has faced a breakdown during the last few months, although we are always prepared to respond to any issue faced by customers. Our OEM partners including Putzmeister made the best of the pandemic situation by providing online training to our technicians,” he adds.
AAHV’s market development plans include expanding its used equipment business, launching an online procurement system for parts, and a potential entry into the truck and concrete pump rental market.
“We’re setting up an online system for procurement of parts that will include a spare parts catalogue for customers to view prices and inventory. We are testing this system among our top customers before a market-wide launch. Having entered the power equipment rental business, we’re studying the demand and feasibility of renting trucks and concrete pumps,” says Adham.
