Capital Equipment News August 2022

TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP

Synertrex ® condition monitoring allows Weir Minerals to have real-time data for installed equipment.

Taking a TCO approach to capital equipment purchases

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As businesses continue to grapple with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of considering total cost of ownership (TCO) in all procurement decisions cannot be emphasised enough. By Munesu Shoko .

CO is a well-established concept in many industries, but what does it really mean for capital equipment owners? According to Marnus Koorts, general manager

pump products at Weir Minerals Africa, TCO is a true measure of the quality and perfor mance of a part or a piece of equipment. “Traditionally, the focus has always been on the capital cost of a product,” he says. “The TCO concept takes a holistic view of the costs associated with the product, and for pumps typically includes cost of product, wear life of the product, energy consumption, downtime required (ease of maintenance) and water consumption.” Koorts warns that mines that don’t apply this model could actually be costing their businesses a lot of money. It’s really important, he says, to have a holistic understanding of the buying decision. In the pump sector, for example, the cost of spares is always a big topic. “Taking only product cost into account, one could fail to realise that Warman ® impellers have a 2 to 3% lower energy consumption benefit compared to replicated components. If you take a 1 MW motor, for example, it can consume close to R10-million worth of power per year, translating to almost R300 000 power saving a year when opting for our offering. This does not even consider the cost of downtime and other maintenance related activities,” adds Koorts.

“TCO is a key formula to any successful operation as it looks at what it will cost an operator to successfully complete a job and charge a rate which covers expenses and maximises profits.”

Charl Marais, sales manager at Pilot Crushtec

“We encourage customers to consider the return on investment (ROI), and the savings in terms of reduced downtime, over the life cycle of a Weba chute. The savings achieved by some customers, for instance, have paid off the chutes in three months. For others, the ROI is six to 24 months. Thereafter, the equipment is effectively free.”

Mark Baller, managing director of Weba Chute Systems

TALKING POINTS

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