Eazi Sales & Service, JLG’s distributor for Southern Africa including various countries throughout Africa, has begun importing and distributing the JLG range of tracked spider lifts.

The lifts are manufactured for JLG by spider lift market leader, Hinowa, following a deal agreed in 2010 to produce four models - the 14 metre Goldlift 14:70 IIIs, the 14 metre 14:72 Lightlift, along with the Hinowa Lightlift 19 metre 19:65 and 23 metre Lightlift 23:12, for worldwide sale thorough JLG’s distributor network. The JLG versions are known as the X14J, X14-H, X17J (a 17 metre unit was added more recently), X19J and X23J.

Larry Smith, managing director at Eazi, Said: “We will bring these innovative, reliable and easy to operate machines to the local market, offering after sales support services including parts, repair and maintenance, training, and technical support.”

Eazi is a division of Eazi Access Rental the Gauteng, Johannesburg based aerial lift and telehandler sales and rental company. In addition to its headquarters in Gauteng the company has locations in Richards Bay, Kwazulu Natal and Cape Town and runs one of South Africa's largest aerial lift rental fleets.

In the 18 months or so since the initial agreement was signed, JLG has invested a great deal of time and effort in incorporating the spider lift product line in order to ensure that the products were treated in exactly the same as any other JLG product – in terms of product support training and technical back up etc…

Many of its distributors - especially those in markets that are not familiar with the spider lift concept or Hinowa – have been hesitant to embrace the badged products but now appear to be doing so.

Most OEM deals, such as this fail due to distributor hesitation, a second class support compared to the manufacturers own production and from giving up too soon. Neither JLG nor Hinowa appears to have fallen into those traps. If the JLG distribution network now gets behind the product it could change the market in places like the USA.