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Maintenance contracts for sampling equipment
The surge in the demand for effective sampling solutions with associated equipment over the last few years, has necessitated the mobilization of a more mobile Field Service workforce to extend the services rendered by the MPE Samplers division from Spartan. A strategic decision was made to currently focus on the areas with the highest concentration of sampling equipment and large distance from Johannesburg and to render the service locally.
The two main areas identified were the Witbank coal region in Mpumalanga and the Iron Ore / Manganese mining regions of the Northern Cape. It was also required to implement maintenance contracts with the clients as these have become increasingly popular in the last few years. Multotec branch in Middelburg had already entered into maintenance contracts for screen panel maintenance in the surrounding coalfields and it was decided to extend this capability to include the monitoring and maintenance of sampling equipment.
Martin Jonck, branch manager in Middelburg has entered into maintenance contracts with the coal mines, including Landau Navigation, Kleinkopje, Mafube, Tavistock, Optimum Coal, etc.
This includes the long-standing maintenance contracts in place for MMS for the Eskom sample payment station. Optimum coal is also South Africa’s fourth-largest coal exporter. The maintenance contract for Optimum allows for a Multotec Technician to be on site full time attending to the Sampling station. This is similarly what is in place for MMS and provides valuable feedback on equipment performance and speedy response where needed.
Gerrit van den Heever, Multotec branch manager in Kathu, is overseeing the maintenance contract for Kolomela mine. Situated at Postmasburg in the Northern Cape Province, Kolomela mine is one of Anglo America’s big four projects. The maintenance contract for Kolomela also allows for a Multotec technician to be on site full time to attend to the three Sampling Stations on lumpy, fines and load out product. During the next few months we will be focusing on rolling out more maintenance contracts for the Northern Cape area.
The overall skills shortage with the lack of servicing and maintenance has placed increasing pressure on mine management to ensure optimum plant availability and maintain or even improve quality further. With the assistance of Multotec branches and the implementation of maintenance contracts, we are now offering a value add service to our clients with associated increased plant availabilities. Where it used to take six hours for a technician to travel from Spartan to attend to a breakdown in the Northern Cape (if immediately available) we can now have a qualified technician attend to a breakdown within an hour.
In addition to the field technicians at Optimum, MMS and Kolomela site, we also have qualified technicians operating from our Middelburg, Kathu and Spartan premises. With qualified technicians conveniently available from our branches we are ensuring less standing time, preventative with planned maintenance, increased efficiencies and peace of mind for our clients.