MANUFACTURING
BELL LEADS IN
LOCAL MANUFACTURE
Contributed by Bell Equipment
Bell Equipment, based in Richards Bay, is an inspirational story of a small engineering and
agricultural repair service in northern KwaZulu-Natal that overcame the odds to become a South
African manufacturing icon and global articulated dump truck (ADT) specialist.
Bell’s new Richards Bay facility.
E
stablished over 60 years ago, the
company has effectively weathered
the cyclical nature of the industry
by strategically aligning the business for
sustainable growth and earning global
recognition for the world-class products and
services that it provides.
Today, Bell is southern Africa’s largest
heavy equipment manufacturer and
distributor. The company’s strength lies in
its passion for innovation and a focus on
providing reliable solutions that deliver the
20
JUNE 2018
lowest cost per tonne of material moved
in a variety of different conditions. These
are principles that were entrenched by the
company’s founder, Irvine Bell, along with
an ethos of listening to customers and
understanding what is important to them.
Operating globally,
impacting locally
Bell group chief executive designate,
Leon Goosen, says that today, Bell ADTs,
tractors, and tri-wheelers are locally
designed and manufactured from scratch at
the Richards Bay factory and sold globally
— from cutting and bending the raw steel
plates and machining axles and cylinders, to
painting and assembling the final product.
Whether it is Bell tri-wheelers and
tractors loading and hauling sugar cane on
local farms, or Bell ADTs and other Bell
products working in the port, on nearby
mines, or delivering on infrastructure
projects, the local impact of Bell and its
products is far reaching.