MechChem Africa May-June 2025

⎪ Products and industry news ⎪

Bi fosters dynamic customer partnerships

Bearings International (Bi) has, since 1958, consistently set the benchmarks in innova tion for bearings, power transmission and interconnected mechanical consumables that sustainably optimise operations for industrial customers across Southern Africa. This through the organisation’s continuous commitment to powerful partnerships with customers. Bi general manager, Christian Chipamaunga, highlights the significance of building solid long-term customer relation ships: “Bi customers rely on our product, technology and service solutions to support operations across their regional footprint. Continuously seeking ways to innovate and streamline our processes and services is crucial to ensuring business sustainability. This mindset applies to both our customers and to Bi, embodying our shared philosophy of continuous innovation and improvement.” An example of this is the recent intro duction of Tech-Top (Alpha) IE3 motors to support customers in complying with the new MEPS regulations. “As the 'fast' in fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) implies,

the plant-to-consumer supply chain demands lightning-fast production cycles to get goods to market at breakneck speed. Central to this is the efficiency and reliability of plant equip ment, which drives up-time and ensures high production levels. Over the past six plus decades, Bi has been supplying the FMCG segment with an extensive range of essential components. Bi’s premium quality bearings and accessories, V-belts, torque transfer solutions, motors, geared units and industrial chain are helping to keep millions of South African homes and businesses supplied with trusted products. Also key to Bi’s offering is comprehensive on-site product training, countrywide service and after-market support. Chipamaunga elaborates: “Our training is delivered by highly skilled product application engineers (PAE) and tier-one suppliers. Across South Africa, our customers can count on unparalleled sup port through our network of over 50 branches and agents in all provinces, guaranteeing swift service delivery and rapid response times. “This countrywide support ensures cus tomers are equipped with the necessary – one of the world's largest coal export fa cilities. Guy Fitt, sales manager at Tru-Trac, says that the company had achieved great success with its new Apex Trackers at min ing operations and was keen to test the new design in challenging applications on wider and faster belts. RBCT was the ideal site, as it operates some of the most demanding conveyor systems, says Fitt. “These include 2.2 m wide steel-cord belts running at 6.7 m/s and carrying up to 11 000 tonnes of coal per hour,” he says. “We already have some of our older generation trackers on RBCT’s conveyors and were excited to offer them the advantages of our latest innovation.” Tru-Trac placed their test unit on one of RBCT’s larger conveyors where the belt was experiencing frequent misalignment, caus ing damage to the conveyor structure and the belt itself. This was also causing material spillage, leading to production losses. Even before the end of the initial four week test ing phase at RBCT, the Apex Trough Tracker had proven its value. The RBCT team were so impressed with the performance that they placed an order for additional units. The new Apex design has reduced the amount of steelwork around the tracker’s cradle and uses cantilever wing rolls with an angle adjustment mechanism located below the rollers. This makes the cradle

Bi’s Christian Chipamaunga

knowledge, products and services to get the best performance from the components and subsequently their machines and equipment.” Bi’s recently relaunched Field Services offer ing further enhances access to expert support as and when needed. “Having the right partners and global brands behind us has been critical to the suc cess of our customer partnerships. We work together with our valued strategic suppliers to craft tailored, cutting-edge solutions that deliver the very best results and help position Bi and our strategic brands as the first choice for customers,” Chipamaunga assures. www.bearings.co.za lighter allowing it to react more quickly to movements of the conveyor belt and eliminates protruding adjustment bolts on older models. Another important benefit is its adjust able wing rolls, which allow for a range of adjustment from 10°degrees to 60° de grees, making it a versatile retrofit to any conveyor belt. When adjusted to the lowest level, the unit is almost flat, making storage, handling and installation much safer and quicker – especially when working with heavier belts – as the tracker can easily be slid under the belt. At RBCT, the installation process took a little over an hour, compared to a typical installation time in the industry of between two to three hours. Ease of maintenance has also been improved by the new Apex Trough Tracker design. “Maintenance technicians can now simply drop the wing rolls down, slide the tracker out and install the new unit in the same way, before adjusting the wing rolls to their operating angles,” says Fitts. “The performance of our latest Apex Trough Tracker at RBCT has definitely opened doors for us,” Fitt says. “It has given us a strong reference point to showcase our capability on high-speed high-tonnage conveyors in international markets – both in coal and hard-rock applications.” https://tru-trac.com

Tru-Trac’s Apex trough tracker

With its range of belt tracking solutions un dergoing constant innovation, Tru-Trac has proven its patented Apex Trough Tracker under arduous conditions at the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) in KwaZulu-Natal

Designed for demanding conditions, the Apex Trough Tracker excels in high-tonnage, high-speed conveyor applications.

May-June 2025 • MechChem Africa ¦ 35