Modern Mining October 2016

COVER STORY

double their productive lives

Middelburg facility, the trucks received new serial numbers and full Caterpillar ‘like-new’ machine warranties. They were maintained throughout their first lives by Caterpillar trained technicians at Barloworld Equipment. It was decided that Cat Certified Rebuilds would provide the mine with a workable, long-term solution while also securing significant cost savings. Global leader This breakthrough marked the first of many successful Cat machine rebuilds carried out by Barloworld Equipment for its mining custom- ers between 2005 and 2010. During this period Barloworld Equipment became the global leader among Cat dealers inmining rebuilds completed. Since the successful Cat 777B rebuilds, Barloworld Equipment has rebuilt 777 and 785 off highway trucks, D10 and D11 track type tractors, 992 and 994 wheel loaders and 834 wheel dozers for several mining customers. The accelerated growth in the mining sec- tor following the 2009 economic slump drove a return to new earthmoving equipment sales. But the current mining sector downturn has been more protracted, with machine rebuilds once again becoming a more viable option as customers struggle to secure capex funding.

What is a Cat Certified Rebuild? A Cat Certified Rebuild is a complete machine rebuild developed and monitored by Caterpillar and can only be carried out by Cat authorised dealers such as Barloworld Equipment to Cat specifications. Cat Certified Rebuilds involve more than 350 tests and inspections, replace- ment of about 7 000 Cat parts, and are delivered with ‘like-new’ machine warranties. “Typically the cost to rebuild an off-highway truck (OHT) is about 60 % of the new machine price provided that the rebuild candidate meets certain criteria,” explains Senior Product Manager Wally Parsons. “The warranty elimi- nates any risk of inflated maintenance costs.” Fixed upfront prices are provided for each rebuild based on condition monitoring and the history of the machines. Ultrasonic testing of the 777B truck frames ensured no structural damage, a critical factor in making the decision to rebuild. The Cat Certified Rebuilds took eight weeks per machine, including upgrades avail- able on newer models. Productivity levels and uptime on the rebuilt

Above: Some 7 000 Cat parts are replaced in Cat Certified Rebuilds and more than 350 tests and inspections are carried out prior to, during and after the rebuilds. Centre: Barloworld Equip- ment’s Middelburg facility achieved an eight-week turnaround on the Cat Certi- fied Rebuild of each of four Cat 777B trucks, which went on to more than double their productive lives.

October 2016  MODERN MINING  19