In a tough economic climate, South Africa’s mining,
cement and other industrial sector players are facing numerous challenges that
have put them under pressure to maintain profitability by cutting costs.
Rather than looking to cut costs by opting to use
cheaper maintenance products, companies need to focus on protecting and
managing their equipment more carefully, particularly in harsh operating
environments, such as mines and cement factories.
Open-gear lubricants and greases distributed by Lubrication
Engineers (LE) Incorporated protect against machine failures and improve the
performance and longevity of important equipment.
Callum Ford, national marketing manager at LE says
they’ve experienced cases where mines have attempted to cut costs by using
cheaper lubricants, but have found that it is not profitable. Ford says these
customers have returned to LE products due to their quality and contribution to
greater equipment longevity.
“Given the abrasive nature of the requirements in
these two industries, the gears used in mining and cement production experience
high wear and typically have to be replaced often,” he says. “The resultant
downtime, loss of productivity, and the price and transportation of replacement
parts, makes it worth investing in the right lubrication solution. It can
drastically cut down on the wear and tear, especially on large open gears that
have to perform at a high intensity in challenging conditions.
Ford explains that using high-quality lubricants can
also reduce the volume of lubrication products that a plant or mine needs to
use, meaning that operating costs decrease over the long run when using
higher-grade products.
“One of our mining clients switched the lubricant on
their mill drill motor to our Pyroshield 9011 XHvy high-viscosity oil, and they
saw the drill motor moving from operating at between 5,6MW and 5.4MW to between
5MW and 4.6MW – an energy savings of 400kW to 600kW or approximately 12%, while
maintaining the same production output,” Ford says. “They also reduced their
monthly lubricant consumption from 800kg per month to 80kg, which shows that
buying a quality product has real benefits.”
LE also offers its clients support so that they are
equipped to use its gear lubricants and greases to maximum efficiency, giving
mines and cement plants the greatest value possible for their money. LE
technicians analyse sites to ensure the correct lubricants are being used, and
that they are applied properly to achieve good equipment performance, which in
turn reduces electricity consumption and wastage.
“For mines and cement factories looking to cut costs,
the answer may not be to use cheaper products, but rather to find quality
equipment maintenance products that require lower volumes to achieve their
purpose and increase the longevity of machinery,” Ford concludes.
Lubrication Engineers (LE) South Africa represents the
LE brand in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
LE hold the rights to Southern Africa on the LE brand, recognised internationally
as a specialist in lubrication.
LE provides high performance, heavy-duty, quality
lubricants for virtually every industry and application, as well as expert
technical back-up and support.
More information from Callum Ford, Tel: 011 464
1735 /email: callum@lubricationengineers.co.za / www.lubricationengineers.co.za.
