Capital Equipment News March 2019

INTERVIEW

having started testing the suitability of 3D printing technologies for metal components already years ago. We have defined and prototyped several concepts where the 3D printed components can provide new levels of valve performance compared to components manufactured with traditional methods. We have since delivered the first valves with 3D printed parts to a customer. The valves include 3D printed metal components that allow them to perform in a particularly demanding application where they need to withstand numerous fast open-close cycles without maintenance. The beauty of 3D printing is that it allows the customer to have devices whose new properties can only be implemented using the 3D printing method. With certain products, a key benefit for the customer can be exceptionally quick delivery times. The 3D printed parts and related methodological investigations are part of a broader digitalisation project at Metso.

In addition to valve component production, Metso is already using 3D printing to additively manufacture tools used to make minerals consumables parts. MS: You mentioned the growth of your aggregates business locally. How beneficial has been your partnership with Pilot Crushtec International? PV: Our aggregates business has grown significantly in recent years. It now constitutes about €70-million of our regional turnover. We have had such a very successful cooperation with Pilot Crushtec. Testimony to their capabilities is that they have gone on to become our third biggest distributor globally in three years. In September 2017, Pilot Crushtec was also awarded the ‘Best New Services Distributor’ at Metso’s global conference held in Tampere, Finland. The award was in recognition of exceptional levels of customer service and support. Gaining the award after barely 16 months as a Metso distributor speaks volumes to Pilot

Crushtec International’s commitment to customer satisfaction. MS: You mentioned that there is plenty opportunity in Africa. How do you find the market at present? PV: It has been positive in Africa. We had a very low number of enquiries in 2017 on the capital side of both the aggregates and mining businesses. That changed in the first half of 2018, where we saw an increase in enquiries, before we started getting the orders in the second of half of the year. We have since experienced an increase in capital sales, both for aggregates and mining businesses. MS: How do you find the global market? PV: I will look at it from an order perspective; last year our order book grew by 17% compared with 2017. Towards the end of the year orders came in at an accelerating pace. There is sentiment that the market is slowing down but we haven’t experienced it on our side. We have a healthy order book. b

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