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Warehousing facility helps keep mines productive

Home Transport & Logistics Materials Handling Warehousing facility helps keep mines productive

OPTIMISING customers’ production and maximising their return on investment is the ongoing mission of the well-resourced FLSmidth’s warehousing facility in Stormill, west of Johannesburg.

That’s according to Derek Lane, operations manager at FLSmidth, who said continued investment in the facility over the past decade had seen it grow to 10,500 m2 under roof and 1,660 m2 under crane, with dual lifting capacity of up to 40 tons.

“We have technical capability across FLSmidth’s range of KREBS slurry pumps, cyclones and valves. allowing us to service customers through sub-Saharan Africa and into the Middle East.”

Lane said the operation had a strong focus on stocking strategic parts to facilitate the rapid assembly of new product. In addition to this, and central to the pump operation, is the efficient refurbishment and retrofitting of equipment. The facility also stocks a range of service exchange units.

Strategic stocking is done on the full gamut of KREBS pumps from the UMD heavy duty, millMAX, split casing slurryMAX, gravelMAX and vMAX ranges, all of which feature a recessed impeller design allowing the pumps to run dry. In addition, Technequip valves are stocked in a variety of sizes, both flanged and wafer type.

“Our workshop and warehousing capacity equip us to respond quickly to customers in various regions of Africa and beyond. This is critical in helping maintain their operational uptime while keeping costs down.”

Service Manager Martin Jones said the quality of the KREBS pump range also allows them to be offered to customers on a trial basis. Trial pumps can be run against time or tonnage targets to ensure that they exceed the performance of existing equipment.

“The service component in these trials includes a dedicated service technician who visits site for checking and fine-tuning during the trial. This level of technical on-site collaboration from our teams allows operational parameters to be closely monitored and refinements made to specific performance requirements,” said Jones.

Within South Africa, service support options include regular visits by service technicians to site, as well as more intensive levels of service in the form of bespoke maintenance contracts, and field service support teams operating in strategic locations.

“Some customers request a period of commissioning assistance, for example, and we can provide experts on site for as long as the customer requests them,” Jones said.

Lane highlighted the importance of regular and correct maintenance of equipment to minimise lifecycle costs and maximise productivity. “To meet this goal, FLSmidth conducts customised training on request for customers. This could be focused on hands-on maintenance staff dealing with essential day-to-day maintenance. It is also available for higher-level staff such plant engineers, on topics such as product selection.”

The training can be given in different languages, suited to the region.

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