Modern Mining September 2018

PRODUCT News

Hire company finds fleet management tool invaluable information at the user’s fingertips so that they can enhance utilisation, minimise downtime and reduce operating costs,” says Komatsu Manager: Sales and Marketing Toshi Ohtsuka.

their costs under control, which has a direct beneficial effect on OL&S’s business. In terms of operational costs, diesel consumption is by far his customers’ big- gest consideration. “They may have two identical excava- tors both working a nine-hour shift, but the operating costs can vary enormously. The first may be used for pipe laying and burn diesel at a rate of 13,4 litres per hour ( ℓ /h). The second may be used for bulk earthworks and continually load trucks, which would likely consume fuel at a rate of 17,5  ℓ /h. The difference of 4,1 ℓ /h over a month of operations would equate to more than R10 000, which the customer must account for when costing opera- tions,” says Haines. KOMTRAX® data enables OL&S to bet- ter advise customers on anticipated fuel consumption relevant to their particular jobsite applications, thus improving their competitiveness when bidding for tenders. The all-important energy saving report that comes with the company’s excavator models details actual operational hours as well as inefficiencies denoting idle time, times worked in power or economy mode, and light or heavy load applications. Reporting daily fuel consumption based on injector volume, KOMTRAX® also enables OL&S to advise customers on the possible incidence of fuel theft by compar- ing fuel burn with volumes dispensed from diesel bowsers. OL&S Plant Hire operations extend from the Eastern Cape right up to the Mpumalanga coalfields and KOMTRAX® provides the company’s team of dedicated mechanics with a huge amount of valuable information. This not only includes specific details and service requirements for the machines they maintain, but how to reach them. Komatsu has a global contract with Google Maps which provides the exact location of each product, a major time saver when technicians go out to work on equipment in remote rural areas. Knowing exactly where machines are at any given time also discourages theft and unauthor- ised usage. KOMTRAX® is now installed standard on every new unit of Komatsu construction equipment. Komatsu South Africa, tel (+27 11) 923-1000

Areas in which KOMTRAX® deliv- ers user support are wide-ranging and include parameters such as equipment hours, average hourly fuel consumption, idling times, water temperature and fuel levels. Machine conditioning is essential, and the system provides users with regular updates on routine mainte- nance needs. OL&S Plant Hire owner Dave Haines makes extensive use of KOMTRAX®, to the point where it is now an integral part of the operation. “As our business is equipment rental, we are concerned with hours – the billable hours we charge our customers for the use of our machines Maintenance is a non- negotiable issue and we strictly observe the minor and major service procedures notified by KOMTRAX®. A short-term cost-saving gained by skimping on an oil change is nothing compared with the financial consequences of an expensive machine standing idle,” he says. At OL&S, KOMTRAX® provides the data to support three vital functions: financial controls, engineering and maintenance, and marketing and costing. It enables the company to help customers optimise the efficiency of hired equipment and keep partnership with Met63 (Pty) Ltd, a supplier of advanced modular process plants to the mining industry.” Scott explains that Osborn will supply Met63 with an Osborn Telsmith 36 x 16 vibrating feeder, an Osborn Telsmith 25 x 40 jaw crusher, an Osborn modular Telsmith 38 SBS gyrasphere crusher and an Osborn modular 16 x 20 double deck screen for the new Sebilo Resources‘junior’manga- nese mine in Hotazel. The Osborn machines will be employed in a new fixed plant that Met63 has designed to replace mobile crushing equipment. Osborn Engineered Products, tel (+27 11) 820-7600

KOMTRAX®, Komatsu’s advanced remote equipment and machine monitoring sys- tem, has become an indispensable tool for the management of an extensive fleet of capital equipment operated by Old Lady & Son Plant Hire (OL&S). The KwaZulu-Natal-based company leases equipment primarily to the con- struction industry and recently extended its footprint into mining and quarrying. KOMTRAX® gives operations managers and hire operators greater control over their operations by providing easy access to the information they need to manage their fleets every day. “Wireless, secure and user-friendly, the web-based application places a wealth of Pictured here (from left) are Jacques van der Sandt, Senior Operations Manager, Pinetown Branch, Komatsu South Africa; Dave Haines, owner of Old Lady & Son Plant Hire; and Ravi Naidoo, Sales Rep, Pinetown Branch, Komatsu South Africa.

Osborn to supply machines to manganese mine Leading mining and quarrying equip- ment manufacturer Osborn has secured an R8,5-million order to supply a range of its machines to a new manganese mine in the Northern Cape.

Product Sales Manager Francois Scott says that this order and the region are signifi- cant for Osborn.“The highest concentration of Osborn equipment anywhere in South Africa can be found in the Northern Cape, where our high-performance machines dominate the region’s manganese, iron ore and diamond mines. We are delighted to be growing our footprint in this area and, at the same time, forging an important new

52  MODERN MINING  September 2018