Government has been urged to strengthen the various checkpoints and borders of the country to curb influx of fake tools and equipment.

Benjamin Ofori, Country Business Director of BOSCH Power Tools explained that the influx of these substandard products onto the market can cause harm to users of such products as well as negatively affect user confidence.

Mr. Ofori made the call at the sidelines of the company’s third annual Dealer Conference at Peduase in the Eastern region last Wednesday to strengthen collaborations with the dealers on key user initiatives and extend the footprint of Bosch Power Tools across the country.

The Country Director stated that “Government works with the standards authorities to ensure efficiency but we still have these fake products find their way into the market crossing from sometimes neighbouring Togo or other countries so it will be good if we are able to check all these things and also allow Customs to check closely with us,”

“It will be great if the government will have ways to check that goods that come into the ports are not unscrupulous products,” he noted.

Business with Accredited Dealers

According to him, “Bosch was worried when we started our work in Ghana and we will continue to worry when people are trying to get their bad products into the market with our name. we are a reputable company which has been around for more than 100 years and a trusted brand as well so we are not happy about the influx of fake products.”

He further advised the general public to do business with accredited dealers and Bosch rangers to avoid fake products.

“The more reason we are worried is that when fake products find their way into the market they have a way of injuring the user and we do not want that to happen to any Ghanaian. I want to assure and encourage users to only deal with us to get original products and save money,” Mr. Ofori stressed.

Dealer Conference

During the presentations, the Country Director explained that to serve better the end user, Bosch Power Tools and the dealer network would focus on the mindset of “Living User Centricity”.

He added that “This means transforming and making the lives of artisans, professional and do-it-yourself users better by ensuring that they receive the right tool for every job at an affordable price – while having the certainty that there is an aftersales service available nearby.”

At the event, Bosch Power Tools Ghana recognized outstanding contributions of dealers with awards: Autofast received the award for Top Performer in the Construction Industry, Empira Trust and Entsa properties each received the award for the Top Performer for the Traditional Trade Sector of the Open Market. In addition, Viakos received the Longest Serving Partner award and UTC & Hatoum Trading received awards for Best New Comer.

Living User Centricity

According to him, “Living User Centricity” is at the heart of the Bosch Power Tools user journey in Ghana since establishing the Power Tools office in Accra in 2016.

Mr Ofori explained that the company follows the strategy to create zero distance between Bosch and the users, through the provision of training, advice on tools for the right job and aftersales service and “With this strategy in mind, Bosch Power Tools Ghana has established relationships with hardware dealers so that users gain easy access to Bosch power tools across all regions in Ghana.”