Komatsu Australia is about to start work on a major new state-of-the-art service and rebuild centre in Port Hedland, servicing North Western Australia’s massive iron ore mining industry.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the new Komatsu service centre was on February 25, with the new facility scheduled to be opened in late 2014.
Situated on 9000 sq m of land, the 1300 sq m facility will replace the current Port Hedland branch, and will become Komatsu’s West Pilbara rebuild centre and parts warehouse. The new centre has been designed to handle rebuilds of ultra-class mining equipment including up to 290 tonne capacity 930E electric drive dump trucks and WA1200 wheel loaders – of which there are sizeable Komatsu fleets in the region.

Elements of the new service branch include:
•Two high bay mining spec workshops

• A washbay

• 7000 sq m yard

• 25 tonne capacity overhead crane

• Parts warehouse, including mezzanine storage

• Customer Support Office.

Komatsu’s Pilbara operations are a significant part of the company’s global operations, with more than 900 Komatsu machines operating in the Pilbara.
The Pilbara is also the location of the first major fleet of Komatsu’s breakthrough Autonomous Haulage System of driverless trucks, that company is deploying with Rio Tinto.

According to Sean Taylor, Komatsu Australia’s Managing Director, the Pilbara is a world class mining precinct, which represents a significant portion of Komatsu Australia’s business. “It’s home to our autonomous haulage fleet, and has one of the largest population of electric drive mining dump trucks anywhere in the world,” he said. “It makes sense that we continue to invest in our capacity and capability in the Pilbara, to ensure we continue to provide the support our customers are asking for. “Our investment goes beyond just bricks and mortar – we are also investing heavily in technical training so that our customers are assured that they are dealing with the experts when it comes to maintaining their machines.”
In addition to the new Port Hedland facility under construction, Komatsu also has a branch in Newman to service the East Pilbara. It has a team of 60 staff based in the Pilbara, plus an additional FIFO team of 50 staff.

This latest ground-breaking ceremony is one element of Komatsu’s largest ever expansion in Australia, a program which started with the opening of its flagship facility in Wacol, Brisbane in 2012. The 61,000 sq m Wacol facility was a $55 million investment incorporating Komatsu Australia’s Queensland head office, its national mining headquarters, East Coast Reman operation, oil analysis labs, plus mining, construction and utility assembly operations, as well as parts and service. Other Komatsu facilities that have recently opened, or are under construction include:

• Expansion of its Mackay Mining Assembly facilities (opened in mid-2013), which has increased mining assembly capacity by 75%, and now facilitates assembly of Komatsu’s largest truck, the 960E, which has a 330 tonne haulage capacity.
• Greenfields development of a new Mackay Customer Support Branch (opened in January 2014), including mining spec service bays, a doubling of warehouse capacity and a new track shop

• Expansion of its Perth Mining assembly facility (opened in 2013), increasing mining assembly capacity by 30% and doubling paint shop capacity. This site has also been developed to support the rollout of the world’s largest Autonomous Haulage Fleet, being deployed in the Pilbara.

• Construction of a new world-class Parts Distribution Centre in Perth with an area of 16,000 sq m (opening scheduled for late 2014); this project includes the purchase 47,000 sq m of land adjoining the existing Perth site, and takes Komatsu’s total site area in Perth to 127,000 sq m.

• Construction of a new Fairfield National Head office (opening scheduled during 2014) at Komatsu Australia’s existing Fairfield Assembly & Warehouse site; this project includes over 6400 sq m of office space and incorporates a new Brand Management Centre