Northern Ireland-based wet processing company CDE has joined forces with Norwegian firm Nordic Bulk to maximise customers’ productivity and minimise waste.
Nordic Bulk is a supplier of bulk material processing plants operating in the mining and aggregates industry in Nordic countries with 30 years of operational experience. It designs and delivers turnkey projects utilising advanced technology. The company supports its customers with a full warehouse of all needed parts and a service department with dedicated staff.
CDE and Nordic Bulk have worked together before on a number of projects in Iceland and Norway, resulting in a drive to enhance the after-sales care offered to new and potential customers across the Nordic region.
With the increased demand across Scandinavia, CDE says it recognises the requirement for more engineers on the ground and local holding of spare parts, to ensure a more timely delivery and reliable after-sales service. Having already established a good working relationship, CDE adds that it is confident in Nordic Bulk’s ability to deliver a high standard of aftercare on their behalf and thus the partnership was formed.
CDE’s CustomCare team supports customers in achieving and maintaining optimum efficiency in the running of their plants and working collaboratively with customers to ensure maximum plant efficiency and uptime. CDE has worked alongside Nordic Bulk providing extensive and ongoing training to immerse them in CDE’s method of service and help the team gain a deeper understanding of the products, ensuring consistent aftercare for customers in Nordic markets.
Customers in Nordic markets can now expect a faster service turnaround and quicker delivery of plant equipment, as and when required. Part of this partnership sees Nordic Bulk taking care of servicing and after-sales of CDE’s largest waste recycling plant for Velde in Norway, operating at up to 300tph. CDE has integrated a new 220tph natural processing plant for Velde, which integrates feeding, screening, sand and aggregate washing and stockpiling on a single chassis and allows Velde to extract more fraction from its feed and produce a high-quality saleable aggregate. Nordic Bulk’s expertise and after-sales care will ensure the plant continues to work efficiently to ensure maximum profitability.
Martin Jackson, head of CustomCare at CDE, says the partnership will improve the service for Nordic customers.
“The collaboration with Nordic Bulk will not only benefit existing customers, but it will give reassurance to potential customers in the Nordic markets that we are dedicated to delivering first-class after-sales service in a timely manner,” Jackson adds.
Eunan Kelly, CDE head of business development for North West Europe, says: “For us, this partnership was a no brainer. We’ve been working on projects with Nordic Bulk over the years and really admire how dedicated they have been to our customers and equally in their own rights. Over the years we have built a lot of trust with Nordic Bulk, and this partnership was a natural progression in our relationship.
“We recently hosted an event at Nordic Bulk’s headquarters to explain our new venture to our customers, which was followed by a tour at one of our flagship project sites, Velde, to showcase the positive outcomes of our working relationship.”
Nordic Bulk’s CEO Peder Egeland says that CDE is a key partner for his company to exceed its customers’ expectations delivering advanced and effective washing processing plants.
“Together we maximise customers’ resource yield and minimise waste,” Egeland adds. “CDE have provided us with comprehensive and detailed training into their products and also their delivery of service so that we can provide customers with top quality after-sales service. We have seen the support that CDE provide to their customers and their dedication in producing quality material, making it a straightforward decision to partner with them, and we are excited to work together to enhance the after-sales service.”
As well as the CustomCare partnership, CDE and Nordic Bulk state that they will continue to deliver projects across Nordic markets, which will include the installation of a new major waste recycling plant in Norway.
Weir Minerals has highlighted how buying original equipment manufacturer spare parts improves the performance of its Warman range of slurry pumps.
Simon Jones, pumps product manager at Weir Minerals Europe, comments: “When you buy genuine spares for Warman slurry pumps, you get so much more than just a volute liner, impeller or side liner. You’re making an investment in a product that will receive expert lifetime support, achieve higher pump performance, last longer and reduce your process’ risk profile.”
He adds that Warman slurry pumps are designed to operate under demanding conditions that place every component in the pump under a significant amount of stress.
“Ensuring components meet such a challenge is an enormous task, requiring the highest quality construction materials, lengthy and precise design processes, stringent quality control in manufacturing and extensive safety testing,” Jones says.
Jones adds that replicators cut corners in design, manufacturing and transport, use inferior wear-resistant materials and do not supply safe lifting methods, which introduces significant risk to pump operations.
“Even tiny gaps between imperfectly replicated components can lead to leakage, vibration or excessive stress concentration which causes dangerous and unpredictable cracks in components - a problem that OEM parts don't have thanks to our strict quality control,” he says.
Jones says that failure of critical components can lead to high-pressure slurry spray, which is often toxic, corrosive or heated to very high temperatures. It can also cause high-energy brittle fracture projectiles which can travel dozens of metres. The risk of hitting other equipment or personnel is high in such situations.
He adds that a major advantage of buying genuine Warman spare parts is that the purchaser receives Weir Minerals’ cutting-edge wear-resistant materials.
“The products of our unique, advanced materials technology group are vital to achieving the legendary wear life of Warman pumps in harsh, abrasive and corrosive mining conditions,” says Jones. “For most situations, nothing compares with Ultrachrome A05, our near eutectic high-chromium white-iron alloy that provides a great balance of hardness and toughness, without sacrificing corrosion resistance.”
He says that Weir Minerals does not rely on one alloy for every situation, and that its ever-expanding range of Ultrachrome and Hyperchrome chromium carbide alloys allow the company’s engineers to specify the optimum wear solution to fit the needs of the application.
According to Jones, the inferior alloys found in replicated Warman pumps are not only prone to failure, their lower, unpredictable lifespans also make it extremely challenging to efficiently align the pump’s maintenance needs to overall campaigns.
He adds that the complex manufacturing processes involved in producing its OEM parts are difficult to reverse engineer and are different for every size and component.
“Our cast alloy components require specific heat treatment, together with a variety of proprietary moulding, methoding and pouring techniques to achieve a high-quality casting with all the required mechanical properties,” he states.
Jones says that parts supplied by replicators either: produce a structurally inferior and possibly defective product, prone to cracking in the high-pressure environment of a Warman slurry pump; or modify the geometry component to suit their manufacturing process, which won’t achieve the fit required due to their poor tolerancing.
“Without the appropriate tolerances, replicated spares can fail to perform in any number of ways, ranging from high localised wear caused by gaps between liners, excessive vibration during operation, and fitment interference leading to an inability to thread the impeller or close the pump without cracking the volute liner,” he adds.
Aside from the rapid wear these issues cause, any geometrical divergences from the OEM design will naturally interrupt the intended hydraulic performance of the pump, reducing throughput, total head and efficiency.
Aggregates and mining equipment does not last forever under the tremendous strain it is subjected to, and Jones says this is why the support that operators receive from their supplier is almost as important as the part itself.
“Genuine spare parts for Warman slurry pumps are backed up by our unique global support network, which includes dedicated service centres within 200km of almost all of the world’s major mining regions,” adds Jones. “That means Weir Minerals engineers, with decades of experience complemented by our unique skills working with mines across the world, are there to support you every step of the way, from installation to replacement or even decommissioning and disposal.”
Off-highway hydraulic component manufacturer Danfoss Power Solutions has restarted its business activities in Ukraine. The Denmark-based multinational halted trading in the country after its war with Russia began, following the latter's invasion.
Danfoss's resumed business in Ukraine will focus on restoring critical infrastructure in damaged cities and towns.
Adam Jedrzejczak, president of Danfoss East Europe region, said: "It is key for us to continue supporting our customers in Ukraine. It is not only the right thing to do, but our products are also key components for the critical infrastructure which needs to be rebuilt. Thanks to Danfoss's products, residents in some of the most badly damaged areas of Ukraine will again have access to heating and hot domestic water."
Most Ukrainian employees decided to stay in Ukraine, but families were evacuated in February by the Danfoss crisis team. As safety levels in most parts of Ukraine are improving, employees are starting to move back. Currently, 40 Ukrainians – including eight Danfoss employees – are in Poland. Other colleagues and family members have been safely moved elsewhere. Currently, there are 16 Ukrainians in Germany, six in Denmark, four in Spain, three in Slovakia and two in Austria. All evacuated employees and their families are relatively well, and Danfoss continues to be in close contact with all families, both the evacuated families and those remaining in Ukraine.
Danfoss, a manufacturer whose varied industries' product portfolio includes hydraulic components for off-highway machinery such as excavators and bulldozers, says Ukraine remains an important Eastern European market for the firm.
According to The Kyiv School of Economics, the cost of direct damage to Ukraine's infrastructure has already reached the level of US$63bn. Therefore, solutions such as those provided by Danfoss are critical as they positively impact the rebuilding of district energy infrastructure, commercial and residential buildings, and water and wastewater treatment utilities.
A company spokesperson said the safety and security of the Danfoss team remain its key priority. Despite uncertainties, it has been key for Danfoss to resume business activities in the country as quickly as possible. For now, Ukrainian customers can pick up their products at a so-called cross-docking warehouse that the company has established in Lviv.
General manager in Danfoss Ukraine Andriy Berestyan, working out of Lviv, said: "Our team in Ukraine is eager to come back to their work. They want to play their part in rebuilding their home country. They are extremely motivated, and Danfoss's products are important to help rebuild our country's infrastructure."
