Modern Mining May 2019

CRUSHING, SCREENING AND MILLING

Vibrating equipment specialist meets the digital challenge

that suits our customers’ specific and exacting needs,” she says. “Beyond this, we also ensure that our knowledge base includes both mechanical and metallur- gical expertise – so that we understand how our equipment can help optimise upstream and downstream processes within the plant.” In the digital age, collaboration with the customer – and even with other OEMs – has become increasingly essential, says Kenny Mayhew-Ridgers, Kwatani’s Chief Operating Officer. “This needs to take place right from the concept phase of a project, so that data requirements are aligned,” he says. “While mines as the end-user are facilitating this alignment process, each OEM needs the expertise to leverage digital technology in their particular ‘module’ within the process plant.” As an all-South African company with B-BBEE Level 1 status and 80 % local content in its sourcing and manufacturing, Kwatani actively participates in the project design teams with some of its leading custom- ers, he says. “The power of technology today allows mines to create a ‘digital twin’ of their actual plant enabling modelling and testing to be conducted digitally before any actual changes are introduced to the plant’s functioning,” Mayhew-Ridgers explains. “To do this accu- rately, however, requires a high level of technical input from OEMs throughout plan- ning and implementation.” He highlights the use of the appropriate sensors to measure key indices related to the screen’s condition and performance. These devices track aspects such as the power draw of motors as an indicator of bed depth, as well as key data such as tonnes per hour processed. “There is a vast amount of process data that OEMs can gather for a modern plant, allowing operators to fine tune each aspect for opti- mal performance,” Mayhew-Ridgers says. “At Kwatani, we also regularly collect data that reflects the condition of our screens and moni- tor the health of the machines.” This valuable information is important

Mines are relying increasingly on ‘smart’ plants to opti- mise the performance and cost of their crushing, screening and milling functions. In these data-driven environments, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) must ensure that their systems can align seamlessly with the mine’s integrat- ed data needs, according to Kim Schoepflin, Chief Executive Officer of vibrating equipment specialist Kwatani.

“ R ecognising the value of in- novation and technology has always been a pillar of Kwatani’s ‘engineered for tonnage’ philosophy,” says Schoepflin. “This is why we have probably the highest percentage of tertiary-qualified techni- cal staff in our segment of this industry.” She says it is this superior level of in-house expertise that allows Kwatani to design its equipment for the 4th Industrial Revolution where technology is fusing the physical world with the digital world. Schoepflin highlights the company’s capacity to design, engineer and build some of the world’s largest and most rugged screens, while at the same time incorporating modern electronics linked to leading-edge digital functionality. “Our in-house design expertise, linked to the detailed monitoring of our screens’ perfor- mance in the field, has given us the capability to customise large and cost effective equipment

Kim Schoepflin, CEO of Kwatani, and Kenny Mayhew-Ridgers, COO, observing the dynamic movement of a vibrating screen during the test phase.

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52  MODERN MINING  May 2019