Mechanical Technology — February 2014
21
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Materials handling and logistics
⎪
T
hrough its international foot-
print, a leading mineral solu-
tions provider, Multotec, col-
laborates from a perspective
of market intelligence and a product
knowledge across mining territories,
adopting learning from its experi-
ence in foreign markets that benefit
all its customers and successfully
benchmark its technology against
the world’s best says Thomas Holtz,
Multotec CEO.
“We’re very aware that our custom-
ers are being compelled to squeeze their
plant assets to extract as much value
as possible,” says Holtz. “The beauty
of our business is that we have a broad
portfolio that incorporates product lines
comprising services and consumables,
as well as capital equipment.
“Current conditions allow us to le-
verage a value proposition that derives
from a 39-year track record in miner-
als processing. This extensive profile
proves that we stand by our products
for the long haul. Our after sales service
proposition in particular comes to frui-
tion in economically challenging times,
because optimising recoveries from a
plant and reducing the cost per ton
of ore processed are key to that plant
becoming more cost effective.
“Our business focuses on looking at
the products we supply in the context
of the circuit, rather than in isolation,
and we’re able to reconfigure and adjust
our equipment to suit the changing
demands of a specific plant over a
period of time.”
Multotec’s extensive and steadily
expanding African infrastructure is able
to deploy highly technically competent
personnel to customer sites for regular
maintenance activities and at short
notice. Although the members of these
technical teams comprise experienced
people with actual work experience in
a processing plant, they are required to
undergo regular training to keep them
abreast of the latest information and
skills. These field personnel also have
Above:
Skilled and experience personnel pro-
duce a variety of screen panels at Multotec’s
facility.
Left:
Multotec’s new injection moulded
polyurethane TeePee screen panel dramatically
increases open area.
Operating in the international mining industry has almost become
a non-negotiable in today’s exacting mining climate, in which the
focus is strongly on optimising existing assets. This exposure ensures
that South African companies are able to offer products to the local
industry that are competitive on a global basis.
Process equipment must be globally competitive
access to the greater metallurgical
knowledge pool within the group.
“Our portfolio works for us in mul-
tiple ways,” Holtz continues. “We’re
able to offer the service our customers
in Africa require in the same time zone,
in the same country or from a country
close by. The significant value-add that
accompanies our products renders price
a less critical factor. These are mission-
critical products and the value we add
centres around correctly specifying
products that work efficiently, fail pre-
dictably, are maintained sufficiently and
that sustain the required efficiencies
throughout their working life.”
Some of the latest technology emerg-
ing from Multotec is attracting attention
in the industry for its innovation and
world class quality. For example, its
new injection moulded polyurethane
TeePee™ screen panel dramatically
increases open area and drainage and
is proving very popular in dewatering
applications, achieving higher tonnages
from the same piece of equipment.
Another area of growth is sampling,
specifically in-process mechanical
sampling, to optimise plant processes.
Multotec’s sampling product line is
moving counter-cyclical, with steadily
increasing volumes being sold to cus-
tomers who recognise the value of be-
ing able to fine-tune their processes to
improve efficiencies. Also in the realm
of asset optimisation, Multotec recently
entered into a technology and supply
partnership agreement with Longi
Magnet Company in China, the second
largest and fastest growing magnetic
supplier in the world. Certain of these
products focusing on the dry separation
of some ores – notably iron ore, offer
significant process benefits.
In addition, the company’s Hawkeye
Internet-based predictive software tool
is increasingly coming into play in
Multotec maintenance contracts, in
line with customers’ need to achieve
maximum uptime.
“Next year, we celebrate the group’s
40
th
birthday,” Holtz says. “What
started out as a screens company has
successfully diversified into a variety of
product lines, at the same time growing
in size and technical maturity to be able
to handle multiple ranges of equipment.
It would be impossible to start up a
group like this from scratch – you have
to build local competence to be able to
offer expert advice on the ground.
“Intimacy with customers is another
key component. In the somewhat con-
servative mining industry there are
no revolutionary technology changes.
Instead, when it does come, change
is slow and incremental. So, in this
‘hard-core’ industrial environment, our
customers’ fundamental requirements
are that the equipment we provide per-
forms reliably every day and that as its
supplier, we should be readily available
and sufficiently competent to provide
the necessary support.”
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