Canadian tyre specialist Kal Tire continues to institutionalise innovation with ongoing development of new tools and technology for its tyre services, John Martin, vice president, Southern Africa, Kal Tire Mining Tire Group tells Modern Mining. By Nelendhre Moodley.
“Automation, robotics and artificial intelligence continue to be a key component to our future innovations as we continuously seek to minimise operational risk and build on operation efficiencies,” he says.
Discussing the importance of innovation, the tyre services provider explains that it is a core aspect underpinning the company’s mindset and organisational behaviour, which lends itself to the organisational agility needed to adapt to market changes.
Martin says that to be relevant and competitive in the tyre services industry, tyre suppliers must include innovation and entrepreneurial thinking in all facets of the customer interface and must ensure that entrepreneurship is integral to the company’s culture and behavioural characteristics.
“To be successful in the mining tyres service industry, a proven value proposition with measurable and verified results is required, and this is what sets us apart from the competition. Innovation and innovative thinking are key components of the value proposition our customers have come to expect from Kal Tire. The past five years have offered up some outstanding results and outcomes for the growth trajectory we initiated some years back. We remain on track to continue with the positive energy for the short to medium term.”
Understanding the integral components of the mining business and associated requirements, coupled with a hands-on field service team, ensures Kal Tire remains at the forefront as a solutions provider.
According to Martin, the ideas and themes behind Kal Tire’s innovations stem from its team members working at on-site operations.
“Proposed innovative ideas are rigorously evaluated, but each innovation that progresses past the idea stage has to provide a number of common deliverables. Two of the most important criteria are a reduction in operational risk and an improvement in operational efficiency, in both the practicality of design and the ease of application. Minimising risk drives our daily behaviour. Therefore, Kal Tire’s innovations are an extension and support of that behaviour profile that incrementally improves best in class safety practices and better financial returns for the customer.”
Kal Tire’s strategy for 2024
Over the recent past, ESG (environmental, social, and governance) – a set of aspects that take a holistic view that sustainability extends beyond just environmental issues – has emerged as a strong area of focus for miners and equipment suppliers to the mining industry.
The requirements and expectations of ESG have been accepted by the mining community, driving change in decision making and reporting at board level.
Driven by the need to support its customers in achieving their ESG ambitions, the tyre specialist continues to innovate products to reduce risk and, in so doing, contribute to the enhancement of safety performances on operational sites.
Martin is quick to caution mindfulness, given that risk and exposure for a mining company present themselves in many forms – including operational risk, environmental risk and, in some cases, carbon emissions – and may jeopardise the long-term sustainability of some sectors of the industry.
“Kal Tire’s focus for 2024 is to continue assisting customers to achieve their ESG targets, and this offers a broad scope of initiatives, such as the provision of validated and certified mechanisms to reduce their carbon footprint, as well as a means for customers to support and fully contribute towards, and participate in, the circular economy through the recycling of their mining tyres.”
Unpacking latest innovations at Kal Tire
A key Kal Tyre innovation that is gaining popularity is the Gravity Assist Tooling Rig (GATR), a tool developed to reduce “some of the more common injuries that occur when working with extremely heavy and powerful hydraulic torque tools”. The GATR supports the weight of heavy tools, such as a 36-kilogram torque gun, and helps to reduce the physical fatigue and strain traditionally experienced by technicians.
Martin explains that the weight and power of torque tools often result in pinched fingers, muscle strains and ultimately general fatigue that sets in after technicians work with torque tools for extended periods of time.
“When operated correctly, the GATR eliminates the risk of pinched fingers and removes the danger of muscle strain and general fatigue, as the heavy torque tools are rendered weightless through the design and functionality of the GATR. Owing to the ease of use, overall working efficiency improves, allowing wheel changes or wheel fitments to be concluded in a much shorter time. Furthermore, the GATR opens the opportunity for much needed diversification in the workplace where significant muscle strength would normally be required to handle the extremely heavy hydraulic torque tools.”
TireSight autonomous tyre inspections
In addition to the above, data from Kal Tire’s autonomous tyre inspection system – TireSight – translates to ease of tyre inspection in real-time. The technology keeps personnel away from moving trucks and eliminates the need for truck stoppages and their associated ‘dreaded’ downtime as someone inspects the tyres.
Martin explains that no matter the operational strategy adopted for tyre management, physical inspection of the tyres remains a regular practice to identify tyres that may have suffered some form of injury that could negatively affect the life expectancy of the tyre, or possibly result in a safety related incident.
“Normally, inspections are conducted manually by stopping the vehicle for an extended period to allow the tyre to cool down safely before conducting the inspection and undertaking any needed actions. TireSight, powered by Pitcrew.ai’s thermal imaging camera and AI software, now conducts autonomous tyre inspections while the truck remains fully operational, allowing tyres to be inspected for several potential failures, such as injuries, tread separations, shoulder separations and more. The uptime of the vehicle is not impacted as there is no requirement to stand the unit down outside of scheduled maintenance practices. In addition, tyre technicians are removed from what is deemed to be risky work that would traditionally require regular interface between the tyre technician and the machine during inspections and maintenance,” says Martin.
Moreover, even though the artificial intelligence built into the system is able to identify tyre injuries, Kal Tire has incorporated additional learning to the TireSight offering through its Condition Monitoring Team, who assist in identifying hot componentry on the vehicle, hydraulic oil leaks, and engine oil leaks.
TireSight continues to assist miners in significantly reducing operational costs through the prevention of potentially catastrophic failures of damaged tyres.
Kal Tire’s proprietary solution - KalPRO
Over the years, the tyre specialist has developed a host of proprietary solutions that increase safety for its tyre technicians and deliver added value to its customers.
“At Kal Tire’s Innovation Centre in western Canada, we have designed and produced a number of exclusive purpose-built tools that create safer work environments while also increasing efficiency and productivity,” says Martin.
These include tools and technologies, such as the thermal conversion recycling solution that supports a circular economy and the Maple Program, which provides customers with validated data for emissions saved when choosing to retread a tyre versus purchasing a new one.
“Given the growing number of proprietary solutions being developed, the new KalPRO sub-brand unites and captures Kal Tire’s commitment to progressive innovation. We have only just launched this new sub-brand,” Martin continues.
The sub-brand includes the following KalPRO products and offerings:
- WheelJaws: Secure, remote-controlled clamps for safe tyre removal;
- GATR: Gravity Assist Tooling Rig for weightless tool operation;
- RamDrive: Secures rams for safer bead-breaking;
- PowerFlow: Portable, hydraulic power to operate tools on the go;
- ValveShield: Heavy duty magnetic valve stem protection keeps trucks on the road;
- SpringLock: Safer lock ring installation and removal.
KalPRO offerings:
- Thermal conversion recycling is the OTR tyre recycling technology used at a Kal Tire facility in Chile that converts tyres back to their base elements. High-value circular-certified feedstock ensures the best use of recycled rubber and promotes a circular economy.
- TOMS (Tire & Operations Management System) presents fleet planning teams with visibility into how tyres are impacting productivity and costs so they can make decisions that enhance fleet use and tyre life.
- Ultra RepairTM sends tyres with complex injuries that would otherwise be scrapped, back into production. Restores the strength and integrity of tyres with complex injuries to any area – giving customers thousands of hours of like-new performance and safety.
- Ultra TreadTM restores front tyres to their original tread depth and condition, sometimes multiples times before rotation to the rear, for significant cost-per-hour savings.
- Maple Program uses a custom-built carbon calculator to give customers validated data for oil and emissions saved when choosing Kal Tire retreads or repairs over new tyres and can be used as part of Scope 3 environmental reporting.
