The Faces of Telsmith
The Faces of Telsmith
Description

Telsmith employees talk about what it’s like to work for Telsmith, walking through a day in the life on the factory floor, and their interesting projects.


Related Resources

Part 4 - Information Systems and Maintenance Work Control
PAUL D TOMLINGSON
Part 4 – Information Systems and Maintenance Work Control - Parts 1, 2 and 3 of this series established that many existing fully-integrated information systems do not provide adequate support of supervisor’s maintenance work control needs. Work order elements are too complex and time consuming for use in the ‘pressure-cooker’ working environment of maintenance supervisors. As a result many supervisors are using ineffective work control procedures that neither control work nor provide field data for required information. In turn, maintenance planners are compelled to prepare ‘official’ work order documents to capture missing data. Many planners are simply ‘work order administrators’ with no time left to plan. When management requires information, these planners may be ‘creating’ bogus information misleading management decision-makers. Since not all work requires planning, a simpler work order element for supervisors can meet their work control needs and also allow them to control all non-planned work. Information system problems are acknowledged by system developers but without being corrected. However, many maintenance organizations have contributed by not developing a well-defined maintenance programs and specifying their information needs. Instead, they have accepted and tried to use the generic information output of overly complex package systems. This ‘log jam’ requires corrective actions. An outstanding PC-based system that satisfies the supervisors work control requirements, returns planners to their full time planning tasks and creates essential information has been identified. The system developer’s introductory presentation was obtained and is attached.
Gold Mill Grinding—Example of a Detailed eLearning Operator Training Module
PERFORMANCE ASSOCIATES INTERNATIONAL
This video provides an example of the content and structure of a Performance Associates International computer-based operator training program. In this video, we focus on the user experience of our eLearning module for operators in a gold mill grinding circuit. This example demonstrates the following program features: • Language toggle controls. • Interactive process flowsheets. • Process descriptions. • Principles of operation. • Workbook feature. • Equipment (SAG mill) 3D animation. • Process variables. • Control loops. • Interlocks. • Alarms. • Interactive plot plan. The grinding circuit is just one of 11 modules included in the complete plant operator training program. Each individual module covers the technical aspects of a specific plant area. The program also contains modules presenting basic introductions to many applicable unit operations and a variety of basic mechanical skills. Additionally, detailed maintenance training modules cover each significant piece of equipment in the plant. A comprehensive training component to develop supervisory skills is included as well. Building, running, and maintaining a new plant is a significant investment. A work-force well-trained from top to bottom is the best way to protect that investment by ensuring a successful start-up and continued operations at peak performance. If you are building a plant and preparing your operators and supervisors for start-up and operation, please stop and ask the question “what components of this training program do I NOT want my operations team to be thoroughly familiar with?”
Gold and Silver Recovery—Carbon Adsorption Training
PERFORMANCE ASSOCIATES INTERNATIONAL
Founded in 1983, Performance Associates International (PAI) is the worldwide leader in mine and plant industrial training. Our custom interactive modules have improved start-up success and operations for hundreds of clients on nearly every continent. In this training module, we cover how activated carbon is used to concentrate gold and silver from pregnant leach solution. The concentrating process is based on the concept of adsorption, in which complex gold, silver, and (if present) mercury molecules are adsorbed—or adhered—onto small, millimeter sized particles of activated carbon. The adsorption process is carried out at atmospheric temperature and pressure. During the process, the metals migrate from a cyanide leach solution to the surfaces of carbon pores. In addition to the animation, this module includes an animated process flowsheet, process variable target ranges and control methods, as well as alarm response procedures. This module covers one area of a gold ore processing plant. In a typical plant of this type, there would be another 4 to 8 modules that would cover the other plant areas with each module containing the same type of training materials, but specific to that plant area. In the training environment, some concepts are difficult to explain using still 2-D or even 3-D images. When this is the case, we develop animations and/or simulations in order to ensure better transfer of knowledge to our trainees.
Performance Associates International Assists Torex Gold With Start-Up Success
PERFORMANCE ASSOCIATES INTERNATIONAL
Far too often, natural resource companies start up new plants without a properly trained operations and maintenance team. The results can be disastrous for both safety and revenue. Obviously the ultimate objective is a plant that operates in a safe and profitable manner. In most cases, the pre-start-up safety training is satisfactory, resulting in few if any accidents during start-up and ongoing operations. However, many plants drop the ball when it comes to properly training operations and maintenance personnel. The payback on a properly executed training program far outweighs the cost. If you are going to budget for high-quality engineering, efficient procurement, and experienced and proven construction management (including commissioning), why leave training open to chance? Performance Associates International (PAI) developed an extensive operations and maintenance training program for Torex Gold’s El Limón-Guajes project in the state of Guerrero, Mexico. In 2015, PAI industry training specialists traveled to the project site to carry out the training for Torex Gold employees in anticipation of plant start-up and gold production. The venture was a “massive success,” according to Nelson Bodnarchuk, Director, Operational Systems. This video tells the story of that success, including generous feedback from the executive officers at Torex recognizing our role in the partnership.
Performance Associates International (PAI) y Torex Gold colaboran para una puesta en marcha exitosa
PERFORMANCE ASSOCIATES INTERNATIONAL
Con demasiada frecuencia, las compañías de recursos naturales ponen en marcha plantas nuevas sin contar con un equipo de operaciones y mantenimiento debidamente capacitado. El resultado puede ser desastroso tanto en términos de seguridad como de ingresos. Obviamente el objetivo fundamental es una planta que funciona de forma segura y rentable. En la mayoría de los casos, la capacitación sobre seguridad que se da antes del arranque de la planta es satisfactoria, resultando en pocos accidentes (o ninguno) durante la puesta en marcha y operaciones subsecuentes. Sin embargo, muchas plantas son negligentes cuando se trata de la buena capacitación de su personal de operaciones y mantenimiento. Un programa de capacitación bien ejecutado compensa con creces los costos de ejecución del mismo. Si se va a presupuestar una ingeniería de alta calidad, un proceso de adquisición eficiente y una gestión de construcción experimentada y comprobada (incluyendo el comisionamiento), ¿por qué dejar a la suerte la capacitación? Performance Associates International (PAI) desarrolló un programa de capacitación por computadora comprensivo, el cual abarca operaciones y mantenimiento, para su planta de oro El Limón-Guajes en el estado de Guerrero, México. En el 2015, los especialistas de capacitación industrial de PAI viajaron al lugar del proyecto para entrenar a los empleados de Torex Gold en anticipación de la puesta de marcha de la planta y la producción de oro. El emprendimiento fue un “éxito masivo,” según Nelson Bodnarchuk, Director, Sistemas Operacionales. Este video cuenta la historia de ese éxito, incluyendo comentarios generosos de los oficiales ejecutivos de Torex, quienes reconocen nuestro papel en la colaboración.
Why Simulation?
IMMERSIVE TECHNOLOGIES
Simulation based operator training has been successfully applied to a range of diverse industries where high risk and high costs are everyday issues requiring smart solutions. Whether piloting a plane or launching a space shuttle, simulation training has been proven to dramatically reduce risk, cost, unscheduled maintenance, increase trainer effectiveness and efficiency while maximizing productivity. Within the often hazardous mining industry, simulation training has quickly gained recognition as a significant method of increasing site safety and profitability through improved operator skill and knowledge. Simulators provide operators a safe environment to learn and practice their skills while allowing the operator to practice for a range of possible emergency situations. Many of these situations are too dangerous, too difficult or too expensive to test in an actual mine. Operators can also be shown and assessed for the proper operating technique much more quickly and accurately than the traditional in machine approach. Focus on improving operator technique with Immersive Technologies’ simulators has delivered proven results including longer tire life, reduced spot time, reduced brake abuse, improvements in fuel use, reduction in engine overspeeds and more. Simulator training allows operators to be shown and assessed without the need to borrow machines from production. This allows new operators to practice many skills before being placed into a production circuit. Because operators are consistently shown and assessed on the proper operator techniques they have a better understanding and knowledge of the real machine. Following Immersive Technologies release of the world’s first mining dump truck simulator in 1998, their customer results, support network, machine range, global mining footprint, level of realism and OEM endorsements are without equal in the industry. Highlighting the benefits of simulation training, four leading Original Equipment Manufacturers, Caterpillar, Hitachi, Komatsu and Liebherr have chosen to exclusively sign technical information licensing agreements with Immersive Technologies, providing access to proprietary technical information necessary to accurately replicate the operation of their mining equipment. After significant supplier evaluation each major OEM has chosen to exclusively recommend Immersive Technologies' Advanced Equipment Simulators. This unprecedented support and commitment from the OEM's has helped to firmly entrench Immersive Technologies' Simulator technology as the industry leader. This provides customers the comfort of knowing they are investing wisely in a proven and accepted technology that is here to stay. As the world’s largest supplier of mining equipment simulators, Immersive Technologies’ has a customer base that includes many of the world’s leading mining operations, mining contractors, training schools and original equipment manufacturers. Widely recognized as the global industry standard, Immersive Technologies’ has extensive experience in delivering complete training solutions to the mining industry with measurable safety and business improvement outcomes. Immersive Technologies has worked closely with thousands of mining training professionals, managers, and executives to deliver comprehensive solutions that have been proven to improve safety and mine profitability.
Making Equipment Replacement Decisions
PAUL D TOMLINGSON
Competition among industries has become globally oriented. Thus, every industry will be examining how they can become more profitable. Increasing the productivity of equipment will be among the logical steps. In turn, older, less productive equipment will be replaced. Modern production equipment will be expensive as well as more complex. Thus, as new capital outlays are considered, there must be more careful consideration than ever before. The singular economic approach to replacing equipment involving primarily accounting personnel must give way to a company team approach. To assure that the best equipment for the job at the best price is purchased, economic as well as performance considerations must be weighed. Maintenance is especially sensitive to this requirement since the new equipment is likely to have many new technological advances that will make it more difficult to maintain. Thus, new maintenance techniques must be introduced and maintenance personnel must be properly trained in applying these techniques. Therefore, plant managers should provide policies that ensure each department recommends features of the new equipment that impact performance and maintenance. Although decisions must embrace performance and maintenance, acquisition cost and long term capital expenses remain an important ingredient. Then, as team decisions are made, there will be better assurance that the right choices are made and that the equipment will effectively support the productivity and profitability requirements of the future
Superior Maintenance Performance: Three Conditions - One Answer
PAUL D TOMLINGSON
I have attached a PowerPoint (PPT) presentation on how to implementing a Mine Maintenance Management Program. But before you study it please understand that superior maintenance performance is built on three conditions: 1 - Maintenance proficiency – Maintenance personnel from manager to worker are proficient in all aspects of management, control and work execution. 2 - Knowledgeable support – All mining departments understand the help needed to make maintenance successful and provide it. 3 - Strategic direction – Mine managers assign mutually–supporting departmental objectives, provide policies to guide interdepartmental actions and verify performance. The one proven answer that meets these conditions is a quality maintenance program. That program must spell out who does what, how, when and why. These guidelines must be applied to the nine essential maintenance management phases: How to (1) Request or (2) Identify work, (3) Classify it to determine the best reaction, then how to (4) Plan, (5) Schedule, (6) Assign, (7) Control and (8) Measure the resulting work and finally, (9) Assess accomplishments against goals such as performance standards and budgets. All personnel in maintenance as well as those who interact with maintenance must be included in the program since every maintenance action requires a supporting or cooperative interdepartmental reaction. Just as the maintenance planner follows specific planning procedures, so must the purchasing agent who orders major component replacements for the job the planner is organizing. After 44 years as a mining maintenance management consulting in all types of mining operations, I can confidently state that the absence of a quality program will preclude meeting these three conditions and frustrate all efforts to achieve superior maintenance performance.
MacLean Innovation Report 2018 - Changing the face of the mining industry
MacLean Engineering
Sometimes a turning point can only be seen clearly in hindsight. Such is the case for the mine of the future as we begin 2018, coming out of a 2017 where major mining companies continued to demonstrate capital spending austerity and focus on debt reduction. All the while, there were growing signals that digitalization, electrification and automation were all gaining momentum, even though actual examples of minesite implementations could as of yet, still be counted on one hand. MacLean took the opportunity that industry downturn presented over the past several years to focus intensely on three key product development ventures – first and foremost, the battery electrification of our entire fleet, which will be complete by the end of 2018; second, the successful introduction of face bolting as a feature on our 975 Omnia bolter; and, third, the launch of the latest addition to our utility vehicle product line – the LR3 Boom Lift for heavy load and high reach applications. The past year was one where for the first time we had a fleet of battery electric vehicles working underground, allowing us the ability to validate our performance and total cost of ownership (TCO) models with real-world data, while at the same time continuing to build out our EV offer across the product lines. Looking forward, as we work hard to fully electrify our fleet of ground support, ore flow/secondary reduction, and utility vehicles, we’re keenly aware that electrification is but one step in the ongoing mechanization of underground mining, a transition to the mine of the future that will be increasingly efficient through digitalization and automation that will increase production and reduce costs.
Stedman Size Reduction Test Lab Testing Materials From A-Z
Stedman Machine Company
Stedman Size Reduction Test Lab, Testing Materials From A-Z, Featuring Full-Size Crushing Equipment for Dependable Results. Stedman's unique test lab assures you're buying the right equipment for the job. Our highly-trained and experienced technicians will test your materials on full-size equipment. The Stedman testing program gives you the information you need to select the right crushing and size reduction equipment. Grand Slam™ Impactor, The Stedman 30" x 30" Grand Slam tests secondary and tertiary applications. Gap settings and rotor speeds for specific particle size gradation can be determined. H-Series™ Multi-Row Cage Mill Pulverizer, A wide variety of 2, 4 and 6 row cage designs with a complete range of sleeve/pin spacings. V-Slam™ Impactor, Designed for size reduction of minerals, ores and chemicals. Micro-Max™ Fine Grind Air Swept Mill , Screenless mill capable of producing a wide range of particle sizes. Liquid injection ports standard for grinding heat sensitive materials, or by adding heat capable of grinding and drying in one pass. Aurora™ Single or Dual Rotor Crusher , Designed for higher throughput and smaller particles. Ideal when delumping for pneumatic conveying or unloading. Complete Analysis From Experienced Professionals , The quality data produced from the test of your material helps you estimate operating costs from power consump­tion to wear parts. The written technical report provided to you includes: • Moisture content analysis • Gilson screening of raw feed particle size distribution • Product particle size distribution • Bulk density analysis • Abrasion test results • Estimated metal replacement costs • Horsepower consumption
Expect More from your Horizontal Shaft Impactor
Stedman Machine Company
By Eric Marcotte The mineral processing industry usually evolves rather than revolutionizes, but the Horizontal Shaft Impactor (HSI) has revolutionized the crushing process in numerous industries.32 IMPACTOR 400 There are several varieties of the HSI, and their similarities are more numerous than their differences. All varieties feature externally fed horizontal rotors with breaker bars, which propel material into a series of apron-mounted breaker plates that crush or pulverize many different types of materials to specified degrees of fineness. In 1946, Dr. Erhard Andreas of Muenster, Germany, patented the “Andreas Impact Crusher System.” His design utilized old torpedo tubes and steel from decommissioned tanks. Since then, there have been many unique features of the design patented, but they all operate similarly. This article reviews current techniques employed to get the most from this versatile design. Versatility Reduction ratios of up to 30:1 are achievable in a single stage. The simple design offers low capital and operating cost. Low headroom requirements make it easy to install. Product sizes may be varied by changing rotor speed and the clearances between rotor breaker bars (also called blow bars or hammers) and apron breaker plates. HSI applications have gone beyond soft and nonabrasive materials such as limestone, phosphate, gypsum and weathered shales, to harder minerals thanks to the introduction of alloy steel rotor breaker bars. Typical alloy steels contain manganese and/or high or medium chromium content. There are many different crushing chamber designs on the market, and proper selection will depend on the knowledge of the application for proper feed, crushing chamber configuration, metallurgy of the crushing chamber components, gap setting and rotational speed. Finally, computer controls can automatically adjust HSI settings on the fly to adjust for wear or changing specs. Operation HSIs have a lined crushing chamber with rotating breaker bar rotor on a horizontal axis. The size reduction takes place quickly along short fracture lines, producing a more cubical product to meet aggregate specifications. This fast impact fracture is different from the slow compression breaking in cone or jaw crushers that produce more slabby or flat material (5:1 length to height ratio). 32 IMPACTOR2 400Feed enters the primary crushing chamber and meets the rotor breaker bars, which impel the feed against the first apron lined with breaker plates. Impact with the rotor, the breaker plate, and inter-particulate collision all contribute to comminution. Material is reduced in the primary chamber and passes by the front apron breaker plate gap, entering the secondary and, in some configurations, tertiary chambers, for final reduction. A high percentage of the initial size reduction comes from the first impact with the rotor breaker bar. Aprons are shaft suspended at the front and from a spindle in the rear, allowing for continuous gap adjustment as wear progresses. Unlike hammer mills, the open discharge impactor has no screens or grates holding material inside the crusher; material is efficiently processed at high rates for low costs. The rotor breaker bars operate best at specific speed ranges for maximum results. As the total processing capacity and rotors get larger, the number of breaker bar rows increases. On smaller sizes, there are only two rows; on larger rotors, there are four or more rows of rotor breaker bars. The optimum configuration has material delivered to each row of rotor breaker bars in a continuous bed over the width of the rotor for optimum performance and consistent wear part utilization. Some rotor interiors are open, and some are closed depending on feed conditions. For example, concrete recycling requires a closed rotor so rebar doesn’t get entangled. Application The HSI is used for all types of material with compressive strength less than about 20,000 lb. per sq. in. It’s widely used for sand and rock for roads, railways, reservoirs, electrical grid isolation, building materials and many industrial applications such as metal reclamation and recycling.34 IMPACTOR3 400 Wear part metallurgy is critical to proper applications and performance. It’s a good idea to keep a log of these items to determine the best wear part selection and maintenance schedule: feed and discharge information, throughput rates, change out records and measurements of worn parts. Proper selection of wear part metallurgy will result in optimum production rates; longer maintenance cycles and fewer changeouts, which reduce costs in labor, increase the wear part’s life as well as reduce downtime. Materials with high moisture content can be successfully handled by using heaters and air cannons to reduce and dislodge material adhering to the crushing components and chamber. Size Control The spacing between rotor breaker bars and breaker plate aprons can be adjusted to produce different products within one crusher. It is possible to crush soft raw material limestone or high-grade harder limestone for cement or asphalt applications with one crusher by externally adjusting the breaker bar and plate settings. Gap adjustment between the rotor breaker bars and breaker plates by manual or computer controlled systems adjusts the crushing gap so that product particle size distribution remains constant. Maintenance HSIs have multi-turn breaker bars for extended life before changeout. Design simplicity offers safe and easy access for breaker bar replacement and access to all areas of the crushing chamber. Front-opening models eliminate the need for a crane in some cases. Rear-opening models can allow unique installation applications. Summary 34 IMPACTOR 400 HSIs have evolved from humble beginnings through improved crushing chamber design and metallurgy advancements to automation controls. HSIs have proven they are capable of size reduction of all types of material sizes and hardness with minimal maintenance and excellent cubical particle size distribution control. Stedman Machine Co., www.stedman-machine.com Eric Marcotte is inside sales manager for Stedman Machine Company
Teamwork Helps Integrate Design, Manufacture and Installation of Size- Reduction Systems
Stedman Machine Company
Teamwork Helps Integrate Design, Manufacture and Installation of Size- Reduction Systems By Eric Marcotte, Inside Sales Manager, Stedman Machine Company Designing and deploying size-reduction systems takes experience. Many people can collect and install some of the pieces they feel are needed to create a working system, but experience with the interrelationships between components is harder to find. And to ensure safety and performance, crushing, screening, storage and handling systems need to be professionally engineered. A system is always more than just a collection of parts; they must work together whether it’s a properly designed chute or an elaborate processing plant. Retrofitting new crushers, conveyors, screens or other pieces of equipment is also not always an easy process. Even if drawings and specifications no longer exist, plant designers need to make sense of what is there and know what it takes to make new pieces fit in an existing puzzle. If continuing production during the upgrade is required, system bottlenecks will need to be prevented. For example, raw material or finished product stockpiles may be required to keep downtime to a minimum. Also, access and space requirements need to be confirmed and double-checked. First - Assemble a Team Engineering and expertise in a variety of areas are required to develop size reduction systems, including: crushing, screening, structures, conveyors, chutes, hoppers, dust collection and storage, whether for a small equipment retrofit or a large turnkey facility. CAD and process design software applications are must have. Limit multiple layers of personnel. Work directly with the engineers and personnel to select the equipment and design the system. Project management, installation, scheduling and tracking experience will be needed. Be sure supervisors and installers are MSHA trained and have experience in fieldwork. Second - Process Design While most projects present new challenges, a widely experienced team will bring in ideas from other industries. Typical projects involve the following processes and types of equipment. industrial crusher Load out and material receiving This can be a feed hopper with an apron feeder, belt feeder, vibratory or screw feeder, truck dump or railcar unloading system. Bulk material transportation Designing, building or procuring belt conveyors, stackers, apron conveyors, screw conveyors, and pneumatic handling conveyors. Crushing Crushing is the basic building block of a size-reduction system. Experience with a large range of crushing equipment offers many solutions. Properly feeding material into the crusher greatly increases its efficiency, contributes to even wear and maximizes wear metal costs. Bulk material storage Specifying, providing and installing a range of silos, hoppers or other bulk storage solutions. aggregate crusher Screening Experience with many screening manufacturers to include the right screening solution into the system. Dust Collection Including the proper dust collector and dust collection system is a key component to allow a crushing system to work properly. Experience with many dust collection vendors will facilitate properly sizing, connecting and installing the best dust-collection system solution. Controls and Electrical Components To make sure that all components of a system work together, work with control system engineers, panel builders and electrical contractors to create a working, integrated system. Buildings, Foundations and Structure Design, procurement and specifications for buildings, foundations and structures for the equipment supplied on any system. Third - How to Do It Every project has a different set of circumstances that are unique to it. Try to follow a simple checklist to ensure the best possible solutions to the problems. Initial project team meeting. Crusher and screening testing as required. Define required scope for the system. Create preliminary concepts and drawings. Review with operators and supervisors. After receiving feedback, fine-tune the drawings, concepts and put forth a detailed proposal. Set up kick off meetings as required. Proceed with the purchase of major components. Proceed with a detailed system arrangement. Detail major assemblies. Assemblies put out for detail drawing creation. Drawings are self-checked and then crosschecked for accuracy. Assemblies are re-entered into system layout from detail assemblies to verify fit. Approval drawings sent out as required. Vendor drawings checked and approved. Items checked as they are received. Work with vendors and shipping to verify shipment accuracy. Pictures are taken of all shipments for record purposes. Installation supervisor works with install crew to identify, locate and erect items as needed. As installation finish date nears, begin check of motor rotations, sensors etc. Final customer acceptance – formal reviews to finalize “punch list,” follow up items and document the system is performing as specified. Example - Typical Quarry Expansion A limestone quarry running since the 1950s and producing 500,000 tons per year wanted to increase yearly production capacity up to 1.5 million tons with a new automated plant. The new design needed to have the capability to stockpile hundreds of thousands of tons of finished product. The focus was on creating a state-of-the-art plant with designed-in flexibility to do different product sizing. The automated plant needed to have the ability to run production all day as well as to be able to change the product sizes within 10 minutes. The design and fabrication of a new plant may take up to two years to complete as each idea is considered and "wish lists" are sorted out. You don’t want to come back and say we should have done this or done that. Get the very best of everything you can get into the plant for longevity. The project will include numerous conveyors, sensors, controls, vibrating screens, feeders and other equipment. size reduction machine Installed electronics and control systems feed a programmable logic controller. Each conveyor at the plant is equipped with terminal strips that are all wired to communicate information to one main processor, bringing all of the information together in one place to make it easy to operate. All of the feeders and conveyors are monitored to collect all of the information required to operate the plant. With the ability to monitor the speed of the conveyors and feeders, the quarry can keep an eye on production and troubleshoot maintenance issues. The reason for having an automated control system is that if something goes wrong on one of the conveyors, you’ll see it fast enough to prevent a catastrophe that might require digging out a conveyor. If something does go wrong, the computer can take over and begin dropping conveyors, discharging material and shut the feeder down. Since the quarry can now monitor the conveyors moving, the speeds and the tons per hour, limitations can be set to help catch problems before they become too serious. If something is going wrong, say conveyor 2A is slowing down, you can put limits on how much you want to allow it to slow down before the feeder is paused and then limit how long that feeder stays paused. In the end, the quarry was able to more than double their production capacity with the help of the automated plant. The plant was built, delivered and installed as planned with no problems. This is an ideal situation if a quarry is sitting on huge reserves of limestone and plans to operate the crushing plant well into the future. Projects such as this are successful when the customer’s needs are defined and understood, and the project team – including the customer and all supplier partners work to accomplish the project goals.
How Much Does It Cost To Operate a Crusher?
Stedman Machine Company
How Much Does It Cost To Operate a Crusher? By Chris Nawalaniec Crushing equipment is the heart of an industrial material-processing system. The size reduction choice you make will have a profound impact on the profitability of your business. When the right choice is made, you should expect many years of profitable operation. How do you make the right crusher choice? Crushers are not glamourous. They are brute force workhorses and what they do is simple, really. Size-reduction equipment in all forms is adding energy to a material to make big pieces smaller. Simple, right? Cost versus Value What does it cost or what is it worth? Producers need to keep that simple equation in mind. We all have to keep our eye on the ball and stay focused on profitability. What are Crushing Costs? Capital acquisition cost Base machine Structures and chutes Motors, drives, guards Energy consumption per unit produced Electricity Compressed air Wear parts cost Normal maintenance Planned downtime Lubrication costs Oil Grease Major repairs Infrequent maintenance Unplanned downtime Labor Normal maintenance Special or unique tools required When the above costs are all accounted for, they are used to quantify the production costs related to size reduction and are expressed in cost per unit of measure production. For example, $0.50 per tph. What Does Value Mean? There are always opportunities to buy a machine at a lower upfront cost. This usually translates into paying higher operating costs over the life of the equipment. Higher service labor cost. Higher wear parts costs. Higher energy costs. Often there is a justifiable case to spend additional capital dollars for the better machine. When evaluating crushing equipment suppliers, crusher manufacturers should quantify both costs: purchase price and operating costs. Before you purchase, ask for reference customers to visit. Selecting Equipment Why are there so many types of equipment? Our team brainstormed this question, and we came up with more than 50 tools or machines that are used for size reduction. What we are addressing here is industrial size reduction of dry, solid materials, which are grown, mined or chemically synthesized, and need to have a physical dimension alteration to be put to use. Customers are asked five questions to begin the equipment selection process. What is the material? What is the moisture content? What is the maximum size going into the machine? What is the size range desired after crushing? What is the desired production rate of finished product? When it’s time to dive a bit deeper to define the problem, we ask some additional questions. How long do you expect to operate the plant? Are you looking at mobile, skid-mounted or fixed installation? Are there electrical limitations or special power requirements at the plant site? Is the system open or closed circuit? Do we need to consider future expansion plans now? The variables above all affect your costs. Let’s take the first question as an example. How long do you plan to operate? There are times when mines reserves, stockpiles, permits, project contract terms affect expected life. If a project is limited by any factor, then “good enough” could be the best choice. As long as the equipment is safe and there are machine wear parts and service available, then going “cheap” may be the best choice. Another factor to consider with low-cost is limited post-sale assistance if there is some process change or major equipment problem. You don’t want to be hung out to dry. Aggregate producers typically expect to be running and profitable for many years. Always buy a crusher from an established company, develop a relationship, and expect ongoing service and personal contact. Ask before you buy about how they approach post-sale parts sales and service. Ask the company quoting how they intend to offer service for their crusher. How many field service people do they have? Are they local, regional or too far away? Not having responsive suppliers will have a significant impact on your plant profitability. Summary Investing in the best size reduction equipment for your specific needs is a big decision. The above should give you a lot to think about so equipment solutions can be objectively analyzed. Chris Nawalaniec is vice president of sales and marketing at Stedman Machine Co.
All You Need To Know About Cage Mills
Stedman Machine Company
All You Need To Know About Cage Mills Cage Mills have a high ratio of size reduction after a single pass through the cages. Here's why, and how. Hands down one of the most versatile size reduction machines and one of the hardest working is the cage mill. There are several varieties of cage mills, but their similarities are more numerous than their differences. They all are internally fed impactors that can crush, grind or pulverize many different materials to specified degrees of fineness. History By 1900, Nathan Stedman had built more than one hundred cage mills designed exclusively to crush coal. Soon other applications were discovered, leading to the increased use of cage mills for crushing such products as chemicals, clay and fertilizer materials. Multiple-row cage mills – two-, four- and six-row -- were commonplace. It was not until the 1930s that the true value of cage mills in the production of agricultural limestone and the crushing and beneficiation of stone and gravel was realized. Cage Mill Pulverizers The cage mill was so popular the Stedman Machine Company became part of farming vernacular -- farmers began referring to agricultural limestone as “Stedman Lime” due to the cage mill's unique capability to create the proper material fineness in just one pass through the crusher. Single-row cage mills were used extensively in the construction of the pioneered Pennsylvania Turnpike, primarily for the beneficiation of aggregates. Beneficiation is an elementary process, but it still is one of the most widely practiced applications of single-row cage mills. Gravel is passed through the mill and the softer, undesirable particles; -- breaking more readily than the harder ones; -- are screened or washed away, leaving a hard, high-quality aggregate. Versatility New uses are constantly being discovered for these versatile workhorses, but the nature of cage mills is such that improvements in them tend to be gradual and evolutionary instead of dramatic and revolutionary. The cage mill can be applied to effectively crush, grind and pulverize a broad array of abrasive and non-abrasive materials, including wet sticky types. The latest technology incorporated in these high-efficiency design mills insures greater crushing capacities, finer grinds and cleaner, safer operation. Fundamentally, cage mills are crushers capable of reducing or disintegrating many kinds of materials to small pieces. They reduce materials solely by impact and range in size from as small as 18 inches to as much as 72 inches in diameter. However, custom units may range as high as 96 inches in diameter. In general, the larger the mill, the lower the cost of operation when measured against tons of output. Operation Cage Mill Size Reduction Equipment A typical cage mill has only one part that moves - the rotor assembly. The material to be crushed is fed into the center of the rotor, or cage, through an intake hopper. The massive bars of the spinning cage aligned in rows strike the material and smash it into particles. The particles are then thrown against subsequent rows, other particles and the cage housing where they impact against breaker plates. Every impact - against cage bar, breaker plate or another particle - tends to reduce the original matter further, into more numerous and smaller pieces. By the time the material finally escapes from the cage mill, it has been thoroughly crushed. The major difference compared to other size reduction methods is the absence of close clearances between the crushing part and the breaker plates, allowing for less maintenance and higher efficiency of the machine. Also, they do not require grate bars as the principal source of impact in the cage mill are the pins of the revolving cages. Impact crushing, particularly impact crushing that uses the most suitable cage mill available, has a number of advantages over compression crushing. Cage mills produce a more cubical product of consistently high quality and they are capable of a very high ratio reduction. There is no decrease in quality of the product even after long periods of operation. Cage mills represent a lower initial investment than most other types of crushing equipment and maintenance is easy and inexpensive to perform. Application Cage Mill Manufacturer The wisest and most effective use of cage mills depends on a proper understanding of them, of how they are made and what they will and will not do. Multi-row mills typically consist of an even number of cages: two, four or six. The cages are arranged concentrically, with each row spinning in the opposite direction from that of the row adjacent to it. Two motors are required. They are mounted on opposing sides of the mill, where they turn in opposite directions. One, two or three rows may be mounted on each shaft. A multi-row cage mill utilizes multiple stages of selective impact reduction. The material to be reduced is fed into the center of the innermost cage, where it is struck by the massive spinning pins and distributed 360 degrees around the cage. Centrifugal force and the impact of the pins causes the material, now reduced to smaller pieces, to pass through the cage into the pins of the next row, which is spinning in the opposite direction. The farther away from the center cage the particles travel, the more their impact velocity is increased. In the process of being thrown from row to row the particles also strike each other. They finally are thrown against tough breaker plates that line the inside of the housing. After many violent strikes against the pins, the breaker plates and each other, the much-reduced particles are caught by the outer housing and allowed to drop through the discharge at the bottom of the housing. Size Control Properly presetting the speed of the cages allows the succeeding rows, moving from the innermost outward, to act principally on the particles that have not yet been reduced to the desired size. Particles that have been crushed sufficiently tend to pass through the subsequent rows without being materially affected. Thus, over crushing or under crushing is effectively controlled by adjusting the speed of the cages. All cage mills are fed internally - - the material to be crushed is dropped into a hopper, from which it travels by chute into the center of the innermost row. It falls from the chute onto the spinning pins of the cage, which strike the falling pieces of feed and explode them into many smaller pieces. The particles are propelled by centrifugal force from the innermost cage into the pins of the adjacent row, which is spinning in the opposite direction. Cage Mills for Aggregates Particles that are still too large are struck by the pins of the second row and reduced further. The reduction process continues through any additional rows that may be part of the machine. The impact velocity of the particles increases as the centrifugal force carries them outward from one cage to the next until they finally strike the mill housing and drop toward the large discharge opening at the bottom of the housing. Controlling the speed at which the cages revolve allows the operator to control the amount of reduction that takes place. That is, if the speed is properly preset and controlled, the material will be reduced to its desired size at some point during its trip through the cage mill and then virtually no further reduction will have to take place. The selective impact crushing that is a characteristic of cage mills minimizes the amount of oversize and undersize particles to be found in the finished product. The design of the cages controls the path that the material will flow through the machine. This makes it possible to concentrate the wear on the pins, which are made of very hard alloys to give maximum possible service before they have to be replaced.
All You Need to Know About: Vertical Shaft Impactor (VSI) Primers
Stedman Machine Company
All You Need to Know About: Vertical Shaft Impactor (VSI) Primers By Eric Marcotte, Inside Sales Manager, Stedman Machine Company Vertical Shaft Impactor What Is VSI? All roads, you might say, lead to the Vertical Shaft Impactor (VSI) because these crushers make it possible to create roadways and just about everything else. Francis E. Agnew of California patented one of the first Vertical Shaft Impactors in 1927. His configuration stacked three VSIs atop each other to produce sand, thus starting the VSI evolution. Today, VSI crushers – and the folks who rely on them – have produced many configurations to include everything from the addition of cascading material into the crushing chamber, to air swept separation of lighter product. One version suspends the shaft from above like a sugar centrifuge. It’s also one of the most feature-patented crushers, so some of the things mentioned here might be unique to a single manufacturer. VSIs apply a large amount of energy to crush material and that’s why it’s one of the most versatile crusher configurations today. View our VSI Machine Specifications, and get a quote today! VSI Benefits When it comes to producing materials such as aggregate for road making, VSI crushers use a high-speed rotor and anvils for impact crushing rather than compression force for the energy needed for size reduction. In a VSI, material is accelerated by centrifugal force by a rotor against the outer anvil ring, it then fractures and breaks along natural faults throughout the rock or minerals. The product is generally of a consistent cubical shape, making it excellent for modern Superpave highway asphalt applications. The rotor speed (feet per minute) controls final particle size. The VSI’s high cubical fracture percentage maximizes first-pass product yield and produces tighter particle size distribution. It has a high-throughput capacity ideal for beneficiation (elimination of soft material). Properly configured the VSI accepts highly abrasive materials. It has simple operation and maintenance. You can quickly change product size by changing rotor speed or cascade ratio. Some models have reversible wear parts to reduce downtime. The VSI typically has low operating costs even in high-moisture applications because of reduced energy costs and low wear cost per ton. VSI Disadvantages There are some feed size limitations with a VSI because of the small feed area available in the center of the rotor. Tramp material in the feed such as gloves, tools, etc. can cause problems with imbalance. The high RPM and HP require careful balance maintenance such as replacing shoes on both sides of the rotor at the same time. High wear part cost may be a problem for some hard abrasive materials, but the VSI may still be the best option. VSI Applications Major limestone applications are for Superpave asphalt aggregates, road base, gravel, sand and cement. Industrial uses include: corundum, corundite, ferro silicon, glass, refractories, silicon carbide, tungsten carbide and zeolite. Mining applications include: bauxite, burnt magnesite, iron ore, non-ferrous metal ore, perlite and trona sulfate. VSIs are excellent for everything from abrasive materials to waste and recycling applications. Verticl Shaft Crushers VSI Crushing Method The VSI is typically used after a primary or secondary crusher. This makes a VSI ideal for making sand and for making coarse and medium aggregates for concrete/asphalt production. Feed size and characteristics will affect the application of a VSI. The feed size is limited by the opening in the center of the rotor. Normally less than 5-inch material is desired, but very large VSIs can handle up to 12-inch feed. Another feature that will affect application is moisture, which can make the feed sticky. Required production capacity is the final limiting criteria. Large primary horizontal shaft impactors can output up to 1600 TPH and more. 1000 TPH is about the maximum for a VSI because of the limiting motor size and the rising G-force of a high-speed rotor, which is calculated by multiplying the radius times the square of the RPM. Shoe configurations are many: rock on rock, groups of rollers, special tip wear parts and many others. The metallurgy of the shoes is also highly varied. Rotors can have three to six shoes. The number of shoes is typically governed by the diameter of the rotor. The larger the diameter rotor, the more openings are possible. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) mathematical models are utilized to simulate the flow and collision forces to reveal solutions for lower wear cost, consistent final product, and higher energy efficiency. The material to be crushed is fed into the center of an open or closed rotor. The rotor rotates at high rpm, accelerating the feed and throwing it with high energy into the crushing chamber. When the material hits the anvil ring assembly, it shatters, and then the cubical shaped product falls through the opening between the rotor and the anvil and down to the conveyor below. The rotor speed (feet per minute) controls final particle size. Speeding up the rotor will produce more fines, slowing it down will produce fewer fines. Feeding Methods Center feed The typical VSI is fed, from above, into the center of its rotor. The material is then flung across an open void to the crushing chamber. It then impacts the outer anvil ring. This crushing action imparts very high energy to the material and is very effective on most types of material. It gives a very uniform and consistent grade of product. Cascade feeding V-Slam Impactors In cascade feeding, material bypasses the rotor and enters the crushing chamber from above. It’s called cascade feeding because as material fills up a large feed bowl, with an outer diameter larger than the outer diameter of the rotor, it spills over the side and falls into the crushing chamber from above, bypassing the rotor. The effect of increasing feed through cascade is similar to slowing the rotor. Cascade feeding in amounts up to 10 percent may have no effect on particle size distribution or quality. The product gradation curve and product shape will change, if an increased amount of cascade feeding is used. Vertical Shaft Impactor for Aggregates (Above: Vertical Shaft Impactor, No Cascade vs. With Cascade Feed, Particle Size Distribution Chart) Rotor and Anvil Configurations The VSI features multiple rotor/anvil configurations for various applications. From open or enclosed rotors to the tubular rotor, each machine is configured for their unique application. In many cases the rotor table, rotor assemblies, anvil ring or rock shelf are interchangeable, allowing maximum application flexibility. Crushers for Aggregate Industry Open top metal rotor shoe on metal anvil The open top metal rotor is good for large feed or medium to very hard material, but it will work best for softer materials. It can handle medium abrasive, dry or wet, but not sticky materials. High reduction ratios are common, which are excellent for sand and gravel production in closed loop systems. Shoe shape can change the production size range. A straight shoe face design produces finer product, and a curved shoe face design produces coarser material. Stedman VSI Impactor Tubular metal rotor shoe on metal anvil The tubular rotor creates higher tip-speeds, which increases first pass yield with tighter particle size distribution and also reduces the recirculation loads. One unique feature is that the rotor rotation is reversible, allowing wear on both sides of the tube. Rotating the tube itself one-quarter turn also doubles the wear. Vertical Shaft Impactor Benefits Enclosed metal rotor shoe on metal anvil The enclosed top plate on a rotor primarily prevents material from escaping from the top of the rotor, which could happen with an overfed open top rotor. Vertical Shaft Impactor Applications VSI Crushers (Above: Rock shelf when VSI at rest. In operation, the brown rock fills the chamber to the upper roof ring. Rock impacts rock in operation.) Enclosed autogenous rock rotor table on autogenous rock shelf Any time the material or rock is used as an impact wear surface the term autogenous is used. Putting a top on the rotor table and shoes allows autogenous use. During operation of the VSI, a bed of material can be designed to build up inside the rotor against each of the shoe wall segments. The bed, which is made up of material that has been fed to the rotor, extends to a wear tip. The bed protects the shoe wall segment from wear. Concerning the rock shelf anvil, it forms a near vertical wall of material upon which the accelerated material impacts. “Rock-on-rock” crushing reduces maintenance but can require up to 30 percent of material recirculation before meeting size requirements. Also, the rock shelf anvil absorbs energy that could otherwise be used for breaking, which may reduce efficiency. More RPM may be needed to achieve the same result as a solid metal anvil. Good for medium abrasive materials, rock-on-rock configurations of either or both rotor and anvil may produce consistent material with low-wear cost and can handle wet but not sticky conditions. Reduction ratios from 2:1 to 5:1 can be expected. It’s widely used for quarried materials, such as sand and gravel. Due to the many configurations of the VSI feed, rotor, anvil and open- or closed- system design; testing is the only way to ensure proper application of a VSI crusher. V-Slam Supplier Summary The VSI is one of the most versatile crushers available on the market today. Even with some limitations, like feed size and output capacity, VSI features have been and continue to be developed to maximize first-pass yields and lower operating costs. If you test your process on full-scale equipment before choosing your VSI, you won’t be disappointed. About the author: Eric Marcotte joined Stedman Machine Company and its affiliate Innovative Processing Solutions in 2010. He has a Mining Engineering Degree from the University of Kentucky.
New plant, automation system double operation’s production capacity
Stedman Machine Company
New plant, automation system double operation’s production capacity By Loretta Sorensen| November 10, 2017 Four generations of the Duff family have overseen quarry operations for the past 67 years at Duff Quarry Inc. in Huntsville, Ohio. Among the reasons for their long-term success is a focus on high-quality, economic throughput. “That’s one of our focal points,” says Ross Duff, vice president. “For the past 10 years, automation has allowed us to maximize safety, improve ease of maintenance and have direct oversight of material quality.” Photo courtesy of Duff Quarry Duff Quarry was bare farm ground when the late C.E. Duff purchased it in 1950. Its abundant limestone deposit runs about 400 ft. deep and covers around 400 acres. Today, with three locations, Duff Quarry includes Ohio Ready Mix and Mr. Concrete Builders Supply, employing more than 60 people in Huntsville, Russells Point and Bellefontaine. Customers come from within a 25-mile radius of Huntsville. New era The Huntsville quarry contains bluish-gray dolomitic limestone, which is ideal for construction materials like concrete and asphalt production, the company says. Upper layers of the quarry’s limestone deposit have a high magnesium content, giving the stone a reddish hue. Lower limestone layers, in laminated sheets, are dark gray. The quarry’s limestone is crushed and used in a number of construction projects, including private and business drives in the area. Duff Quarry customers also purchase a variety of crushed limestone products, riprap, concrete sand, mason sand and gravel. In 2005, when Duff Quarry was responding to increased product demand, it purchased a new limestone crushing plant from Stedman Machine Co. At the time, Duff was updating the plant it had used since 1956, seeking equipment that would offer flexibility with product size. The Duff family first learned about Stedman around 1956, when it purchased a Stedman 48-in. four-row cage mill to process agricultural lime at its old quarry. In 1994, Duff purchased a Stedman Mega-Slam crusher for a different location because the company believed it was a superior crusher with its portable plant. Over two and a half years, a Stedman affiliate, Innovative Processing Solutions, designed and fabricated the new automated system, which utilized Stedman’s 5460 Mega-Slam and 6460 Grand-Slam size reduction impact crushers. Innovative Processing Solutions specializes in custom solutions for bulk material handling systems, using equipment from Stedman and other manufacturers to create a variety of systems. The extended system design timeframe gave the Duff family the opportunity to develop a system that can serve them for many years. “We bought the plant in 2005, installed it ourselves and completed construction in 2007,” Ross says. “It was more than 95 truckloads of steel. Apex Engineering set up our automation. The plant uses twin Stedman impact crushers, a Deister grizzly feeder, scalping screen and twin finish screens.” Twelve employees kept the old plant running while the new plant was designed and installed. Prior to installing the new system, the quarry’s annual processing average was about 600,000 tons of limestone. With the new system, production averages 1.5 million tpy when running at full capacity. Customized crushing From left: Plant Operator Jason Beecraft, Mine Foreman Bill Page, President J David Duff and Vice President Ross Duff. Photos courtesy of Duff Quarry The quarry’s automated system includes a fiber linked A. B. Rockwell PLC system run by redundant Windows-based computer control rooms. Quarry operators manage the automation by utilizing an application that runs through two iPads. The system is set up so only one iPad can make system changes at any one time. The plant operator can access the automation system from anywhere on the mine site. “When we designed our plant, we wanted to avoid having our plant operator watch quarry activities from a remote control room,” Ross says. “Using the iPad allows the plant operator to have direct oversight of material quality and make immediate changes as necessary. “It also eliminated the need to contact the person in the main control center,” Ross continues. “A delayed response is not always the safest way to operate. If the plant operator is right there they can stop or start the plant and inspect any equipment to identify maintenance needs.” The iPad used to control the system uses a WiFi signal generated by a router installed in the quarry. Signal strength can vary but is always strong enough to make iPad use viable, Ross says. “You could even control our plant from an iPhone,” he adds. “Because of the phone’s screen size, that isn’t realistic. But in an emergency I could shut the plant down with my phone.” Initial concerns about dust affecting iPad operation were allayed because the iPad has no vent holes or keyboards that could collect dust from the quarry. “No proprietary software is loaded on the iPad,” Ross says. “It’s basically a touchscreen remote for the main control computer that runs Windows.” Although Duff Quarry’s automated system can be connected to the Internet for updates and other resources, it’s only connected for short periods of time to address a specific need. “Our primary network is an intranet,” Ross says. “We avoid Internet connections as much as possible to reduce hacking potential. Programmers can access our system remotely to adjust it, but we’re very cautious with that.” Precise products Stedman’s Mega-Slam is a primary impact horizontal shaft impactor that effectively handles large feed sizes. The machine is built to handle thousands of materials, ores and chemicals in wet and dry applications. Mega-Slam’s design offers safe and easy access for breaker bar replacement and access to all other areas of the crushing chamber, according to the company. The machine’s front opening feature eliminates the need for a crane. The Grand-Slam secondary impact crusher, meanwhile, is built to handle the same type of materials as the Mega-Slam. Through design simplicity, employees have safe and easy access to breaker bars and all other crushing chamber areas. The twin impact crushers give Duff Quarry the cube-shaped rock that provides greater psi strength when used in concrete mixes, which represents a significant portion of their business. Integrated with an automated variable frequency system, the grizzly feeder provides the variable speeds that allow for maximum throughput without overloading the crushing plant. “Our plant has amperage and motion sensors on every conveyor,” Ross says. “Belt scales directly control throughput on the feeder so production runs at maximum speed without overloading belts. We also use tramp metal detection and pneumatically controlled discharge gates to dump material. In the event that metal makes its way into the plant, our automation system empties all belts to protect the crushers.” Quarry-wide benefits Photo courtesy of Duff Quarry The dolomitic limestone at Duff Quarry is desirable for construction materials like asphalt and concrete. With its automated system, Duff Quarry can also manage electricity meter spikes because the system will automatically cut feed rate if production exceeds 840 tons for more than five seconds. Each crushing plant conveyor is equipped with terminal strips wired to communicate production information to one main processor, allowing one staff member to monitor conveyor performance. All feeders and conveyor operations data are also recorded for use in evaluating the system’s overall performance. The new plant system allows Duff Quarry to crush rock in a variety of weather conditions, including heavy rain. Pumps and drain lines under the plant ensure that flooding cannot occur. The Duff family expected to reduce maintenance issues by at least 50 percent with the new plant because automated data management provides evidence of equipment issues well ahead of a breakdown. Since the plant can now be operated with just two staff members, the company no longer shuts production down for lunch hours. Adjusting product size takes just minutes, and the same conveyor can be used to handle different product sizes. Doubling output Overall, Duff Quarry more than doubled production capacity with its automated system and new plant. “We also have brilliant staff operating the plant,” Ross says. “Bill Page, a foreman here for more than 40 years, is a great example of that.” Over the years, Page tried different methods to prevent screen media clogging. He never found an effective product or method, so Page developed his own: the Blinding Buster. “We wanted to ensure our material quality on the finish end was automated, too,” Ross says. “Bill patented an invention to eliminate screen blinding. Every screen media, by nature, will blind, given the right conditions. The Blinding Buster continuously sweeps blinding off finish screens while we’re in production.” The Blinding Buster consists of two major components: the control assembly and motor assembly. The control assembly wires are designed to connect to the normally open auxiliary contact of a screen’s magnetic starter. The screen can be set up to start manually if the motor start isn’t available. The motor assembly includes a standard 20-ft., 3/8-in. chain that can be cut to any length or extended to accommodate all screen sizes. Installing the Blinding Buster takes a 2-in. black steel pipe mounted level approximately 6 in. above the screen opening. The pipe has to be affixed so it doesn’t vibrate with the screen. “The Blinding Buster allows us to screen in subpar conditions when we normally wouldn’t be able to,” Ross says. “We are also able to dry screen finish products without washing. We’re so happy with this product that we’ve made it available to other quarry producers.” Loretta Sorensen is a freelance writer in Yankton, South Dakota. She produces material on a variety of topics, serves as a ghostwriter and has authored her own books.
Get More Performance Out Of Your Crusher
Stedman Machine Company
Get More Performance Out Of Your Crusher impactor maintenanceThere’s an urban legend out there about the company whose maintenance crew mistakenly installed a new crusher with the rotor spinning backwards. It still worked! And you think you have issues? To get the most from your equipment investment, you need to put in the time. Yes, a crusher costs a bit more than your average automobile, but that doesn’t mean it’s maintenance-free. An automobile needs oil changes too, right? Performing regularly scheduled maintenance on impact crushers is crucial for guaranteeing day-to-day reliability and optimum product output. Did you know you can boost output and quality by doing just a little bit more? Even daily cleanups and inspections can increase service life. It’s a no-brainer, though possibly easier said than done. Here are some steps and practices to incorporate in your ongoing operations and maintenance. Beginning with maintenance team education, parts logs, and general maintenance record keeping, plus troubleshooting, these guidelines will help your crusher go the distance. Training: Proper training for consistent maintenance is one of the most fundamental requirements for successful, reliable production. Begin with the crusher’s operation and maintenance manual. Incorporate the manual’s suggested routine maintenance schedule into the maintenance team’s duties. Appoint a “lead person” for each crusher as the go-to for that machine. This person is the historian for the unique operational adjustments the producer has incorporated for raw feed and product requirements. Daily log (document the following every 8 hours): Amperage draw: See if it changes from day to day. If amperage is exceeding normal levels, it could be a signal of bearing problems, loose belts, or general feed issues. Coast-down time: You’re going to need to know (and log) how long it takes the machine to come to a complete stop after shutdown. Here’s why: If the time starts to shorten, this could indicate a bearing problem. Oil pressure: You’ll want to record performance in a variety of operating conditions. This will allow you to identify trends and help to detect problems before they cause costly damage or downtime. Daily maintenance (every 8 hours): Check oil level, sight glass, grease appearance, and other lubrication schedules. Check high temperature or low hydraulic pressure indicators and switches. Check wear parts. Tighten bolts. Inspect belts. Remove dirt and debris from crusher frame surfaces and areas around the machine. Check intake/discharge chutes for any obstructions and/or build up. Check alarms. If electrical changes are made or programs are altered in automated systems, verify that all alarms and interlocks function properly. Don’t be afraid to replace switches or timers that appear damaged or are in poor condition. This is more economical than a major overhaul, but never disable or alter any alarms or interlocks! Lubrication: Completely drain and thoroughly clean out the inside of the oil tank (if you have one) to eliminate any contaminants before refilling. Find contaminant sources. Contaminants such as dust particles and water can get in where oil leaks out. Inspect hydraulic systems and tag any leaks for corrective action on the very next maintenance cycle. Use the proper grade of oil. Use the proper specification of filters. Keep the oil breathers clean. Understand grease versus oil lubrication. Grease requires less-intensive maintenance than that of oil-lubricated systems. Automatic oil lubrication systems or sealed cartridge bearings are for higher speed crushers like vertical shaft impactors, air swept fine grinders, or high-speed cage mills. Most horizontal shaft impactors, hammer mills, and cage mill applications are below 1,000 rpm and grease is sufficient. Maintain a scheduled oil sampling program. By creating a baseline of normal wear, it helps indicate when abnormal wear or contamination is occurring. The exact condition of a mechanical assembly is reflected in the oil. Belts: Inspect V-belt drives for damaged belts or loose belt tension. By replacing cracked, glazed, torn, or separated belts, plus maintaining proper belt tension, you’ll optimize your plant’s performance. Wear parts: Don’t overextend wear parts. Avoid running them so long that they become too worn. You may find that you can no longer rotate breaker bars or interchange wear plates to lower wear areas — and now, you’ve lost half of the wear. Guards: Rubber and chain curtains located in the feed and discharge openings of the crusher are subject to wear and tear. Since they are a first line of protection, it’s important to inspect them regularly and to establish a schedule of regular maintenance. Electrical: When (or if) electrical changes are made, you’ll need to verify that all alarms and interlocks still properly function. Same goes for programs when altered in automated systems. Always check with the manufacturer before making any modifications. Spares recommendation: Keep the recommended spares on hand and order replacements as soon as they are used. A list of recommended spares may be included with your equipment operations manual. If not, contact the manufacturer for recommendations. Update your equipment: All equipment evolves, and the recommended manufacturer upgrades are a good investment for increased life and better crusher performance. Check with the manufacturer for any possible updates. Unapproved modifications: Manufacturer design engineers have considerable field experience, which helps them as they calculate the design and perform prototype testing. Their engineering tasks include calculating bearing loads and bearing clearances. They’ve also worked to maximize throughput by establishing the most efficient speed and setting combinations to optimize impact on the material undergoing reduction. So when plant personnel suggest modifications that alter the intended design, these changes will more than likely hurt the purpose of the original design. As a result, you’ll have a less productive and reliable crusher due to potential damage and overload. Since the manufacturer has a vested interest in how well the crusher performs, contact them before making any modifications Cage Mill Operation and Maintenance Requirements for optimum production and wear part utilization include the following: sleeve wear patterns cage wear pattern identification To increase multi-cage sleeve life, cage rotation should be reversed regularly, if possible. (Some cage mills can be reversed, while others cannot.) By reversing the cage direction, sleeves will be worn from both sides, thus extending wear life. Wear parts: Index and or replace sleeves periodically. Inspect or replace hopper ring and shaft protector, if needed. Cage rebuilding is an option. Bearings: Follow the manufacturer’s recommended specifications and schedule for lubrications, temperature, and vibration ranges of spherical roller bearings in pillow block housings. Horizontal Shaft Impactor Operation and Maintenance Variables affecting product gradation include the following: Rotor speed – Higher rotor speeds produce finer product output.Breaker bar wear & new edges crush finerBreaker bar changes. Apron gap settings – Closer gaps retain the feed longer producing a finer product. Breaker bar wear – Regular inspection and turning will lower operating costs. Throughput (tons per hour) – Overfeeding a crusher can make the output more coarse, but it also causes a number of wear and longevity issues making overfeeding a major concern to avoid. Moisture – Moisture cushions the impact, producing a coarser product. Apron wear – Worn plates can be replaced or moved to areas of lower wear. Spring bridge operation – Spring set height is critical to maintain proper operation of spring bridges. Spring bridges return the aprons to their original positions after an overload situation. The use of altered or non-specified springs can cause equipment damage or catastrophic failure. Requirements for optimum production and wear part utilization include the following: Protect inlet and outlet. Restrict maximum feed size. Maintain feed rate within allowable limits. Check rotor rotation. Use metal detection (required). Check for wear. Follow recommended breaker bar rotation setting sequence. Check rotor breaker bar, wedge, and stop block or jack screws. Check liners and breaker plates. Vertical Shaft Impactor Operation And Maintenance The vertical shaft impactor uses high rotor speeds (1,000 to 3,000 rpm) to apply high energies to the material, and since Energy + Material = Size Reduction, it can create sand from 2-inch feed. Requirements for optimum production and wear part utilization include the following: optimized parts in rotor tube Limit feed size. Use metal detection (required). Observe any vibrations with the use of continuously monitored vibration sensors. Listen to the equipment, if something sounds unusual, shut down and inspect. Limit recirculating product in a closed system. If using water for dust suppression, introduce it into the discharge area if possible. Introducing water in the intake will increase wear. Place weight match shoes opposite one another. The image above shows rotor tubes indexed 90 degrees providing a new wear surface. Wear parts include the following:recommended parts for vertical shaft impactors Shoes and tubes Anvil ring or other inserts Housing liners Rotor table liners and assembly Spares recommendation: Shoes (one complete set) Table liner Anvils (one complete set) Discharge plate The spare parts inventory shown above is recommended for vertical shaft impactors. Hammer Mill operation and Maintenance Up running hammer mills combine impact and shear to reduce material. Down running hammer mills primarily use shear by immediately taking feed to the screen or grate bars where hammers shear the material, until it passes through the openings. Requirements for optimum production and wear part utilization include the following: Lubricate bearings regularly. Regularly inspection (unclamp or unbolt front upper half housing for access to screens and hammers) liners, hammers, hammer bolts, rotor discs, grate bars, and screens. Spares recommendation: Hammers Screens Liners Grinding plate Summary A partnership begins between the manufacturer and the customer when the crusher is installed in the field. The manufacturer needs the customer’s help as much as the customer needs the manufacturer’s help to achieve the highest performance possible. Maintenance service after the sale, although mentioned last, is a central part of crusher system performance. And just in case, the manufacturer will have the people and the parts available 24/7 to assist with any problems. Regardless of the field application, the training of personnel is key to successfully and optimally operating equipment. For the size-reduction industry, crusher maintenance problems are mostly related to inadequate training. This exists at plants both large and small. The most effective education is a current and ongoing program for crews — and that’s what will result in legendary performance.
Vertical Shaft Impactors
Stedman Machine Company
The Stedman V-Slam™ is the vertical shaft impactor for all your coarse-to-fine crushing needs. It offers significant savings over higher-priced competitive crushers. The V-Slam, with its low horsepower per ton of throughput, minimizes operating costs. Our vertical shaft impactors feature multiple rotor configurations for various applications. From open and enclosed rotors to the Stedman Patented Tubular Rotor, each machine is configured to provide customers exactly what is needed for their unique application.The V-Slam has a wide speed range as well as the highest rotor tip speed allowing a high degree of process control.The new Patented Tubular Rotor provides many benefits over the standard shoe and anvil designs as well as rock-shelf applications. The easily replaceable and indexable rotor tubes, cut your total operating cost and maintenance time in half, making V-Slam the easiest VSI to maintain and one of the best impact crusherson the market.Vertical Shaft Impactor ApplicationsLimestoneSand & GravelGlassFerro Silicon & Silicon CarbideAluminum Dross & Other SlagsBurnt MagnesiteTungsten CarbideTrona SulfateBariteBakery WasteZeoliteand much more...Click here for information on retrofitting your existing VSI to the NEW Stedman Tubular RotorGive Your Materials a Spin in our Test Facility VSIThe Stedman Testing & Toll Processing Facility is the place to test your material in our full size VSI. If it can be crushed, ground, pulverized or mixed, chances are we’ve done it. We have more than 10,000 test reports to help get you to the best solution quickly. To learn more about what to expect from testing, read this article that ran in POWDER BULK ENGINEERING magazine.
H-Series Multi-Cage Mill
Stedman Machine Company
H-Series™ Impact MillsThe Stedman H-Series multi cage mill is best at pulverizing, grinding, crushing and mixing abrasive and non-abrasive materials – wet, sticky or dry. The H-Series works more efficiently than other types of pulverizer machines and provides a finer, more uniform grind.H-Series cage mills can handle up to 240 tons per hour and are reversible for extended wear life. The H-Series cage mill is engineered and constructed to operate at or near-peak efficiency longer, providing a greater return on capital investment over its life than competing equipment.H-Series Features and BenefitsCapable of producing a variety of product gradations, easily altered by changing the impact mill speedQuick-opening housing for inspection and maintenance allows for minimum downtime for wear part replacement and inspectionInspections typically require only 5 minutes and complete change out of wear components in as little as one hour or less versus 4 hours or more with other millsCompact, unitized construction, occupies up to 45% less floor spaceReversible DesignProvides optimum utilization of crushing componentsImpact Mill Applications:AglimeAgricultural GypsumRoof & Floor TileClay & ShaleCoalFertilizerSaltsBreak Into Your New Cage MillThe Stedman Testing & Toll Processing Facility is the place to test your material in our full size equipment. If it can be crushed, ground, pulverized or mixed, chances are we’ve done it. Schedule your product testing in our H-Series today. To learn more about what to expect from testing, read this article that ran in POWDER BULK ENGINEERING magazine.PotashCornAnimal FeedsAluminum DrossCorn FiberGrainsGelatin
Is Your Jobsite a Wasteland? Check Out These 3.5 Ways to Reduce Waste and Costs
Command Alkon
                  No, I’m not talking about piles of leftover debris or even the kind of “trashy” look that’s common on construction sites. While neatness is nice, especially on a highly visible site, the waste I’m referring to is all those insidious, sometimes hidden, wastes that may not look messy but can make a real mess of budget forecasts and construction schedules.Jobsite waste – and the losses it creates – is a serious problem throughout the HBM industry. In fact, according to a 2016 McKinsey study, “Large projects across asset classes typically take 20 percent longer to finish than scheduled and are up to 80 percent over budget.”Most budget overruns are not the result of leftovers or throwaways. Most are a result of squandering 1) time, 2) motion, and/or 3) accuracy. Eliminating waste is an ongoing challenge, but these best practices can help you recognize – and correct – this resource-draining scourge:1) TIME. Wasting time is probably the most common and costly jobsite activity, especially since it’s virtually always unintentional and unobtrusive. What’s the best way to spot it? Recognize that all wait time is wasted time. Any person, place or thing that sits idle or is not ready when needed is generating waste.When workers wait on instructions or tools or equipment or approval or inspection, their time is being wasted. When tools, parts or equipment are unavailable or inoperable, time is being wasted. When one process or procedure is stalled waiting for another to be completed, valuable time is being wasted.Wasted time typically results from inadequate planning, communication or resource allocation, so invest in these timesaving preventive measures instead:1) TIME. Wasting time is probably the most common and costly jobsite activity, especially since it’s virtually always unintentional and unobtrusive. What’s the best way to spot it? Recognize that all wait time is wasted time. Any person, place or thing that sits idle or is not ready when needed is generating waste.When workers wait on instructions or tools or equipment or approval or inspection, their time is being wasted. When tools, parts or equipment are unavailable or inoperable, time is being wasted. When one process or procedure is stalled waiting for another to be completed, valuable time is being wasted.Wasted time typically results from inadequate planning, communication or resource allocation, so invest in these timesaving preventive measures instead:Begin with informed planning that includes all pertinent people. Early integration and transparent information sharing improve efficiency at every operational stage.Forecast construction schedules, budgets and requirements so that you can realistically anticipate tools, materials and labor.Create and communicate contingency plans so that the entire crew stays up to date and in sync.Use technology to communicate.  Radios, mobile phones, tablets and other digital tools speed communication and improve clarity. 2) MOTION. Going back to the truck to grab another tool, hunting down a colleague for collaboration, moving critical materials or machinery from its current location to where it’s needed, dispatching and transporting workers, even unloading deliveries and distributing parts are all costly operations that reduce productivity. Any unnecessary or unplanned movement of people, equipment, tools or materials wastes valuable time and energy.To minimize wasted motion, use efficient workplace procedures and productivity-enhancing devices:Plan ahead to place and prepare critical equipment for use at the point of operation.Corral required tools, parts, kits and equipment in well-stocked, well-organized, well-maintained work carts.Equip workers with tool belts, trays, bins and pouches for easy accessibility.Use rail-lock aerial accessories (tool bins, pipe racks, cradles, panel carriers, etc.) when working on scissor lifts, boom lifts or other platforms for safe, secure, fast access.Use communications technology to locate misplaced or misappropriated resources.Designate a worker to make deliveries and tools runs as needed.3) ACCURACY. Precision in quality control, inventory management, and maintenance and replacement programs is vital for preventing wasted materials and labor. Symptoms of sloppy jobsite practices include tasks that can’t be done due to damaged, defective or missing materials; rework due to poor quality or specification mismatches; “shrink” due to lost or stolen tools or inventory; breakage due to careless handling or improper use; and mistakes in ordering, stocking, storing, handling and accounting for materials.Verifying resources and quality takes attention and vigilance. These common-sense practices can bring valuable order and discipline to your jobsite:Make sure all workers have a clear project understanding, including the latest drawings, specifications and contingency plans.Lock up tools and equipment at days’ end and when not in use.Remove and replace damaged tools or materials immediately.Designate a specific person to order, inspect, label and monitor materials, especially near job’s end, to avoid leftover inventory.Are time and resources going to waste on your bsite? Command Alkon helps make fast work of unnecessary jobsite losses.To reduce the costs, risks, and waste that result from out-of-stock and over-stock situations, inefficient hauling practices, and lack of transparency, the HBM industry relies on Command Alkon’s supplyCONNECT to manage daily replenishment plans. By promoting collaboration among supply chain trading partners, supplyCONNECT saves money and time – ensuring that the right amount of inventory is delivered to the right place at the right time.
Is Your Jobsite a Wasteland? Check Out These 3.5 Ways to Reduce Waste and Costs
Command Alkon
No, I’m not talking about piles of leftover debris or even the kind of “trashy” look that’s common on construction sites. While neatness is nice, especially on a highly visible site, the waste I’m referring to is all those insidious, sometimes hidden, wastes that may not look messy but can make a real mess of budget forecasts and construction schedules.Jobsite waste – and the losses it creates – is a serious problem throughout the HBM industry. In fact, according to a 2016 McKinsey study, “Large projects across asset classes typically take 20 percent longer to finish than scheduled and are up to 80 percent over budget.”Most budget overruns are not the result of leftovers or throwaways. Most are a result of squandering 1) time, 2) motion, and/or 3) accuracy. Eliminating waste is an ongoing challenge, but these best practices can help you recognize – and correct – this resource-draining scourge:1) TIME. Wasting time is probably the most common and costly jobsite activity, especially since it’s virtually always unintentional and unobtrusive. What’s the best way to spot it? Recognize that all wait time is wasted time. Any person, place or thing that sits idle or is not ready when needed is generating waste.When workers wait on instructions or tools or equipment or approval or inspection, their time is being wasted. When tools, parts or equipment are unavailable or inoperable, time is being wasted. When one process or procedure is stalled waiting for another to be completed, valuable time is being wasted.Wasted time typically results from inadequate planning, communication or resource allocation, so invest in these time-saving, preventive measures instead:·         Begin with informed planning that includes all pertinent people. Early integration and transparent information sharing improve efficiency at every operational stage.·         Forecast construction schedules, budgets and requirements so that you can realistically anticipate tools, materials and labor.·         Create and communicate contingency plans so that the entire crew stays up to date and in sync.·         Use technology to communicate.  Radios, mobile phones, tablets and other digital tools speed communication and improve clarity.2) MOTION. Going back to the truck to grab another tool, hunting down a colleague for collaboration, moving critical materials or machinery from its current location to where it’s needed, dispatching and transporting workers, even unloading deliveries and distributing parts are all costly operations that reduce productivity. Any unnecessary or unplanned movement of people, equipment, tools or materials wastes valuable time and energy.To minimize wasted motion, use efficient workplace procedures and productivity-enhancing devices:·         Plan ahead to place and prepare critical equipment for use at the point of operation.·         Corral required tools, parts, kits and equipment in well-stocked, well-organized, well-maintained work carts. ·         Equip workers with tool belts, trays, bins and pouches for easy accessibility.·         Use rail-lock aerial accessories (tool bins, pipe racks, cradles, panel carriers, etc.) when working on scissor lifts, boom lifts or other platforms for safe, secure, fast access.·         Use communications technology to locate misplaced or misappropriated resources. ·         Designate a worker to make deliveries and tools runs as needed.3) ACCURACY. Precision in quality control, inventory management, and maintenance and replacement programs is vital for preventing wasted materials and labor. Symptoms of sloppy jobsite practices include tasks that can’t be done due to damaged, defective or missing materials; rework due to poor quality or specification mismatches; “shrink” due to lost or stolen tools or inventory; breakage due to careless handling or improper use; and mistakes in ordering, stocking, storing, handling and accounting for materials.Verifying resources and quality takes attention and vigilance. These common-sense practices can bring valuable order and discipline to your jobsite: ·         Make sure all workers have a clear project understanding, including the latest drawings, specifications and contingency plans.·         Lock up tools and equipment at days’ end and when not in use.·         Remove and replace damaged tools or materials immediately.·         Designate a specific person to order, inspect, label and monitor materials, especially near job’s end, to avoid leftover inventory.Are time and resources going to waste on your jobsite? Command Alkon helps make fast work of unnecessary jobsite losses. To reduce the costs, risks, and waste that result from out-of-stock and over-stock situations, inefficient hauling practices, and lack of transparency, the HBM industry relies on Command Alkon’s supplyCONNECT to manage daily replenishment plans. By promoting collaboration among supply chain trading partners, supplyCONNECT saves money and time – ensuring that the right amount of inventory is delivered to the right place at the right time. 
Eliminate Paper Processes so You Can Focus on What Really Matters
Command Alkon
What's All the Buzz About Electronic Tickets?Paper tickets - this has been a trending topic across the Heavy Building Materials industry for quite some time. Why? Because paper processes are entirely outdated and inefficient, and in an industry that is on-the-go, they can be a hassle to keep track of. Using paper discourages quick billing and quick driver turn around. With the use of mobile technology, drivers can now deliver electronic tickets as soon as materials are delivered. This means quicker invoicing to suppliers and enhanced partnerships. Let's Break It down for You - How Can MOBILEticket Improve Your Business?·        MOBILEticket provides paperless tickets that can’t be lost, rained on, or thrown away. The ticket is an electronic document that is distributable via email without scanning.·        MOBILEticket’s native integration with MCM’s Apex system provides seamless data routing from dispatch to the drivers.·        The intuitive workflow within MOBILEticket makes it easy to learn for new employees.·        Using tablets in their trucks, MOBILEticket can be set up and implemented quickly.Midwest Concrete Materials Sees the Advantages of Implementing MOBILEticketBeing a Command Alkon customer for years, Midwest Concrete rolled out MOBILEticket to the aggregate side of their business. The implementation and training process was straightforward as MCM was already using a number of Command Alkon products. The results of this tool were almost immediate - radio traffic decreased, driver time in the yard decreased and MCM’s internal staff were able to invoice quicker.Placing Focus on What MattersMCM’s drivers appreciate not having to contact dispatch for questions on their tickets. With the paperless tickets they no longer have to manually fill out paper tickets and they get their next ticket displayed on their tablet as soon as they submit the existing ticket. Having all the ticket information on their tablets reduces the amount of questions they have to ask dispatch and there is no risk of the ticket being lost on the jobsite. The reduction in radio traffic increases driver efficiency and allows dispatch to focus on coordinating schedules and getting orders into the system.A+ Customer Experiences and Strengthened Partnerships·The MCM internal staff has seen increased speed at which they can invoice their tickets. The MOBILEtickets are downloaded directly to their financial software and after importing, the tickets are immediately billed. This has reduced time to invoice and eliminated double data entry.Mike Sanson, IT Manager at Midwest Concrete stated, “Our trucks are more efficient, in that they have their assignments immediately upon completion of the previous order. Our drivers have the order information available at their fingertips. The drivers no longer have to fill out paper tickets, and therefore we do not have to double enter to get them into our billing system, eliminating time and mistakes. Our customers receive an email of their ticket immediately in the office alerting them that the material has been delivered, and not waiting on a worker on the job to deliver the paper ticket. Overall, this has streamlined the whole process, and MOBILEticket is a win-win for both our company and our customers.”Want to start a conversation about MOBILEticket? Click here to contact us!
Top 3 Issues That a Top-Notch Mobile Sales Solution Will Address
Command Alkon
Spend More Time in the Field Generating Business Mobile technology that allows real-time information to be collected and shared is changing the face of the construction industry. This technology is being used to track daily activities and critical information, and streamline collaboration between teams in the field and at the office. What's shaking up sales processes in the technology world? Mobile sales solutions. Many sales people love their current manual or isolated quoting processes because they’re easy and have very few constraints. However, the rest of the organization often suffers from the headaches resulting from the lack of visibility or audit trails inherent to these processes, which ultimately negatively impacts your organization’s operational stability and growth plans. If this sounds like your organization, it may be time to investigate automated solutions that are designed specifically for the Heavy Building Materials industry that can empower accurate sales forecasting and minimize quoting inaccuracies. What Can A Mobile Sales Solution Do for My Business? Three problems that a mobile sales solutions address includes: 1) Generating timely and accurate quotes: Roughly 25% of Heavy Building Materials production volume is quoted and shipped within 24 hours. Without real-time information, there is room for unintended errors to easily creep into the process; such as outdated pricing and unauthorized discounts. According to well-regarded research firms, these rebills can cost companies up to 5% of the original transaction value. Progressive Ready-Mix Producers and Bulk Material Suppliers are using mobile sales solutions to more effectively perform quoting, monitoring, and forecasting through an investment that can easily pay for itself by eliminating just a handful of credit and rebill situations. 2) Maintaining realistic pipeline estimates and forecasts: Recent research by the Aberdeen Group shows that only around 55% of companies that do not implement a best-in-class forecasting process achieve their sales quotas, compared to 97% of companies that choose to implement advanced forecasting approaches achieving theirs. With a sales solution in place that provides real-time visibility into both an accurate backlog and an accurate sales forecast, you are empowered to make decisions and adjustments that steer your organization in the right direction on a daily basis (even a hourly basis, if needed) instead of relying on a monthly snapshot of quickly outdated information.  3) Missing opportunities due to lack of visibility in the field: How often does your company miss opportunities simply because a bid date is missed?  Does each sales team member have their own approach to selling, quoting, and closing opportunities?  Is pricing consistency a problem you deal with? With a mobile sales solution designed specifically for the industry in place you can gain the visibility you need to monitor and enforce sales activities and ensure a consistent and professional buying experience to your market. MOBILEsales is Command Alkon’s mobile sales solution for the Heavy Building Materials industry. This tool helps you standardize your sales approach across your team and eliminate issues that arise from inaccuracies and inefficiencies.
Mining, Process Plant, Maintenance & Safety Training
PERFORMANCE ASSOCIATES INTERNATIONAL
Excellence in Mining, Process Plant, Maintenance, and Safety Training  Performance Associates International, Inc. (PAI) is the world leader in online and on-site training for the mining industry. We provide organizations with a single source for assessments, skills training, continuing education, safety training and compliance mandates, and more. Our first-class content guides your staff to gain the critical knowledge they need to work safely and efficiently today.  Our proven, leading-edge industrial training programs improve performance in existing operations and ensure success during the start-up of new operations. Our training programs have saved companies millions in personnel accident prevention, production loss, and equipment damage. We partner with our customers and consult collaboratively to provide the analysis and content development to meet your needs.  Services PAI Offers  Plant Operator Training Our three-tier concept for effective plant operator training starts with fundamental knowledge and progresses to plant-specific concepts that are reinforced through detailed animations and interactive simulations.  Maintenance Training We custom build state-of-the-art maintenance training programs using exploded graphics, explanatory text, detailed procedures, and management systems.  Mobile Equipment Operator Training Our first-class training program focuses on operator controls and indicators, safety, and performance optimization. It also includes operating, emergency, and troubleshooting procedures. Commissioning and Start-Up We can identify, track, and control the thousands of activities that must occur for the successful commissioning and start-up of a process plant. There is no shortcut to a successful start-up. Testing and Tracking Systems We can help manage and track the performance of employees to improve the overall performance of the mine and plant industrial training programs. Our testing and tracking systems provide invaluable assistance in safety and operational compliance.  Introductory and Safety Training Off-the-shelf introductory and safety training packages are an excellent source for mine and plant industrial training courses. They provide fundamental knowledge and basic training concepts. Now offering online courses! E-Learning, Animations, and Simulations Our interactive e-learning keeps trainees focused and engaged. Our experienced in-house multimedia team develops state-of-the-art graphics, virtual and mixed reality training, stunning 3D animations, and technically engineered simulations of real-world scenarios. Other Services We also provide many services relevant to planning, analyzing, and evaluating process plants, including: ·         Operations readiness plan. ·         Planning studies. ·         Quality management. ·         Systems implementation. ·         Statistical process control. ·         Reliability-based asset management. ·         Productive capacity studies. ·         Surveys and needs analyses. ·         Economic life analysis. ·         Process control strategies and methods. ·         Debottlenecking and process optimization. ·         Spare parts inventory and analysis. ·         Feasibility studies. ·         Consulting assistance. Consulting * Gap Analysis * Content Development * LMS * On-Site * Train-the-Trainer * E-Learning * Process Plant Optimization * Training * Safety * Mine Training * Plant Operator Training * Maintenance * Mobile Equipment * Competencies * Commissioning  
Training Pays: Actual vs. Projected Start-Up Results
PERFORMANCE ASSOCIATES INTERNATIONAL
Developing a profitable mining venture is no small matter. It requires enormous initial investments in research, construction, and equipment. But a mineral processing plant does not run itself. Even with the best equipment and good ore quality, optimal results are dependent upon keeping the process running smoothly, avoiding process upsets, maintaining process variables in the desired range, and minimizing breakdowns and downtime. A highly trained workforce is an essential element in a successful, and profitable, start-up. The knowledge and abilities of plant operators and maintenance personnel can make or break an operation. Trained operators know what to look for during preoperational and routine inspections, allowing maintenance tasks to be planned and unexpected costly breakdowns avoided. Trained operators know what variables exist at different stages in the process and how to make appropriate adjustments in real time. Trained maintenance personnel are well acquainted with the plant equipment, and maintenance planners can schedule work and maintain a spare parts inventory to minimize downtime. Additionally, new operations that train their workforce just prior to plant commissioning can utilize their operators in the commissioning process. Having been trained and gained field experience through plant commissioning, operators are ready to hit the ground running once feed is introduced. A faster ramp-up means more earnings, more quickly. The cost of developing a proper training program is a small percentage of the overall engineering, procurement, and construction budget but it constitutes a large percentage of the gains realized from a successful start-up and ramp-up to full production. Performance Associates International (PAI) has designed and presented custom training programs for operators and maintenance personnel in metallurgical plants around the world for over 35 years. We are proud to have been part of the successful start-ups at Lundin Mining’s Eagle Mine, Vale’s Voisey’s Bay project, and Torex Gold’s El Limon-Guajes project. Click Download to view the actual vs. projected start-up results from these three metallurgical plants that made use of PAI’s custom-built training programs and on-site training.
PROCESS CONTROL TRAINING— SIMULATORS ARE ONLY HALF THE STORY
PERFORMANCE ASSOCIATES INTERNATIONAL
With reference to greenfield plant projects, using process simulators similar to the designed plant Human-Machine Interface (HMI) or Distributed Control System (DCS) has become common practice. These simulators represent a “virtual plant” based on process modeling of the circuit chemistry and thermodynamics, and on the physical nature of the plant, including equipment, valves, piping, etc. The virtual plant allows trainees to troubleshoot problems, optimize process variables, react to alarms, etc., all based on the process simulation model. Performance Associates’ experience is that this complex simulator training is valuable, but only after more in-depth training on the process and control logic. To truly optimize a process plant, prior to simulator training, the control room operators must have detailed knowledge of the following:  Process objective of each process system, comprising a group of unit operations.  Process objective of each unit operation.  Process chemistry and the variables affecting it.  Important characteristics of each unit operation, the variables affecting it, and the impact on downstream unit operations.  Plant control loops, interlocks, and alarms.  Safety issues related to the process and control schemes.  Operating procedures for start-up and shutdown under various scenarios, as well as important operator tasks. Additionally, trainees must be intimately familiar with the applicable fundamental scientific concepts, such as pressure, temperature, heat exchangers, electricity, PID control logic, combustion, etc. With this fundamental and plant-specific foundation, the process simulator can be fully exploited for training.
Process Control Training—Simulators Are Only Half the Story
PERFORMANCE ASSOCIATES INTERNATIONAL
With reference to greenfield plant projects, using process simulators similar to the designed plant Human-Machine Interface (HMI) or Distributed Control System (DCS) has become common practice. These simulators represent a “virtual plant” based on process modeling of the circuit chemistry and thermodynamics, and on the physical nature of the plant, including equipment, valves, piping, etc. The virtual plant allows trainees to troubleshoot problems, optimize process variables, react to alarms, etc., all based on the process simulation model.  Performance Associates’ experience is that this complex simulator training is valuable, but only after more in-depth training on the process and control logic. To truly optimize a process plant, prior to simulator training, the control room operators must have detailed knowledge of the following:Process objective of each process system, comprising a group of unit operations.Process objective of each unit operation.Process chemistry and the variables affecting it.Important characteristics of each unit operation, the variables affecting it, and the impact on downstream unit operations.Plant control loops, interlocks, and alarms.Safety issues related to the process and control schemes.Operating procedures for start-up and shutdown under various scenarios, as well as important operator tasks.Additionally, trainees must be intimately familiar with the applicable fundamental scientific concepts, such as pressure, temperature, heat exchangers, electricity, PID control logic, combustion, etc. With this fundamental and plant-specific foundation, the process simulator can be fully exploited for training.