Saving a faulty casted ring gear on a Chilean mining operation
Thanks to our reputation for adhering to the execution procedures and schedule, our technical support, and our local responsiveness we were chosen by an important mining operation located in Chile, to renew a casted ring gear of a mill, that was implemented by another company, and already started showing signs of critical failure such as cracks, after four years of operations.
"We were on the customer's radar due to recommendations they received for the installation of liners in mills and the successful implementation of ring gears we did for another company," says FLS' site and service sales manager, Alvaro Alvarado.
Global experience and expert knowledge
To renew the ring gear, we presented a consolidated offer encompassing both supplying materials and providing services, considering the stages across the value chain, such as engineering, development, manufacturing, assembly, and commissioning the spare part.
Then, our specialised engineers carried out very meticulous work, through on-site measurements and monitoring of the protections of the ring gear to track the evolution of the cracks. In this stage, we highlight the active participation of our team from Salt Lake City, USA — whose contribution and excitement made us meet the tight deadlines of the job.
"There was uncertainty because we didn't know the critical dimensions and operation of the mill made by another company, therefore we had to make a more detailed analysis of the working conditions. Despite this, we adhered to the deadline set to finish the implementation of a new ring gear, being one day ahead of the proposed schedule and the customer’s planning, which was beneficial to the performance," Alvarado states.
In turn, our Head of Mining Aftermarket Sales South America and the person in charge of the project, Nilton Herrera, stresses the idea that this work represents a key success for the company because we installed an FLS spare part into a piece of equipment from another company in the market.
"We had to perform hard engineering work designing a ring gear that fits the machine, which we successfully achieved. In this line, we accomplished other goals related to this job, such as increasing our market share in ring gears, and continue supplying spare parts, which opens the door to supply ring gears across the mining industry," he indicates.
