Modern Mining May 2024

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Canadian tyre specialist Kal Tire continues to institutionalise innovation with ongoing development of new tools and technology for its tyre services, John Martin, vice president, Southern Africa, Kal Tire Mining Tire Group tells Modern Mining . By Nelendhre Moodley . “ A utomation, robotics and artificial intelli gence continue to be a key component to our future innovations as we continuously seek to minimise operational risk and build Innovative mind-set underpins Kal Tire’s success

on operation efficiencies,” he says. Discussing the importance of innovation, the tyre services provider explains that it is a core aspect underpinning the company’s mindset and organisational behaviour, which lends itself to the organisational agility needed to adapt to market changes. Martin says that to be relevant and competitive in the tyre services industry, tyre suppliers must include innovation and entrepreneurial thinking in all facets of the customer interface and must ensure that entrepreneurship is integral to the company’s culture and behavioural characteristics. “To be successful in the mining tyres service industry, a proven value proposition with measur able and verified results is required, and this is what sets us apart from the competition. Innovation and innovative thinking are key components of the value proposition our customers have come to expect from Kal Tire. The past five years have offered up some outstanding results and outcomes for the growth trajectory we initiated some years back. We remain on track to continue with the positive energy for the short to medium term.” Understanding the integral components of the mining business and associated requirements, cou pled with a hands-on field service team, ensures Kal Tire remains at the forefront as a solutions provider.

Kal Tire’s strategy for 2024 Over the recent past, ESG (environmental, social, and governance) – a set of aspects that take a holistic view that sustainability extends beyond just environmental issues – has emerged as a strong area of focus for miners and equipment suppliers to the mining industry. The requirements and expectations of ESG have been accepted by the mining community, driving change in decision making and reporting at board level. Driven by the need to support its customers in achieving their ESG ambitions, the tyre specialist continues to innovate products to reduce risk and, in so doing, contribute to the enhancement of safety

The GATR is a tool developed to reduce “some of the more

common injuries that occur when working with extremely heavy and powerful hydraulic torque tools”.

Kal Tire continues to institutionalise innovation with ongoing development of new tools and technology for its tyre services.

According to Martin, the ideas and themes behind Kal Tire’s innovations stem from its team members working at on-site operations. “Proposed innovative ideas are rig orously evaluated, but each innovation that progresses past the idea stage has to provide a number of common deliver ables. Two of the most important criteria are a reduction in operational risk and an improvement in operational efficiency, in both the practicality of design and the ease of application. Minimising risk drives our daily behaviour. Therefore, Kal Tire’s innovations are an extension and support of that behaviour profile that incrementally improves best in class safety practices and better financial returns for the customer.”

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