Capital Equipment News November 2017

EDITOR'S COMMENT

RELOOKING EQUIPMENT CHOICES

C hange, in any form, is often difficult. We know how challenging it can be to go through change, although the outcomes may be really awesome. Many businesses often find themselves resisting change, perhaps because of the perceived risk or uncertainty associated with it. That is the current scenario in the local mining and quarrying sectors, where, for a long time, there has been a rigid approach to hauling preferences, with yellow metal haulers al- ways gaining favour, mostly just because “this is what we have always used here”. Generally, tipper trucks have always been regarded as ideal for light duty applications such as re-handling of ore and hauling of material from the processing plants to

stockpiles, with some arduous applications such as hauling run of mine (ROM) material from the rock face to the processing plants deemed no-go areas for these solutions. But, it is worthwhile to note that massive yellow metal trucks at mining operations around the world may soon be replaced by bigger, yet lighter, faster vehicles as operations seek better economies of scale and protection against the commodity price shocks of recent years. In the area of haulage, a new generation of mining tippers is emerging to reflect increased on-site demands. Lighter vehicles with larger capacities, better fuel and tyre efficiency and reduced maintenance are gaining preference on global sites, but the change has been slow in coming to our recently visited. The decision to ditch its conventional yellow metal rigid dump trucks it had run for over 100 years to haul ROM material from the quarry face to the processing plants, in favour of Scania mining tippers, called for a complete mind- set shift. A few years down the line, management is revelling in the glory of the hard decision they took. The gains are just massive. Current utilisation of the vehicles is about 83%, which is way more than the 72% world benchmark. The operation is saving 20% on maintenance costs compared with the conventional range of haulers it used to run, among other several operational gains. In my conversation with management at this operation, I realised that mining companies understand implicitly that productivity carries a value, but are not armed with the right information to make informed choices on the risks/rewards involved. Scania South Africa is one of the OEMs that has been at the forefront of driving its mining tipper offering for the past few years. The OEM has been on a relentless educational campaign, making local mines and quarries aware of its cost- African operating environment. However, I was impressed by a South African limestone operation I

effective hauling solution. As you will see in this edition of Capital Equipment News, Scania’s momentum into mining is gathering pace with the recent introduction of the new Scania G460CB8x4EHZ mining tipper, which offers a significant 25% increase in payload to 40 t, bridging the payload gap between conventional tippers and their yellow metal counterparts. In another recent development that is a key indicator that we may be moving towards the tipper direction at local mines is Bell Equipment’s recent announcement that it is entering the southern African tipper truck market through a partnership with KAMAZ, a Russian-based industry leader in this market segment globally. Bell says after a long period of investigation, it is now ready to take the milestone step. Obviously, this is a decision informed by current and future market trends. Conventional thinking has always been an obstacle to identifying the most cost- effective ways and means for improvement. Continued innovation is key, especially in an environment where business expansion is very tentative and costs still need to be tightly controlled. However, though it is gradual, I am encouraged by the paradigm shift at local mines and quarries. A focus on overall equipment effectiveness is a very good example of a shift in the way of thinking and evaluation of what equipment performance indicators should be. Equipment effectiveness in an application is one key factor that should influence buying decisions, rather than the conventional “this is how we have always done it” approach. Bearing in mind that equipment performance is one of the key parameters influencing production costs, it should, therefore, be subject to constant surveillance and analysis aimed at improving it. I am of the view that, now more than ever, it is time to relook our hauling solutions, bearing in mind that transportation constitutes up to a third or more of any operation’s costs. b

Munesu Shoko – Editor

capnews@crown.co.za

@CapEquipNews

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS NOVEMBER 2017 2