Nascent national construction equipment distributor, Construction Equipment Australia, has won its first major contract with the Commonwealth of Australia to supply British manufactured JCB telescopic handlers to the Australian Army.
The $12.5 million contract, to supply 40 customised JCB telescopic handlers and Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) as part of a staged program, was officially signed at JCB Construction Equipment Australia’s Western Australian office in Guildford.
JCB Construction Equipment Australia, part of the diversified CFC Group of companies, and which has its head office in Melbourne, has formed a partnership with Scientific Management Associates (SMA) in Melbourne to provide the ILS component of the contract.
It is the biggest value contract ever signed by JCB Construction Equipment Australia and the most significant project in dollar terms for the Department of Defence’s JP126 Phase 2, which is seeking to deliver a joint theatre distribution system that will optimise the Defence Force’s capability to control and deliver combat service support in joint areas of operation.
While it is also the first contract with the Australian Army for JCB Construction Equipment Australia, JCB, which has its headquarters in Staffordshire in the UK, has built similar machines for other armed forces around the world, including US, British, Dutch and Asian defence forces.