More Productivity at Lesser Cost

Vendors are bringing in breakthrough technologies in the latest range of crushers and screens that offers better productivity and ease of operation.

‘More productivity at lesser cost of ownership, for a longer term’ seems to be a major factor in choosing plant and machinery in general. This demand pull from the end-user segments for more efficient and better performance has had a huge impact on the design trends and the product offerings from OEMs. Same the case is the suppliers of crushers and screens. Vendors are bringing in breakthrough technologies in the latest range of crushers and screens that offers better productivity and ease of operation. As the fuel prices keep going up, most of the vendors coming out with ‘feature upgrades’ to increase the fuel efficiency.   There has been renewed thrust in the road sector which has brought resurgence to the CE industry and this demand trend has also been reflecting in the sales performance of crushers and screens over the last couple of years.

Speaking about the latest advancements in the crushing segment P Ramesh, Managing Director and CEO, Wirtgen India had this to say. “The operation of crushing plants is becoming more and more complex due to the increasing requirements placed on modern crushing plants. At the same time, the technology must be reliable and as simple as possible to operate – and without lengthy instruction and familiarisation periods. Here comes the strong point of the new operating concept called SPECTIVE from Kleemann. With impressive range of functions and intuitive operation, it provides clear instructions and its self-explanatory symbols actively support the user in finding the right setting for each application.”  According to him the market globally has been shifting from wheeled / static plants to track mounted plants, and the same trend is expected in India.

“Our basic design of equipment was based on lowest operating and ownership cost. We could achieve this having diesel electric system instead of diesel hydraulic system in mobile crushers and screens,” says Rajender Khoda – Group Business Development Advisor.  “We have improvised on the metallurgy of wear parts produced in the in-house foundries to suit the specific quarry stone character to improve the life and reduce the cost/ton of production,” he adds. According to use of high capacity machines can bring down the number of machines and accessories which in turn will reduce the cost of operation. This will result in dramatically reducing the overall cost/tonne of production and will also improve efficiency of the system.

“For products improvement we have a very dynamic internal feedback mechanism whereby our sales and service teams from the respective subsidiaries across the world are required to provide a particular set of data back to our Technical Department in Italy. The info, both qualitative and quantitative that comes directly from our users in different working environments from across the world, is then used to unearth the most sought after improvements which we incorporate with the launch of our new series for each model,” states Piero Guizzetti, CEO, MB Crusher India.

“Optimization of the design has been done to suit the requirement of the customers to enhance the productivity and life of the equipment. We are striking the crucial balance between productivity, cost and life of the machine. Innovation is the key to sustenance and we are continuously innovating and upgrading our products according to the market trends,” says Onkar Sapre, Country Head – Sales & Marketing, Taurian Engineering. According to him the simplest way to tackle the high rising fuel prices is enhancing the productivity. “We are focusing on enhancing the productivity to counter the increasing fuel cost so that per tonne cost can be minimized. We are also constantly upgrading the crushers to enhance the productivity.”

With construction activities in full swing and several big-ticket infrastructure projects underwayt here is a growing demand for aggregates, specifically from the road sector. Enhanced public spending in infrastructure, increased private participation, huge  production targets in the coal and mineral sector, are expected to trigger the demand drive for crushers and screens, especially higher capacity plants. With huge chunk of infrastructure yet to be developed in various sectors, the industry is positive about the uptick in demand which augurs well for the suppliers. The C & S industry has been growing at a rate of 15-20% in the last few years, primarily due to the numerous road projects awarded. The mining

segment is still to move towards the growth path. Aggregate sector is the main driver for the growth and  the industry expects CAGR in this

sector to be +25% while mining maybe around 10%.

Sums up Ramesh: “In the last couple of years, most of the growth in C & S has come from the road sector, and this trend will continue for next 2-3 years. Meanwhile we expect the mining and especially the iron ore segment to pick up – with the steel prices growing up in the last six months, we expect the demand to increase.

The following interviews from industry heads brings to you the latest trends in the crushers segment.

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