Modern Mining January 2020

PRODUCT News

Mato expands facilities as it grows market

‘as-new’ specifications. Upgrading our facilities ensures that we continue doing this as cost effectively as possible, as our customer base grows.” Complying with the highest standards of health and safety, the new spray booth is equipped with the latest filtration technol- ogy. This ensures that fumes and chemicals are filtered before air is expelled from the building. A powerful fan unit enables an extraction capacity of 18 000 m 3 /h. “Health and safety are key imperatives in the Multotec Group, and we have ensured that the new system consistently improves our working environment. Spray painting is associated with several health and safety factors which must be considered, and our new spray booth is fully compliant to these regulations and has been certified for use at Mato Products by our local fire depart- ment,” Frank says. “The better ergonomics of the new facil- ity – with more space, light and updated equipment – have been well received by employees.” Multotec, website: www.multotec.com temporarily in order to gain access. This has a hugely negative impact on any mining operation’s bottom line. Thus, many mines hold out on replacing these essential high-capex items for as long as possible. SEW-EURODRIVE is now able to replace historically-inefficient worm gear units with the latest helical and helical bevel gearboxes, made from case-hardened steel for maximum durability. The major advantage for mining clients, in particular, is that no modification to or adjustment of the original geared unit is required. “The drop-in replacement is based on a fabricated case that matches all critical dimensions of the existing gearbox exactly, and with improved mechanical and thermal ratings,” says SEW-EURODRIVE’s National Sales and Marketing Manager, Norman Maleka. While traditional worm gearboxes are only 60 to 70 % efficient, helical or bevel helical units are up to 99 % efficient. This is because the tooth profile, tooth pitch, and pressure angles, in addition to the precision case-hardened and fine-ground profiles, have been optimised to provide the highest torque possible, while maintaining maxi- mum efficiency. SEW-EURODRIVE, website: www.sew-eurodrive.co.za

The growing popularity of the MATO Products’ expanded offering has led the company to boost its service and repair facilities.

Andrew Frank, Operations Manager at MATO Products, highlights the recent com- pletion of the new spray-painting booth, which has doubled the firm’s capacity to finish refurbished items. Well known as a leader in conveyor belt lacing, the Multotec subsidiary also offers a range of belt clean- ing solutions. “To keep up with market demand, we have expanded our spray booth sig- nificantly in terms of size and throughput capability,” Frank says. “It can now accom- modate components up to a length of 2,2 metres and provide a more productive environment for operators.” This now allows for all repair and finish- ing work – even on the longer diagonal belt cleaners – to be spray-painted in-house, he says. Importantly, this improves turnaround time, quality control and cost to customer. “We pride ourselves on the functional- ity and longevity of our products,” he says. “We base this on our technical quality in repairing and refurbishing equipment to

The spray booth has doubled MATO’s capacity to finish refurbished items.

Drop-in gearbox replacement service

A convenient and cost-effective option for ageing African mines, some of them 50 to 60 years’ old, is to have their geared units professionally and cost-effectively refur- bished by SEW-EURODRIVE. Supplementing its refurbishment capa-

bility, the drive engineering specialist can also offer a drop-in gearbox replacement service. Geared units are particularly difficult to refurbish or modify on mines, as their large size means that production has to be halted

HERS upgrades and expands service offering to mining Hydraulic Engineering Repair Services (HERS) has announced that it now boasts an upgraded state-of-the-art drive train test facil- ity, which provides in-house testing capability that supports drive train repairs and which can be used to provide testing capability to third parties. HERS has also diversified its hydraulic product range to now include the supply and repair of drifters and impact ham- mers, to which end a new test bench has also been unveiled and demonstrated. HERS has further announced that it has entered into a distribution agreement with Dana to acquire parts directly from Dana and to sell on parts and components to the market.

HERS was established in 1996 when the 1971 founding company, Hydraulic and Air Services (Pty) Limited, changed ownership. In 2015, HERS became a division of Hudaco Trading (Pty) Ltd. Hudaco is a South African group of companies that specialises in the importation and distribution of high quality branded automotive, industrial and electri- cal consumable products, mainly in South Africa. The product portfolio supplied to the mining industry includes hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders, pumps, hoses, filters, engines and drive train components. HERS, website: www.hers.co.za

Drifter test bench at HERS.

70  MODERN MINING  January 2020