24
Mechanical Technology — August 2013
⎪
Materials handling and logistics
⎪
M
ultotec’s Garth Jones, re-
sponsible for site services,
says companies operat-
ing within the local and
international coal sector form a major
customer base for the company and that
in this segment Multotec differentiates
itself through its process and applica-
tions knowledge, as well as by the broad
range of products focused on coal.
“Central trends in this sector include
outsourcing of maintenance require-
ments through maintenance contracts,
which are rapidly coming to be re-
garded by customers as a value-added
service to boost plant availability,” he
says. “The most recent development
in this arena is a move to structuring
maintenance contracts on a rand- or
cent-per-ton basis, making it possible
for coal operators to predict their costs
more accurately.
“Another trend in coal is that the
complexity of the equipment is shifting
quite rapidly into the suppliers’ arena.
This is actually an efficient approach,
since suppliers like us are specialists in
our field and our technical support for
the lifetime of the equipment frees up
plant personnel to focus on their core
operations.”
He adds that pressure from tighten-
ing environmental regulations has given
rise to a trend to reduce emissions and
water usage, while striving for a more
efficient overall recovery of energy. In
response, Multotec continues to make
major investments in R&D to boost the
efficiency of its equipment.
“An excellent example of the innova-
tions that are emerging is the greater
open area panels for vibrating screens,
which are boosting screen efficiencies
New trends in the coal sector
Above:
Multotec continues to make
major investments in R&D to boost the
efficiency of its equipment. An example is
R&D in spiral technology.
Left:
New material developed by Multotec
for manufacturing wedgewire screen
products has resulted in improved overall
efficiency of centrifuge baskets.
Specialised equipment supplier Multotec
is evolving its offering to the coal sector in
line with the latest trends emerging from
end user operations.
