Trying to keep 50-year-old David Kapahnke on topic as we walk around the yard of D&D Diesel, on the busy South Gippsland Highway in the Melbourne suburb of Dandenong, is a challenge.
As the Melbourne sun starts to beat down, our conversation is interrupted by a phone call, a brief conversation and an ensuing apology.
“Sorry, I had to take that.”
Picking up where we left off discussing the formative stages of his entry to the industry, David once again stops the conversation to pick up a call from a customer.
Again: a phone call, a brief conversation, and another apology.
Despite his apologies, it’s evident to see that it’s this kind of commitment to providing his customers with a high level of post-sale service and support that has held David in high regard since he began the business he’s about to elaborate on back in 1994.
But David’s story begins before then. David Kapahnke began his career as a 15-year-old back in 1988, completing an apprenticeship as a diesel mechanic on construction machinery. Working for a now defunct company, his work predominantly revolved around earthmoving and excavating equipment, with a part of his work pertaining to repairs on small cranes.
After leaving his first foray into professional work, David then furthered himself at Australian crane hire company Aitkin Cranes, where he continued his trade repairing and servicing cranes. Following Aitkin Cranes was a venture into the big leagues with Tutt Bryant, until he came to the realisation that if he wanted to complete work for customers on his own terms, he would need to start his own business.
“That’s how D&D Diesel came about,” he said. “Post-sale service and repair has always been the backbone of my passion in the industry; it’s now the backbone of the business we provide.”
Based out in Dandenong in Melbourne’s south-east, D&D Diesel was conceived in 1994 and began by operating out the back of a couple of utes with David driving a couple of trucks around to help whoever contracted the company’s services. The last 30 years, however, have seen David and the company go from strength to strength, developing extensive experience in construction equipment as well as trucks, cranes and other diesel or hydraulic machinery.
Armed with an ever-expanding yard, D&D Diesel holds a large space for storage of machines that need to be serviced as well as a big sales yard. Included in its servicing capabilities is a storage facility containing some spare parts with others readily and quickly shipped in from overseas, and a large number of trucks with smaller cranes on the back to facilitate easier transport and servicing. Furthermore, on top of the abundance of machinery it now sells, D&D Diesel also completes 10-year testing and major inspections on cranes.
To aid D&D Diesel’s work in repairing, maintaining and servicing its customers’ machinery, David employs a team of seven in his workshop, a servicing manager and two team members to monitor and aid with the inventory of spare parts the company stocks on standby for its customers.
Growing over the years by consistently providing the construction and mining industry with a high-quality service, D&D Diesel has now expanded its operations to become the Victorian distributors for XCMG’s equipment range as well as the “proud” East Coast Sales and Service distributors for XCMG’s cranes. Walking around the yards, XCMG’s 25-tonne truck crane and the 40-tonne all-terrain XCA40_E which was recently on show at Inside Construction Expo in Melbourne gleam in the sunlight, with an XGCT100 awaiting in the company’s Muswellbrook yard.
As reported on in previous editions of Cranes and Lifting, XCMG’s reputation in Western markets still confronts obstacles which hinder the brand’s products in Australia. When quizzed on why he chose to go take up the opportunity to supply, sell and service the Chinese manufacturer’s cranes, the answer is simple for David.
“XCMG has put in a lot of hard work over the years,” he said. “The machines are consistently getting better, so when the opportunity came across our desk to be the dealer for XCMG, we thought it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.”
Being sold at a more attainable price in today’s market of rising inflation rates and with a quality that matches the levels displayed by European and American cranes according to those with hands-on experience of operating the machines, distributing XCMG’s products ties in perfectly with D&D Diesel’s driving philosophy of providing great equipment with great service at a great price.
XCMG is placing a high emphasis on who it selects to distribute its products in the Australian market after its last foray Down Under. On top of choosing highly regarded dealer and servicing company Ronco, D&D Diesel was also offered the chance to distribute the Chinese manufacturer’s products because of the high attention to detail the company exhibits with its post-sale service, according to XCMG’s ANZ Sales Manager Stephen Broomfield.
“We’re looking very carefully at who we appoint as our dealers,” he said. “It’s not a case of just grabbing someone who wants to sell some cranes and make a quick dollar; we want companies who are firmly established that possess workshop facilities capable of servicing cranes and providing a customer-centric mantra, listen to feedback and make sure their product support is second to none.”
The sentiments expressed by XCMG’s Crane Sales Manager encapsulate D&D Diesel’s mantra down to its very core. After all, as David pointed out, XCMG’s attitude to consistently improving the quality of its product and hard work in ensuring the products supplied to the Australian market are up to standard is evident to see – and supplying quality machinery at an affordable price in a trying economic environment is at the core of both businesses’ operations.
“Post-sale service and support is what D&D Diesel was founded on,” said David. “Without service and support, we’re nothing. We’re distributing XCMG’s products because it wants to make a positive difference, and so do we.”
READ MORE:
- Pilbara plays host to “Australia-ready” XCMG cranes.
- Boom Logistics acquires new XCMG XGC320 through WA dealer Ronco.
- XCMG crawler crane completes “world first” hybrid project in China.