This is the 13th consecutive year that Hino SA has won these two accolades, which are contested by Hino distributors worldwide. Hino SA also won another award from HML, which was for its sales effort in 2024.

“Each distributor is scored monthly against a set of criteria for each discipline and these scores are then totalled for the year. The score must be a minimum of 80% of target to get an award,” explains Sudesh Sanilall (Hino SA’s Senior Manager – Customer Services).

“Some of the criteria for the Service Distributor of the Year Award are customer experience ratings, workshop productivity measuring efficiency and profitability for the dealer network and Hino SA itself.

“The Parts Distributor of the Year Award is based on specific criteria set out by HML to deliver an excellent parts supply to dealers and customers, including the ability to supply parts on first request, stock holding and emergency parts supply by Hino SA and the dealer network,” says Sudesh.

“Accolades such as these are a tribute to the hard work, planning and commitment of the staff at our dealerships and head office,” says Itumeleng Segage, Hino South Africa’s General Manager – Sales. “We also focus a great deal of our marketing effort on the training of our own staff as well as people involved in these important aspects of our business at the 67 Hino dealers countrywide.

“We have a huge advantage over most of our competitors since our Hino parts are stored and managed in the state-of-the-art Toyota Africa Parts Centre in Ekurhuleni, which we share with Toyota SA Motors.

“This recently enlarged facility now covers 80 000m², making it the largest warehouse of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere. It serves not only South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini and Lesotho, but also 36 other countries in sub-Saharan Africa besides a further six international export markets.

“The whole operation is digital and much of it is automated to ensure quick response times to dealer orders. There are also special arrangements to fast-track vehicle-off-road (VOR) orders to ensure minimum downtime for our customers,” Itumeleng adds.

“Dealers located within a 100 km radius from the TAPC get two deliveries a day and other dealers get daily deliveries. Besides getting parts quickly, the dealers also benefit from a 96% first time pick rate in the warehouse.

“Hino also plays another role at the TAPC in that it has three diesel-electric Hino 300 Hybrid trucks on trial with Namlog, one of the logistics companies involved in this efficient parts operation. The facility itself is being made increasingly environmentally friendly and self-sufficient in terms of electricity generation and water supply,” concludes Itumeleng.