Modern Mining March 2020

SUPPLY CHAIN News

FLSmidth’s warehousing facility keeps mines productive

Optimising customers’ production and maximising their return on investment is the ongoing mission of the well-resourced FLSmidth’s warehousing facility in Stormill, west of Johannesburg. According to Derek Lane, operations manager at FLSmidth, continued invest- ment in the facility over the past decade has kept it at the leading edge of customer service. Today, it has grown to 10 500 m² under roof and 1 660 m² under crane, with

dual lifting capacity of up to 40 tonnes. “We have technical capability across FLSmidth’s range of KREBS slurry pumps, cyclones and valves,” says Lane, “allowing us to service customers through sub-Saha- ran Africa and into the Middle East.” Meeting customer needs is paramount, and the operation has a strong focus on stocking strategic parts to facilitate the rapid assembly of new product. In addition to this, and central to the pump opera-

Index to advertisers “The service component in these trials includes a dedicated service technician who visits site for checking and fine-tuning during the trial,” says Jones. “This level of technical on-site collaboration from our teams allows operational parameters to be closely monitored and refinements made to specific performance requirements.”  tion, is also the efficient refurbishment and retrofitting of equipment. Supporting the customer drive for lowest total cost of ownership, the Stormill facility also stocks a range of service exchange units assisting mines to maintain uptime. Strategic stocking is done on the full range of KREBS pumps from the UMD heavy duty, millMAX, split casing slurry- MAX, gravelMAX and vMAX range, all of which feature a recessed impeller design allowing the pumps to run dry. In addition, Technequip valves are stocked in a variety of sizes, both flanged and wafer type. “Our workshop and warehousing capacity equip us to respond quickly to customers in various regions of Africa and beyond,” he says. “This is critical in help- ing maintain their operational uptime while keeping costs down.” The quality of the FLSmidth’s KREBS pump range also allows them to be offered to customers on a trial basis. Trial pumps can be run against time or tonnage targets to ensure that they exceed the perfor- mance of existing equipment, says service manager Martin Jones.

A view of the spare parts store at the FLSmidth Stormill facility.

Cummins Zambia has completed a coolant plant project in Kitwe on the Copperbelt that received approval from the Zambia New Kitwe coolant plant for Cummins Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) in 2019. The “plug-and-play” plant will produce two types of coolant, namely ES compleat Hybrid (Blue) and ES compleat OAT (Red).

Hyundai to develop hydrogen fuel excavators Hyundai Construction Equipment recently decided to join forces with Hyundai Motor Group to develop the world’s first hydro- gen-powered construction equipment. Last February, Hyundai Construction Equipment signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding the joint-development of hydrogen fuel cell construction equipment with Hyundai Motors and Hyundai Mobis at its Mabuk Research Centre in Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do. According to the MOU, Hyundai Motors and Hyundai Mobis will design and manu- facture hydrogen fuel cell systems, including power packs, while Hyundai Construction Equipment will design, manufacture and evaluate the performance of excavators. The target date for mass production and distribu- tion has been set for 2023. 

PLC-driven and automated, the plant has the capability to perform batch correc- tion. It has a blending capacity of around 1 600 ℓ over two hours, including quality testing. The system has two 2 500 ℓ tanks for product storage. Cummins aftermarket leader (Zambia) John Kambing’a says that, while the plant was originally scheduled for completion within six months in 2018, it took about a year to complete due to delivery and manu- facturing logistics, in addition to stringent ZEMA approval reports. The main contrac- tor was CP Engineering, with a Cummins Filtration team overseeing the project from start to finish. Cummins Filtration built the plant and shipped it to Zambia, where it was installed by a local contractor under the supervision of the project team. The Cummins Filtration team from South Africa also played a key role in commissioning the plant. 

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52  MODERN MINING  March 2020