Technical capability, depth of experience and expertise as well as the ability to communicate across international language and cultural divides has seen FLSmidth successfully oversee the installation and commissioning of the second ball mill for Zangezur Copper Molybdeum Combine. ZCMC, one of the largest companies in Armenia, exploits a Karajan copper and molybdenum deposit in an open pit operation and produces 20 Mt of ore per annum. Significantly, the same FLSmidth team was responsible for the successful commissioning of ZCMC’s first SAG mill and first ball mill in 2011. The second ball mill, with a 20 foot diameter and 31 feet long, went into production in 2015. All mills were supplied by FLSmidth.

A team from FLSmidth’s South Africa office, under the management of Tony Girodo, was responsible for the supervising of the ZCMC installation and commissioning team. This was done under a new service and support offering known as Super Supervision. Girodo says there is a move in the mining sector by customers who want to use their own installation crews, but find it necessary to have the appropriate level of supervision at all stages of the installation as well as during both cold and hot commissioning.

“Market needs have changed over the last ten years, and where we previously undertook the complete installation and commissioning with full teams of artisans on-site mines now prefer to use their own teams. This, however, brings certain challenges with it, of which the most critical has to do with depth of experience and technical capability,” Girodo says.

This has been overcome with a new service offering pioneered through the FLSmidth South African office. Super Supervision is a new approach to project supervision and bridges the gap for those customers who want to utilise their own artisan crews during the installation and commissioning phase on a project. Girodo commented that the initial price may appear high but it is most cost effective in the long term as customers are assured that equipment will be installed and commissioned in accordance with the OEM quality standards and procedures.

Under the Super Supervision service FLSmidth provides hands-on foremen who have the necessary depth of expertise and product know-how to give hands-on guidance to the customers’ teams to ensure that the final equipment will operate in accordance with the requisite parameters and specifications. These individuals are selected for the value that they will add to the project and work closely with the customers’ site crews. Developed to meet changing customer needs, Super Supervision ensures that the requisite quality is achieved at all stages of the project by overcoming any potential technical deficiencies from the customers’ side; the supplier and end user both win.

In the instance of the ZCMC ball mill installation, the FLSmidth Super Supervision team had the necessary knowledge of the basics of mill installation. Girodo adds that this, amongst other things, applied to bed-plate installation and dimensional checks prior to lifting the shell assemblies into place. Girodo confirms that the Super Supervision service is only one of many options available from FLSmidth. The company also undertakes complete turnkey installations of mills, and offers a technical advisory service where a technically competent FLSmidth individual is assigned or connected to a particular site to assist the customer with all technical queries relating to drawings, manuals and the like.

Site service and support activities fall under customer services (CS) at FLSmidth with the primary goal to provide the requisite level of support for all FLSmidth products in the field. This could include assisting customers in maintaining recommended parts stockholding levels at the plant.

Another important value add service from FLSmidth in terms of support is where the CS team assists customers during planned shutdowns where equipment is assessed in terms of performance and maintenance requirements with a view to optimising production. At this stage, it is possible to determine equipment condition and any potential issues that could arise. This assists customers with the scheduling of parts requisitioning as well as planning major repair work and upgrades. Upgrades would be done to bring older equipment into line with current technology changes thereby improving reliability and performance.