Mining industry solutions provider FLSmidth (FLS) says that bringing its technical service capability closer to customers’ sites is vital in providing effective service support to the mining sector.

With its service centres in strategic locations in Africa, FLS head of field services for sub-Saharan Africa and West Africa Dirk Wesselman says the company aims to build closer relationships with customers to help transform mine efficiency.

Based at FLS’s Chloorkop Service Centre in Gauteng, Wesselman highlights that the visibility and responsiveness of the company’s field service technicians underpins its support commitment to customers in Africa.

“Our strategy of continuously growing our service centre footprint, and strengthening the capability of those centres, lies at the heart of operational efficiency and equipment reliability,” he explains. “Having technicians regularly on site with customers means they can frequently check the optimal performance of our crushers, screens and other equipment.”

Wesselman says service teams support the full range of FLS equipment in fields from liquid-solid separation to crushing, feeding and milling, including high pressure grinding mills, and laboratory equipment.

“Since the acquisition of TK Mining business, we also continue to support the large installed base of ThyssenKrupp legacy mining equipment in the mining sector,” he points out. “Our presence in key mining regions ensures that we can respond rapidly to customer callouts to ensure minimal downtime. More importantly, our regular on-site presence builds our understanding of customers’ needs – so that we can work with mines to plan maintenance and avoid unscheduled stoppages.”

In addition to facilitating planned maintenance for mines, Wesselman highlights that many customers rely on original-equipment manufacturer (OEM) maintenance contracts with the company as part of their efficiency programmes.

“This arrangement puts a skilled team of specialised technicians at the service of the mine to ensure constant monitoring and rapid response. It can also be further enhanced with a ‘reliability engineer’ who focuses on detailed monitoring of all related equipment, to keep it performing optimally.”

Wesselman also highlights the company’s installation, commissioning and maintenance contracts, which usually support a ‘plug and play’ plant upgrade involving a filter press or high pressure grinding roll.

The OEM’s technicians also conduct regular on-site audits and inspections on equipment. This creates the baseline for understanding the equipment’s condition, so that appropriate interventions can be specified to keep the equipment operating at OEM standards.

Off-site repair or refurbishment of components and equipment is undertaken at the company’s service centres, which aim to deliver short turnaround times.