A rebuild strategy is the most cost-effective way to ensure a full service life from a mining machine and it’s major components. Rebuilds come at a fraction of the cost of buying a new machine. Here’s how one of our mining customers, Boral, came to the decision to invest in rebuilds instead of buying new machines.
“Basically the long term expectations of the rebuild process were that we would benefit from an increased capacity in mining operation and reduce significant maintenance costs for our HME fleet. The decision came down to WesTrac’s experience, plus the access to Cat technical expertise and genuine parts, and this was all backed by warranty and service support. The key requirements of the rebuild strategy and the targets set for the strategy included maintenance cost reductions across the entire life cycle of the equipment – across 60,000 hours in this instance – plus improved machine availability. This meant reduced mean time to repair and increased mean time between failure.” - Deane Beltrame, Site Manager at Boral's Marulan South Limestone Mine
Boral’s decision to invest in a "rebuild before failure" strategy paid off. Cost reduction targets were achieved by reviewing unscheduled downtime events and using this data to schedule repairs and maintenance before failure. Unscheduled shutdowns were avoided which ensured costs were kept to a minimum.
WesTrac’s 24/7 rebuild service played a major role in keeping Boral’s costs down. Replacement parts were simple to source, easy to order (Parts.Cat.Com) and quick to be delivered. WesTrac’s Cat dealer-certified technicians worked around the clock to rebuild Boral’s machines, completing 100-hour rebuilds in just four days – a job that a smaller operation would take up to two and a half weeks to complete.
On working with WesTrac as their rebuild strategy partner, Mr Beltrame made the following comments:
“Our experience of working with WesTrac and the Cat Certified Rebuild teams was very positive. They were very experienced on the job and they delivered quality work and quality after rebuild service and technical support. Compared with other possible rebuild options, WesTrac’s close relationship with Caterpillar and its expertise with qualified Cat technicians and its vast parts inventory figured strongly in the rebuild decision. The decision required a level of trust with WesTrac and they met our expectations, both in terms of level of trust and the excellent quality of the work.”
