The company says the new service hubs will widen the geographical reach of its existing service hub network consisting currently of more than 70 locations in six continents and some 2,000 field-service technicians worldwide.
"With the opening of new services hubs, we aim to place Metso's service personnel even closer to our customers, to be there where they need us and to strengthen our relationships", says João Ney Colagrossi, president, service business line, mining and construction, Metso.
The locations of the facilities will be determined by Metso’s customers' needs and the growth of its customer industries.
In 2012 and early 2013, Metso will open new service hubs in Antofagasta, Chile; Arequipa, Peru and Cananea, Mexico.
The com[any says it will also strengthen its services presence in Sweden to support local mining customers. As a result of the LCS (Life Cycle Service) contract signed with
"To be able to properly size the location and scope of each new service hub, we take into consideration the operational and maintenance needs and the installed equipment base of our customers located near the future hubs", says Randall Reisinger, senior vice president of engineered services solutions, services business line, mining and construction, Metso.
Services business consists of spare and wear parts, performance contracts, repairs and process optimisations, and in 2011 Metso says its services business accounted for 50% of Metso's Mining and Construction segment's net sales.
Metso's service hub network for mining and construction customers is divided into multiple regions and it consists of three different types of service units: repair centres, service centres and satellite facilities.
Repair centres serve customers within a wide geographical range and are equipped with machinery and know-how to meet the needs of customers having to perform heavy services like machining and welding on large equipment within their own plants. Metso currently have 13 repair centres in ten countries.
Service centres are located in regions with a concentration of customer plants and are designed to serve customers with repair services for equipment requiring light assembling and disassembling. Metso has 45 service centres in 13 countries.
A satellite facility is a remote unit, located close to the customer's facility, serving as home base for Metsoemployees working in the customer's plant.
