Bell CEO handover

The official handover of the CEO position at articulated dump truck (ADT) specialist Bell Equipment from Gary Bell to Leon Goosen has been scheduled for 1 June, 2018.

Announcing the change, South African-based Bell added that it was aiming to strengthen its global production and logistic structures by investing in new facilities.

At its European ADT assembly facility in Germany, a new 12,000m² bin factory will be operational from the second quarter 2019. A new US logistics centre is designed to cover the rapidly expanding Northern American Bell activities, and will be located in North Carolina.

The company said there was a growing global demand for Bell Trucks, which recorded a more than 30% increase in unit sales in 2017.

The new German facility will be built at Bell Equipment’s European ADT plant in Kindel-Eisenach, for production of all ADT bins for the Northern Hemisphere.

Tristan du Pisanie, ADT product marketing manager, said, “Most of the high-quality steel for our bodies is sourced in Europe, therefore this will optimise our supply logistics and allow us to react quickly to customer demand.”

The decision will not affect capacity at the South African production headquarters in Richards Bay.

“We are experiencing an upswing in all ADT markets around the world. As a supplier, we want to guarantee short lead times and good availability throughout our whole range,” said du Pisanie.

Part of this is the start of two-shift production at Eisenach from the middle of this year to meet the growing demand.

Bell said the new American Logistics Centre (ALC) would be ideally positioned to serve the expanding dealer network and rapidly growing truck population in North America. The ALC will operate in co-operation with the company’s European Logistic Centre in Germany and the Global Logistics Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa.

At the recent Intermat show in Paris, France, Bell presented the new B30E 4x4 as part of a new range of two-axle ADTs. Together with the new B45E 4x4 and the company’s 60 tonne B60E, this range consists now of three models.

Goosen said, “Our aim was to demonstrate our commitment to the global ADT market and we succeeded with in-depth interactions with customers and partners throughout the show.”