Multotec’s branch at Richards Bay on KwaZulu-Natal’s north coast has expanded its capacity from a sales and project management office to now include the resources of a fully-fledged field services team, to carry out installations, inspections and maintenance.

Branch manager Shane Brider says the changes have been made to make the company more responsive to the changing needs of customers in the region.

“Having been established in 2005 to support various capital projects underway at the time, we have now evolved to a full service and support function, as the equipment on these sites has aged and requires inspections and maintenance,” says Brider. The branch supports the full range of Multotec products.

“Our ongoing commitment is to work with customers to optimise plants, in order to lower their cost per ton,” he says. “This means being close at hand to ensure that equipment is always operating correctly, and to recommend any necessary modifications as customers’ operational needs change.”

Multotec prides itself on the depth of expertise and experience in the field of mineral processing that is embedded throughout the group’s footprint, and Richards Bay is no exception. Brider has been with Multotec for over 30 years, and has a solid background in screening and trommel technology.

He also has extensive experience in design, as well as in research and development, and is well qualified to liaise with engineers, plant managers and project teams on improvement projects and service back-up.

“The Multotec advantage is based on our expertise across the product range and our capacity to constantly improve on the current benchmarks,” he says. “At branch level, where full maintenance contracts are in place, we feed valuable field data back to our specialists and engineers – for them to incorporate into our continuous improvement process.

This best practice transfer is one of the most valuable strategies in evolving our technologies to the benefit of end-users.”

Multotec’s maintenance condition monitoring, for instance, includes the innovative Hawkeye analysis tool – a web-based system that captures and records wear data for screen panels, cyclone components and mill liners. The system provides trend analysis that can be used in maintenance strategies and continuous improvement projects.

“It is a fact of life that all successful products in the mining equipment business are supported in some way by an extensive service and support network,” says Brider. “At Multotec in Richards Bay, we provide this support so that the customer gets maximum utilisation and the lowest operating cost.”