While the quotation for an item of equipment reflects its upfront price, it says nothing about the history, experience, product quality and service infrastructure required to sustain optimal production levels for the customer.

“Sustainable and reliable production is at the heart of any crushing operation, and this is what customers are really paying for when they purchase capital equipment,” says Francois Marais, Sales and Marketing Director at Pilot Crushtec. “For this reason, the numbers that matter are those that reflect a supply partner’s ability to help customers meet their vital deliverables.”

Marais highlights that Pilot Crushtec has spent 33 years building a reputation for its quality of product and its outstanding service levels. Its engineering prowess has already seen over 300 Pilot Crushtec modular plants placed into operation with customers, with over 2,000 mobile crushers, screens and conveyors sold and commissioned.

“Other numbers that matter include the 170 modular cone crushers and the 200 modular jaw crushers that we have sold into the market,” he explains. “We estimate that our equipment has to date processed about 5 billion tonnes of material – in around 1,000 different applications and processes.”

He notes that, all too often, equipment purchases are made purely based on capital pricing. Down the line, he says, it may be realised that the necessary technical assistance, experience or parts are not readily available to support the equipment. Pilot Crushtec has made a strategic philosophy of its customer commitment, by investing heavily and continuously in service infrastructure, spares and wear parts and continuous training of its people.

“For instance, we train, develop and retain the skills necessary to keep customers’ equipment up and running – to avoid costly downtime that could threaten their contracts and reputations,” he says. “This includes our 15 full time service technicians, who travel a million kilometres a year to see customers and deliver quality support.”

Underpinning these superior levels of service – which are available 24/7 365 days a year – is the company’s parts and aftermarket infrastructure, which is similarly always open for business. This starts with a large stockholding of around 93,000 items, including about 2,500 wear parts alone. There are 20 dedicated parts personnel to efficiently manage this valuable resource, dispatching 6,788 parts on average every month.

“These numbers reflect the real value that we deliver to our customers and should be fundamental factors taken into account when any quotations are considered,” says Marais. “While the procurement function for equipment is often incentivised to save a little money upfront in a capital purchase, this can create unintended consequences for buyers when production is jeopardised.”