Business South November 2021

| 45 New digs for Komatsu unveiled T T Hugh de Lacy Komatsu has a new facility in Hornby with triple the floor space of its previous facility. Komatsu NZ Ltd - Christchurch CONTRACTING A n eye-catcher on Christchurch’s southern motorway, Komatsu NZ’s new South Island hub, just south of the city, is proving a boon to the civil construction ma- chinery dealership that outgrew its previous premises near Hornby. “The profile of the motorway site seems to be drawing in new business from the sheer volume of traffic that passes, and the building itself is a delight to work in,” Robert McGregor, the Komatsu NZ Regional Manager, South Island, says. “We’ve got triple the floor space – about 10,000sqm - that we had at the old Halswell Junction Road premises, including an eight- bay workshop and a two-bay warehouse, not to mention the space to attractively display our machinery range to the passing traffic. “We get a lot of favourable comment on the profile of the site.” Komatsu NZ’s parent company is presently celebrating its centenary, having been found- ed in the city of that name in Japan’s Ishikawa Prefecture in 1921, making the opening of the new South Island hub particularly well-timed. Komatsu’s South Island operations have been growing rapidly since the brand first made an appearance in the South Island, un- der the distributor’s name of Ward Hill, soon after it was established in Auckland in 1965. The distributorship rapidly evolved into an autonomous branch which, at its Halswell premises, grew its staff numbers from six in 2007 to more than 30 this year. Since moving into the new hub, new staff have been hired for the service and technical departments. Of considerable significance is the fact that one of those new staff is a trainer with exper - tise in Komatsu’s revolutionary iMC (intelligent Machine Control) technology which, along with the rapid electrification of civil construc - tion machinery globally, is the future of the industry. Komatsu will have the brand’s first ful - ly electrified excavator on the market by Christmas, while its iMC capability is already expressing itself in ultra-safe driverless trucks working 24/7 in the mining and quarrying industries overseas. “It’s an immensely exciting industry to be in right now,” Robert says. “The civil construction industry is booming in New Zealand, despite Covid, and looks set to continue that way because of the country’s need for a widespread infrastructure upgrade. “We’ve seen the population of construction machinery in the South Island grow to eight times the size it was when we opened our old hub in 2007. “And it’s fair to say that Komatsu’s had more than its share of the growth in machinery sales and servicing. “In the 50-odd years it’s been in New Zea- land, the Komatsu brand has cemented its status as one of the most innovative, safe and reliable makes on the market,” Robert says. Aside from the sprawling workshop and warehouse space, Komatsu’s South Island hub sports a “clean room” in which three dedicat- ed staff carry out engine and transmission reconditioning in clinical conditions, inde- pendently of the main workshop. Komatsu NZ’s Christchurch hub sells refurbished second-hand machines as well as new machines, and operates service branches throughout the South Island including Nelson, Blenheim, Greymouth, Timaru, Dunedin and Invercargill. DSC Christchurch is proud to support Komatsu NZ Your local experts in everything storage 24a Halwyn Drive, Christchurch | 03 3484 194 | www.dscchristchurch.co.nz Industrial • Commercial • Residential “Quality Solutions delivered on Time”