The introduction of the Aeroquip range to local hydraulic components supplier Rudman Hydraulics’ product offering in the past year has enabled the company to offer its mining customers a standardised high-quality hydraulic system.

This standardised product offering can assist mines in increasing productivity by eliminating unnecessary hydraulic system breakdowns, says Rudman Hydraulics national sales manager Brett O’Leary.

“We introduced the Aeroquip crimping machines and mobile units to ensure every section of a mine has swift access to the system should a hose need to be replaced,” he says.

O’Leary tells Mining Weekly that the Aeroquip crimp machines are designed for ease of use, owing to their one-touch buttons that are preset to crimp various size hoses. “This reduces the possibility of incorrect crimping taking place, thereby increasing the life span of the hose and decreasing downtime.”

A variety of medium- to high-pressure hoses were chosen to cover the needs of mines, he states, adding that Aeroquip’s GH302 range is ideal for most mining applications.

He notes that Aeroquip’s GH506 range is being used for high- pressure applications as it has single-piece Joint Industry Council, British Standard Pipe and ORS fittings.

O’Leary says there are applications where highly specific hoses and fittings are required, and Aeroquip’s GH506 range is well suited for such applications, including high-pressure hydraulic systems with petroleum- and water-base fluids.

Further, Rudman Hydraulics has implemented a training programme whereby mining companies’ employees are skilled in the correct method of assembling the Aeroquip hydraulic hoses.

“This includes training specific to the crimping machines and the Aeroquip hoses and fittings in use, thus ensuring better-quality hose assemblies. The training has upskilled mining com- panies’ employees, who are awarded Rudman Hydraulics certificates at the end of the training programme,” he highlights.

“Mining operations’ employees have also found it far easier to assemble the hoses (because of the crimping machines’ ease of use) and find the correct stock because the standardisation project has been a success.”
O’Leary says that, with the standardisation of crimping machines, hoses and fittings, Rudman Hydraulics’ mining customers have experienced increased productivity owing to the substantial decline in the number of hydraulic system breakdowns.

He says Rudman Hydraulics has implemented a consignment-stock approach to its hoses and fittings, which has assisted the company in ensuring the company has sufficient stock of all the required hydraulic equipment.

“As the supplier, we retain enough stock on our premises in Germiston to supply a mine with its requirements, particularly in cases where multiple breakdowns occur and on-site stock runs low,” he states.

“We look forward to the continued evolving of our product offering to meet the future technological needs of our mining and other heavy industry customers,” O’Leary concludes.