TVH expert Joris Tijtgat talks about TVH’s wide offering of parts for small earth-movers, which covers all major makes and models of mini excavators, skid steer loaders, compact track loaders and backhoe loaders.
In 2020, TVH officially launched its parts range for small earth-movers, but TVH has been active in this market for much longer.
The company started in 2006 with a limited offering of rubber tracks and undercarriage parts in response to specific customer requests.
This approach led to a steady expansion of our range, with a focus on more parts and specific machines.
As TVH’s global market manager for small earth-movers, Joris monitors and analyses the market to effectively develop our parts range and define the future global operational approach for these machines.
Joris started working for TVH in 2012 and has transitioned through several roles, first in the Hydraulics Team until he moved to the Small Earth-Movers Team in 2019. He was team leader for four years before settling into his current position at the beginning of 2023.
“When it comes to parts for small earth-movers at TVH, growth has always been the key”, Joris said.
“The development of our range started back in 2006 with a demand-driven supply of rubber tracks and undercarriage parts, meaning that we only supplied these parts in response to specific customer requests.
“However, this approach allowed us to steadily grow our range. We began to focus on other product groups and on specific machines and makes. In doing so, we noticed an overlap between parts and customers.
“On the one hand, some products such as filters and engine components are used on several machines.
“But we also saw that some of our customers, for example, those active in rental, also had small earth-movers in their fleet. That is why in 2017, the company decided that we wanted to officially enter the market. We took the time to prepare and build our product range for the launch in 2020.”
Since then, the range has only grown. New products are added every day, which has led to the introduction of a new machine type.
In 2023, backhoe loaders joined TVH’s small earth-moving family alongside mini-excavators, skid steer loaders, and compact track loaders.
“Within this family, we take proactive action — meaning we ensure we have the parts before there is a demand — for parts suitable for nine focus makes: Bobcat, Case, Caterpillar, JCB, John Deere, Kubota, Takeuchi, Volvo, and Yanmar. These represent the largest global market share in our submarkets,” Joris said.
“But it is important to note that this is a focus and not a limitation.
“Thanks to TVH’s dedicated Small Earth-Movers Team within the look-up service, we can supply parts outside our usual scope, albeit in the category of up to 10 tonnes.
“To give you an idea, our look-up service handles requests for more than 30 makes, meaning we can also provide parts suitable for Ausa, Develon, Giant, Hitachi, Komatsu, Schaeff, Terex, Thwaites, Wacker Neuson and many more. In addition, we move beyond our scope of machine types with parts for compact wheel loaders, site dumpers, midi-wheeled excavators, etc.
“And this is also reflected in concrete figures. Looking at our focus, we have more than two million known references of parts and accessories for small earth-movers. But our total number of known references accumulates to over five million!
“This range includes essential products like filters, hydraulics, engine and cooling parts, cabin parts, tracks, undercarriage parts, tyres, electrical parts, drive train and steering and more, as well as vital excavator hardware such as bucket teeth and blades, bucket and tipping links, pins and bushings, etc.”
Looking to the future
Joris said that TVH’s main plan for the future is to keep up momentum.
“We have already invested heavily in building up our stock, so we want to focus on further commercialising and expanding our range,” he said.
“Once again, the look-up service has an important role to play, because it is also responsible for expanding TVH’s range and further increasing the technical expertise within the company.
“Ultimately, these activities may lead to official additions to our range, such as the introduction of parts for backhoe loaders in 2023.
“We certainly want to expand further in this way in the future, but whether that will be with new makes or new machine types remains to be seen. Moreover, we must keep a close eye on the trends and changes in the small earth-moving market to provide the best possible service to our customers. For example, one trend that we cannot ignore is the rise of Chinese machine makes, especially in Europe and North America.
“Equally important is the growing number of electric small earth-movers. More and more OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers, Ed.) are going electric and adding more machine types to their electric ranges.
“On the other hand, I don’t think that the ‘classic’ small earth-movers with internal combustion engines will disappear since newer models are better equipped to reduce their emissions. Much will depend on legislation and the perception of the users: will they find the electric version as productive as their diesel counterparts?”
“That’s why it’s so vital for us to remain vigilant in adapting our parts range to the needs of the market. Because whatever we do, the needs of our customers will always guide our decisions.”
Looking for small earth-mover parts?
Visit the TVH online shop (eshop.tvh.com) to order parts and accessories. Or contact TVH on 1300 505 005 or at constructionparts.au@tvh.com
