PACSys, established in 2016 by a group of KZN sugarcane farmers, was the first crop spraying drone company in South Africa and the driver behind the legalization of this revolutionary technology by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) and Department of Agriculture (DALRRD) in 2019.
KZN sugarcane represents some of the most challenging aerial pesticide application conditions in the world. Small and irregularly shaped fields (averaging 3-4 hectares) are planted on often extremely steep slopes, amongst powerlines and trees, and ravaged by typically high coastal winds. It truly is a nightmare scenario, that demands high precision.
PACSys, forged in these exceptionally difficult spraying conditions, is now 7 years old and the leading agricultural drone dealer in Southern Africa, servicing customers throughout all the major crops and farming regions.
The three pillars on which PACSys has been built and that we’re continuously perfecting are Sales, Training and Customer Service.
Sales
Our marketing and sales philosophy is primarily to demonstrate the ability of the drones in real spraying scenarios, most often at our popular demo days. All our sales staff are highly experienced registered Pest Control Operators (PCO’s) and are thus well capable of engaging in technical discussions with a variety of attendees (farmers, agronomists, pesticide representatives, etc).
A benefit of our sales strategy is that we’ve developed phenomenal insight into the applicability of drones in all crop types throughout the continent and can therefore professionally advise our customers accordingly.
Training
PACSys’s comprehensive, 4-day operator training is offered free of charge to all customers and attendees benefit from our unrivalled 7 years’ experience in challenging KZN sugarcane spraying conditions. We learned very early on that the drone is not simply a “push play” machine.
When planning spraying missions – terrain, obstacles, land shape / size, pesticide mode of action, and weather (current and predicted) all significantly impact on the quality and efficiency of spraying operations and must be considered during the planning phase. We’ve worked too hard to earn the respect of all industry stakeholders and regulators to allow poorly trained operators to tarnish the drone’s good reputation.
Another benefit for customers of comprehensive operator training is that it drastically minimises customer service / support queries and ultimately costly “down-time”.
Customer Service
Customer service is the pillar in which we’re investing the most. To achieve our vision of mass market adoption of drone spraying technology, we need to keep our customers in the air. Any support issues must be accurately and efficiently resolved, limiting costly “down-time”.
To date, PACSys has established four branches (Ballito, Paarl, Bethlehem and Middelburg) and placed Parts Cabinets in three other locations (Swellendam, Kokstad and Winterton). Based in each of our branches are highly-qualified drone repairs & maintenance technicians – available to quickly service customers, both in-store and out in the field with our Mobile Support Units. Our mission is to bring industry-leading customer service as close to our customers as possible (additional branches and Parts Cabinets will be rolled out in 2024).
What makes PACSys unique is that we view each new customer as an opportunity to forge a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship, helping them to exceed their pesticide application goals.
To book a consultation with one of our technical sales specialists, email sales@pacsys.co.za or call 032 330 5009.
