Kumba Iron Ore’s Sishen South project puts E+H’s expertise as a single source supplier to the test.
During tough economic times cutting costs – without compromising on quality and service delivery – becomes an increasingly crucial concern. This is especially true when the nature of the business requires substantial capital layouts upfront, as is the case in the mining industry. Endress+Hauser says this is where its comprehensive product basket and expert advice give its mining clients the upper hand. Kumba Iron Ore contracted Endress+Hauser to supply approximately 90% of the instrumentation at its new Sishen-South iron ore mine in the Kalahari plains of the Northern Cape.
Situated 20 km outside Postmasburg, work on the new mine started about a year ago. One of the largest Anglo American projects currently underway, the total cost involved is estimated to be R8,5 billion. Although many similar mining projects have been put on hold in recent times, Anglo American decided to go ahead with the Sishen South project, while keeping a tight rein on budgets. It approached Endress+Hauser to become the main supplier of instruments; in this way, Kumba sidestepped the costs and risks involved in dealing with a variety of suppliers.
Endress+Hauser accepted third party responsibility, undertaking to source instruments that fall outside its scope from nominated suppliers and ensuring the compatibility of all products. Furthermore, it offered a process guarantee on all field instruments ensuring that all devices are ‘fit for purpose’. In the event of an instrument malfunctioning, it is E+H’s task to either fix or replace it.
The company says the single source supplier approach to outsourcing as implemented by Kumba has proved to be an economical solution. The benefits realised by Kumba can be summarised as follows:
* Placing a single order with Endress+Hauser has saved the project a considerable amount of time, administration and human resources when compared to the process involved in placing multiple orders.
* Endress+Hauser guarantees that all the instruments supplied, including those sourced from third parties, will function at the highest level, hence removing a potentially costly risk from Kumba.
* Endress+Hauser commits to the speedy delivery of products and spare parts to the site.
* With instrumentation being a scarce skill in South Africa, Endress+Hauser’s team of experts is adding value to the project, including providing Kumba employees with the necessary training and skills transfer.
With the mining industry accounting for about 40% of Endress+Hauser’s business, it offers a wide range of measurement instrumentation for a variety of mining applications, for example in the areas of flow, liquid analysis, level and temperature. To ensure that the most appropriate instruments are recommended for a particular application, it offers a comprehensive consultation service to clients. This enables cost effective solutions by decreasing raw material and energy consumption, as well as maintenance. Finally, all instruments on site are standardised, thus reducing end user stock holding.
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