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7THURSDAY 8 OCTOBER 2015 BusinessDay
Commercial News
INDUSTRY NEWS
Thepersonaltouch
The vice-
president of Hino
SA recently
delivered a truck
to a customer
personally
Sampie Swanepoel, CEO of THT, welcomes Ernie Trautmann, the truck-driving vice-president of Hino SA.
From left: IJ Greeff,
GM of Hino East
Rand; Ernie
Trautmann, vice-
president of Hino SA;
Frans Cloete,
divisional CEO of
commercial vehicles
at Unitrans Motors;
and Sampie
Swanepoel, CEO of
THT.
INDUSTRY NEWS
Cummins
has found an
innovative
way to
support local
craftspeople
Enginesbecomeart
I
NNOVATION is more than a
word at Cummins, “it is also a
value that we live by”, says
Schuyla Goodson Bell, MD of
Cummins Southern Africa.
Cummins is a global giant that
designs, manufactures, sells and
services diesel engines and related
technology around the world.
Goodson Bell was speaking at
the Cummins Dream Machine Ini-
tiative Awards ceremony held at
thecompany’sheadofficeinJohan-
nesburg recently where the win-
ners were announced of its first
annual competition which awards
and celebrates innovation and
creativity. The initiative was borne
from a normal walkabout around
the Cummins Master Rebuild
Centre in Johannesburg where
engines are disassembled and
rebuilt for customers.
“The premise is that engine
parts can be used to educate others
about upcycling and to create jobs
with local artists, crafters and arti-
sans,” said Goodson Bell.
O-rings, gaskets, pistons, belts
and other engine parts are sepa-
rated for waste and recycling.
The results? Beautiful upcycled
art and functional items with a
strong industrial aesthetic; ear-
rings, handbags, candle holders,
gasket wind chimes, decorative
photo frames, mirrors, gear book-
ends, O-ring mobiles, serviette
rings, paperweights.
The concept quickly developed
into opportunities for enterprise
development and job creation, pro-
viding a platform to help advance
local artists, crafters and artisans’
dreams. A special emphasis is also
placed on empowering women and
knowledge sharing of sustainable
practices for emerging businesses.
“We will award innovation, cre-
ativity, originality, youth education,
environmental impact, the level of
enterprisedevelopmentandeaseof
understanding required to assem-
ble the creation,” said Goodson
Bell. Additionally, the company’s
corporate responsibility activities’
key focus areas of education, the
environment and social justice also
needed to reflect in the entries.
“I extend my hearty congrat-
ulations to the winners of the
various categories in the Cummins
Dream Machine Initiative com-
petition; Enterprise Award,
Innovation-Creativity Award, Edu-
cation Award, Environmental
Compliance and the Overall Win-
ner’s Award. Your prize-winning
masterpieces are exemplary and
bear testament to what we can do
with very little when we think
creatively. I applaud your out-of-
the-box thinking, this is what Cum-
mins calls innovation!”
The overall winning team was
the Design Masters Team who also
won the Innovation Category. The
team included Stephen Radzilani,
Thuleleni Gcanga, Shanil Hariper-
sad, Sello Ntshala, Harry Dooks,
Xolani Gazu, Nhamo Chinyange,
Richard Ramolefo, Constance
Matjia, Shalendra Kalichuran,
Wiehann Steinmann, Hannelie
Steyn, Gert Kok, Tanya Cairns and
Jansen Herman.
A broad spectrum of creations
were presented. These varied from
objets d’art to functional items
including lampshades, candle
holders, ice bucket holders, photo
frames, jewellery and tables with
glass tops to wine coolers.
Cummins says it believes in
making a positive and lasting
impact on the communities in
which it operates by rendering sus-
tainable support. This is evidenced
by providing artists, crafters and
artisans from less privileged
communities the opportunity to
increase their income-earning
capacity and market reach through
initiatives like this.
Additionally, the company will
also be introducing the initiative
into secondary schools to educate
and increase environmental aware-
ness among students.
It says it will also be engaging
with nongovernmental organisa-
tions and crafts associations to
create a platform for enterprise
development to ensure longevity
and sustainability of their business
ventures.
Components
were used to
create
interesting
objects with
aesthetic and
functional
appeal.
MD of Cummins Southern
Africa, Schuyla Goodson Bell,
shows off the innovative and
creative artwork.
MOTOR NEWS REPORTER
E
RNIE Trautmann, the vice-pres-
ident of Hino SA, who recently
obtained his Code 14 truck driv-
ing licence, personally delivered
a 6x4 Hino 700-Series 2848, the latest
addition to the fleet of Transvaal Heavy
Transport(THT),tothecompany’shead
office in Alrode. Trautmann is now
actively encouraging his colleagues to
follow his example and obtain a heavy
duty licence.
THT, which has a total fleet of 65
bakkies, freight carriers and truck-trac-
tors as well as more than 100 trailers, is
a long-standing Hino customer, having
bought its first Hino, a Super Dolphin, in
1986. There are currently 40 Hino
trucks in the THT fleet, with the latest
additionsbeingtwo6x4700-Series2848
truck-tractors finished in the company’s
distinctive green and red colour
scheme.
The company fleet includes the full
range of Hino trucks, being six 300-
Series/Toyota Dynas, eight 500-Series,
20700-SeriesandsixSuperDolphins.In
addition there are 10 Toyota Hilux
bakkies and eight Toyota Avanza panel
vans.
THT must be one of the longest run-
ning privately-owned transport fleets in
SA, having been established in 1961 and
registered as a company in 1967. Sampie
Swanepoel, son of the founder and the
presentCEO,joinedhisfather’sbusiness
in 1986.
THT employs about 160 people, with
60 of them being drivers and another 60
being driver assistants as the policy at
the company is to allocate a driver to
each specific truck so that he knows he
is responsible for it in all aspects of its
usage, from servicing to its appearance.
The older and more experienced drivers
get the latest trucks.
The company specialises in abnor-
mal loads with a wide variety of trailers
that can move loads of up to 100 tonnes.
Most of its customers are in the mining
and construction industries but over the
years THT has undertaken transport
contracts for companies and organisa-
tions in most sectors of the local econ-
omy.
It operates not only in SA, but also in
Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia
and Mozambique with some contracts
lasting several months, such as one in
Jeffrey’s Bay where THT was respon-
sible for transporting the components
for erecting a wind farm.
Swanepoel says that in view of the
comparatively short distances travelled
each day by his trucks he keeps them for
between 10 and 15 years — or 1-million
kilometres — so durability and reliability
over a long period are critical.
He says he has no trouble getting rid
of his used trucks as they are well main-
tained and regularly serviced by the
dealer during the warranty period and
after that at the in-house workshop in
Alrode. He also quotes good fuel econ-
omy and a low life cycle cost as another
reason for buying Hino trucks.
“The relationship between Hino and
Sampie Swanepoel is very special and
includes ongoing, two-way feedback on
the products he operates,” said Traut-
mann. “We take particular note of any
criticism coming from THT and, if nec-
essary, feed it all the way back to Hino
Motors in Japan to ensure we have even
better products in the future.”
ONE MAN
ONE TRUCK
ONE EPIC JOURNEY
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nets in Maputo, which they’ll be dropping off at prolific malaria areas along the route.This is Africa and anything
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