Tuesday, 11 February 2025
22.7 C
Durban

Lifecycle approach with OEM parts supports pumping solutions

Home Mining & Quarrying Lifecycle approach with OEM parts supports pumping solutions

CAPITAL equipment like pumps operate only as well as their components and wear parts allow, so it makes little sense to risk this performance by installing a replicated part.

“Mining and other industrial applications rely heavily on continuous operations to reach the productivity levels that make them profitable,” says Marnus Koorts, general manager pumps at Weir Minerals Africa. “This productivity is in turn the result of decades of partnership with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) like Weir Minerals, who provide much of the technological foundation underpinning a mining operation.”

Koorts emphasises that the lifecycle cost of key equipment like pumps is many orders of magnitude higher than its upfront capital cost – as they all need a high standard of maintenance that matches the quality of their initial manufacture. As long as the equipment performs to expectation, it will contribute to the mine’s success.

“What is often not fully understood, however, is that OEM spare parts are as carefully designed and manufactured as the core equipment itself,” he explains. “As an OEM with over 150 years of field experience, we have deep insights into how our parts perform – and can confidently provide our customers with performance predictions and service intervals.”

These promises that an OEM makes become the basis of its long-term partnerships with customers, he says, and allow the mining industry to effectively mitigate operational risk so that mines succeed. By contrast, a replicated part is a reverse-engineered product that tries to look the same as the original, and must simply fit in the appropriate space.

“This is where the similarity with the OEM part ends,” argues Koorts. “The performance and longevity of the replicated part can seldom be guaranteed, and this undermines the principles of risk mitigation and productivity that the mine is trying to achieve.”
Weir Minerals’ original spares form an essential part of the journey that it walks with customers.

Most Popular

Manufacturing output ended 2024 on a weak note

MANUFACTURING output, not seasonally adjusted, declined by 1.2% y/y in December 2024, following an upwardly revised 1.9% y/y contraction (previously -2.6%) in November, writes...

Poor logistics constrain SA citrus industry

OUTGOING CEO of the Citrus Growers' Association of Southern Africa (CGA), Justin Chadwick, has called for urgent action at South Africa’s ports and rail...

UKZN collaborating to produce next-gen solar energy

SCIENTISTS from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) are collaborating on a R70 million research project to develop and manufacture sustainable perovskite solar modules (PSMs)...

Automaker expresses ‘cautious optimism’ on 2025’s prospects

THE multifaceted State of the Motor Industry (SOMI '25) event served as an ideal stage for Toyota South Africa Motors’ (TSAM) president and CEO,...