BUSINESS
Fall short with short-term
operating costs
By partnering with Pilot Crushtec and
Metso, there is inherent peace of mind
attached to the purchase. “The reality
is that the service technicians we use
are certified and trained by Metso,” says
Marais. “Metso has over 100 years’
experience within the crushing and
26
MAY 2019
Components and spares have been designed and developed specifically, and there
are no discrepancies on angles, tools required, and so on — they fit, work perfectly,
and last longer.
The extended warranty is now offered
as a standard feature on all Metso
products and many customers have
immediately recognised the inherent
value.
“Those customers who have
been around the block a few times,
understand the costs involved when a
major component fails on a machine,”
says Abelho. “This is not limited to the
component itself, which can get costly,
but there is downtime to take into
consideration. When the machine is not
sweating, someone is losing money.
At Pilot Crushtec, we understand this
and all clients on the extended warranty
programme receive priority attention if
they experience a failure. Should a part
break down and the customer calls us,
Metso will, where possible, immediately
put the part on a plane and airfreight it
to us.”
“The concept can be compared to
servicing and maintaining your car,”
says Marais. “To ensure your car retains
as much value as possible, and keeps
running properly, you take it to the OEM
dealer on a regular basis to be serviced.
Taking it to an unqualified, unauthorised
mechanic who uses substandard parts
will affect both the performance and
value of your vehicle. We, unfortunately,
are seeing this happen in our industry
with an influx of non-OEM repair
services and parts. This results in parts
not lasting as long as they should and
the machine not performing optimally.
“Additionally, once the one-year
warranty has expired, we see so many
people in our industry trying to service
the machines themselves without
Pilot Crushtec there to guide, advise,
and assist in the process, which can
cause all sorts of chaos. This, hopefully,
will become less prevalent among
our customers as we are involved
throughout the life of the machine. We
guide and offer the best advice possible
to management and operators to ensure
hassle-free operation during the life of
the machine. Essentially, you want to
prevent a problem from occurring, as
opposed to fixing a broken part.”
Crushtec
Hassle-free operation for life
An alternative part may be cheaper, but at what cost in production?
screening industry as manufacturers
and that kind of intellectual capital is
not easily picked up. Additionally, when
we look at the components and spares,
they have been designed and developed
specifically for their machines. There
are no discrepancies on angles, tools
required, and so on — they fit, work
perfectly, and last longer. We hope
that we can change the mindset of the
operators who are only concerned with
short-term operating costs as opposed
to what the long-term benefits will be
when it comes to efficiency, efficacy,
and productivity. Almost every single
day we get call-outs from clients who
are having issues with non-OEM parts
or unauthorised service and repair jobs
that were not done properly.”
Abelho concludes by sharing a case
study from a client who spent so much
on repairing three major failures caused
by non-OEM parts and poor servicing
that the company could have bought
a new crusher that year. “There is a
reality, in every South African company,
that savings must be made on operating
expenses. It must, however, be better
interpreted as to where the savings
are coming from. As a business, you
will never be able to save yourself into
profit. A big focus is always on operating
expenses, but not enough attention is
given to operating efficiencies. A 5%
improvement in production will yield
much bigger profits than a 5% reduction
in operating expenses. One needs to
look at the reality of what the production
output of the machine is, and what the
cost of using non-OEM parts is. So, an
alternative part may be cheaper, but at
what cost in production? With us, there
is a guarantee on the parts, without
any compromise in performance of the
machine; we are available 24/7, 365, and
we will make sure you keep running.”
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