Modern Quarrying Q3 2018

Contractors and customers should work closely together to improve cycle times.

SPH Kundalila closely partners with its customers to reduce cycle times.

Putting effort into customer partnerships has made SPH Kundalila a successful mining contractor.

delays, contractors can’t achieve the required cycle times; but the possi- bility of small changes resulting in better cycle times and reduced rates per tonne should serve as ample motivation to commit to a partner- ship in these endeavours.” Campbell says the success of SPH Kundalila with its Blue-Chip clientele is based largely on the effort they put into partnering effectively with customers, not just in terms of gath- ering costing information, but in aligning with safety procedures and being flexible enough to accommo- date diverse customers’ needs. l

850 000 to 3 million tonnes a month,” he says, emphasising that it is indeed possible to avoid these extra costs. The role of the customer is vital in doing this, as they can provide accurate data to make the right calculations. “Contractors and customers must work closely together throughout the project, both to ensure the planned cycle times and to even improve performance wherever possible,” he says. “The importance of the customer’s participation can’t be overstated. When customers cause

Contractor B has a cycle time that is 2 minutes and 43 seconds slower, which requires the addition of another dumper and operators to keep everything on schedule – and this of course pushes up the rates,” says Campbell. What seems like a relatively small cycle time difference soon adds up to large financial implications; over a 12-month period, paying R1,58 per tonne extra results in almost R3,4 mil- lion in unnecessary expenses. “Now imagine this calculation for larger amounts of material – such as open cast mining volumes from

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QUARTER 3 - 2018 MODERN QUARRYING