JLG
Ian Hume,Sales Director - Middle East, Africa, India and Russia
JLG’s MENA headquarters has been based in the UAE for over ten years with a team of service, sales and inside sales serving the region. JLG has 20 distributors in the region supporting our customers on the ground with parts, service and machine sales.
“We are very proud to be the market leader for the supply of aerial work platforms in the MENA, and we are committed to redefining the job site in this region. Our distribution network has been built on long-term relationships, and a number of our partners have been with JLG for decades, which shows our historic connection to the MENA region. We have supplied over 5,000 machines to the region over the last 15 years with over 70% of these machines going into equipment rental companies,” says Ian Hume, sales director – Middle East, Africa, India and Russia, JLG Industries.
According to Ian, safety and productivity remain the market drivers of access equipment in the MEA region, and there’s huge opportunity for innovation in both these areas.
“Falling from height remains the single most common cause of loss of life or injury on a job site; therefore, we will continue to innovate and develop our products to support the safety of the working environment,” says Ian.
Ian comments about managing global supply chain disruptions: “This is an ongoing challenge across almost all industries. JLG has the ability to use our global manufacturing footprint and scale to try and limit the impact but no doubt we are also affected. The other major challenge currently is the spike in freight cost globally.”
Electrification of the job site will also see a big opportunity within UAE, the most mature market in the MEA region, and telematics and data services will be crucial to long-term growth, according to Ian.
“The shift has started, and I expect to see our electric construction booms start arriving over the next 18 months. These machines are fully electric but have the same rough terrain ability as their diesel counterparts,” says Ian.
JLG has been integrating its telematics system, Clearsky, with rental fleets across the MEA region.
“The use of data within our industry is in its infancy but the ability to remotely diagnose machines, check the location and gain a deeper understanding of the use of the machines will become the norm over the coming years. Early adopters are already reaping the benefits on their internal efficiencies,” says Ian.
Within the MEA region, JLG sees demand surging in Saudi Arabia and market recovery in Egypt and Southern Africa.
“Saudi Arabia will be the major growth market over the next ten years in line with the Saudi 2030 Vision. We also see strong recovery in Southern Africa and Egypt which has a very encouraging project pipeline,” says Ian.
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