In the last quarter of 2026, it is business as usual for the Aftermarket team at Bell Equipment Limited. We chat to the Aftermarket and Product Support Director, Meltus Badenhorst, who tells us about the intricacies of meeting customer maintenance needs for earthmoving equipment in the mining and construction sectors across the continent.
What emerges from the discussion is the unique set of risks that a fleet of machinery faces once deployed in a particular environment. This necessitates developing personalised, OEM-recommended maintenance plans suited to specific operating conditions. Where necessary, these plans must also be adjusted to accommodate changing conditions.
In their root cause analyses, the Aftermarket team at Bell Equipment Limited notices recurring challenges that contribute to the downtime of earthmoving equipment fleets involved in construction, mining and associated projects. These challenges may not be unique to the company’s clientele; other yellow equipment suppliers and manufacturers may relate to the experience.
Notable challenges
Specifically, there are two notable challenges, points out the Bell Equipment’s Aftermarket and Product Support Director, Meltus Badenhorst.
- Deferred maintenance (insufficient time for maintenance)
The first is the deferral of scheduled maintenance tasks due to insufficient time. In most cases, in all fairness, this is beyond the control of fleet owners.
“There are times when production demands override scheduled maintenance requirements, often due to weather implications, geological changes in the mining conditions affecting yield etc. When faced with this situation, fleet owners may lack the time to complete routine servicing and scheduled maintenance.
“Maintenance is often delayed, which can lead to a reduction in equipment availability and increase the risk of unplanned downtime,” says Badenhorst.
The irony is that the resulting unplanned downtime ultimately halts production with longer-term effects on plant uptime.
b. Mismatch between maintenance capacity and fleet size
Another challenge is the mismatch between service crew, maintenance capacity and fleet size. Usually, this is a result of cost-cutting exercises or lack of skilled technicicnas within the specific region, which can leave service teams understaffed, states Badenhorst. This makes it difficult to complete scheduled maintenance, particularly when production demands are high, he elaborates.
The bottom line is: limited time and insufficient staffing often lead to maintenance delays.
Mitigating risks
To mitigate the impact of these factors on machine availability and reliability, fleet owners need to assess the available working hours against the number of machines requiring maintenance. Badenhorst recommends that fleet owners follow OEM-recommended maintenance schedules and staff the service crews accordingly.
Adapting Maintenance to Operating Conditions
While OEM-recommended maintenance schedules have to be followed diligently, every fleet’s needs are unique, comments Badenhorst. .“Mining fleets can operate under very different conditions and duty cycles, even when they use similar types of equipment. Hence, there are specific factors that determine the maintenance approach required for a particular fleet.”
Cognisant of this, Bell Equipment, through its dealers, adapts its support to suit the needs of a specific fleet, he says. “We consider many factors when we look at how we need to adapt our support because it’s not a simple, one-size-fits-all strategy, as some would assume.”
i. The hours and shifts
Specific factors affecting individual customers include understanding the hours and shifts that fleet owners operate. This involves adapting a service plan to fit customers’ production demands, taking into account their production schedules and the times when the fleet is parked up.
Where necessary, this could mean allowing the maintenance schedule to run ahead of or behind its planned intervals occasionally, explains Badenhorst. “A truck might need a service on Monday, but we know that it will stand on Friday for the shutdown weekend, so we’ll allow the truck to overrun because there is some tolerance designed into the truck.”
ii. Mine health and safety requirements
Mines have specific, obligatory health and safety requirements. As such, Bell Equipment’s dealers ensure that they have sufficient service crew members with up-to-date legal and compliance documentation to meet each mine’s specific needs.
iii. Regional and seasonal factors
Other factors that determine the maintenance approach are regional and seasonal conditions.
Depending on the region, machinery could be deployed in a dusty, dry or muddy, wet environment depending on the seasons and weather patterns. Bearing this in mind, Bell analyses factors such as the sulphur content of fuel, among others, to adapt its recommended service guides.
To illustrate this point, Badenhorst cites the example of colder climates, which require different lubricant specifications and a different approach from that used for machines operating closer to the equator. “In regions near the equator, for instance, something as small as a wiper blade can cause a machine to be parked during monsoon season. So, all this information feeds into how we approach maintenance.”
Making maintenance cost-effective
By and large, Bell Equipment’s approach is about making maintenance as cost-effective as possible to keep the fleet on its feet, Badenhorst concludes. “We consider operating conditions, in-house capabilities and budget when determining the support required through our dealer network.”
Flexible upfront service packages
In some regions, Bell Equipment offers flexible upfront service packages, which are sold with the machine. These ensure that fleet owners do not have to plan for maintenance separately and know the scheduled maintenance costs upfront for the agreed period.
The company also provides tailored extended warranty packages that offer a degree of comfort and security for a specified period or number of operating hours.
