Modern Quarrying Q4 2021

Demand for Volvo front-end loaders remains particularly high, especially the L150H, the ideal pick for smaller quarrying operations.

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their limits. Many quarry operators are sweating their assets, and the Volvo product is proving to be up to the task. We have had instances where our Volvo machines were being run for up to 30 000 hours, and have measured up to the taxing demands of extended lifecycles,” says Vaughan. reasons Vaughan, call for a strong maintenance regime to ensure that machines are kept in optimum condition. “Quarries are therefore relying on us to maintain equipment and ensure that it performs opti- mally,” he says. “This calls for closer working relationships between the supplier and the customer.” As companies choose to sweat assets, Babcock has seen an upside to its parts and repair business. Availability of parts, stresses Vaughan, is therefore crucial in ensur- ing machine uptime for customers. With that in mind, Babcock Africa has established a new national parts dis- tribution centre to enhance efficiency of its supply chain process across Support matters Extended machine lifecycles,

says quarry owners and mining contractors are forced to sweat their assets. Rather than splashing cash on new equipment, they are limiting their capital expenditure and focusing on keeping existing assets humming along – a valuable strategy during difficult economic periods. To provide context, Vaughan says one of the largest quarrying groups in South Africa used to run its Volvo load and haul machines for up to 10 000 hours before replacement. However, due to capital constraints, the company is stretching its machines’ lifecycles well beyond 20 000 hours, with some of them already approaching 25 000 hours, and counting. Elsewhere, a contractor running a fleet of Volvo A30 articulated dump trucks and some EC480 excavators has also stretched its machines to over 20 000 hours. Despite running beyond double their initial projected first life, the machines, says Vaughan, are still producing well with minimum interventions. “We are currently seeing Volvo load and haul machines being pushed to

all the company’s operations. The streamlined central warehouse will stock spare parts and components for all of Babcock’s business units and will facilitate the swift dispatch- ment of items to all its national and regional branches. Babcock has also seen increased market penetration for its service contracts. The vast majority of new machines are being sold with service or full repair and maintenance (R&M) contracts. “The beauty of our service contracts is that they are flexible and tailored to meet each customer’s unique needs,” he says. Another major advantage of Babcock’s R&M contracts is increased machine uptime. The vehicles, says Vaughan, are serviced by experts, and the scheduled downtime related to maintenance is kept to a minimum. Vehicles are also serviced according to OEM specifications all the time, allowing assets to be stretched well beyond their usual lifecycles. Volvo machines on service and R&M contracts are monitored via CareTrack, Volvo CE’s telematics system. CareTrack gives the dealer a

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MODERN QUARRYING QUARTER 4 - 2021