By Larry Claasen
CUMMINS’ seven-year contract to maintain Transnet’s tugboats not only cements its decades-long relationship with the transport authority but also positions the company as a key player in Transnet’s operational turnaround.
The deal involves Cummins providing aftermarket services, including parts, repairs, and engine rebuilding, covering six ports between Durban and Cape Town, including Port Elizabeth and East London.
This contract marks a full-circle moment for Cummins, as it was the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for the tugboat engines, some of which date back to the 1970s.
The longstanding relationship, combined with Cummins’ expertise in marine engineering, has enabled the company not only to service Transnet’s aging engines but also to provide more fuel-efficient, cutting-edge equipment.
Rebuilding engines for enhanced reliability
“Some of these engines, of course, we cannot just repair, they might be quite old. So we remove them from the vessel. We bring them onto our rebuilt centres, whether in Durban or in Cape Town, we completely strip the engine to its core. We machine the block. We remanufacture and ReCon the entire engine, returning it to factory specifications, which offers renewed life of the engine and parts,” says Cummins coastal & midlands regional leader, Tshepiso Ndlovu.
In having Cummins as a contractor, Transnet not only has a partner that knows it well, it also has one that can respond quickly to needs as it has technicians and branches in key locations like Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London.
Strategic stock management boosts operational efficiency
Lead times for parts are minimised through proactive forecasting and communication with Transnet. Cummins pulls stock from its Johannesburg warehouse and, if necessary, from overseas factories.
This is especially important for Transnet, as it is under pressure to improve the operating performance of its ports. To ensure uptime for the tugboats, Cummins meets regularly with Transnet.
Collaboration at the core of service delivery
“We’ve happened to have a very good relationship with the team that we are working with in Transnet. We have weekly contract meetings and weekly technical meetings,” says Ndlovu.
She adds: “Our Cummins technical team, Transnet technical team meet on Mondays, go through their work in progress, make sure everybody’s updated. And then on Thursdays, the contract teams, which are sales people, meet to assess the progress and status, leaving the opportunity for changes to be made timeously and in joint agreement?”
The importance of enabling Transnet to improve its performance is not lost on Cummins.
“They are a very big contributor in our country. We want to see them succeed. And as a good national or global citizen, it is our responsibility to make sure that companies like Transnet continue to thrive, says Ndlovu.
“So we are taking this partnership very seriously because our failure will affect so many other people or so many other things that we might not even know of. So we really are invested in making sure that they succeed and we can give them as much support as we possibly can,” she notes.
Expanding marine excellence across Africa
Cummins’ commitment to improving Africa’s marine economy is not limited to Transnet, as it is also committed to servicing companies along the continent’s coast.
“So Cummins’ commitment is that we will service our product wherever it is. So we need to make sure that we keep to that commitment. We have set up some branches across the world and in branches where we don’t have Cummins entities, we build relationships with local entities,” Ndlovu says.
“This is also part of our initiative to make sure that we empower the communities in which we operate. So if you look at just South Africa, in Mozambique, we have dealers and partners that we’re working with in the marine. In Angola, we have dealers and partners,” she adds.
Ndlovu highlights that Cummins service is available wherever you dock, be it on land, or on water.
