Bendigo based Keech Australia has developed three new product ranges that will enhance the efficiency of the mining process.
Engineers have spent the last 12 months developing and refining the blade products, which are used during the excavation process at mines across the world.
Keech innovation and quality manager Dr Bala Hebbar said the new blades were more efficient than predecessors.
“Our customers will receive a much longer life from each blade,” Dr Hebbar said.
“They’re low cost, cut into the ground more efficiently and penetrate a lot faster.”
The products are essentially interchangeable bucket edge attachment blades that can be quickly replaced out in the field, which reduces machinery downtime.
Keech executive general manager Brad Clark said customers required readily available and reliable equipment.
“If machinery is working all the time and is reliable – it won’t impact production time – and will increase profit,” Mr Clark said.
“One key element during design considerations was to match the life of the blades with the service intervals of the machinery, reducing production downtime.
“It’s all about evolution. There are several opportunities Keech is working on in the retainer and material space that are revolutionary, they are going to potentially turn the industry on its head.”
Within the next six months the products will reach the market for field validation and testing.
Majority of the products made in Bendigo aid in the mining of iron ore, gold, nickel and coal.
The company shed 24 jobs in 2016 in response to a mining downturn in Australia, it has since bolstered its workforce to above 150 with further growth now expected in 2019.
Keech has been based in Bendigo since 1993 and involved in the design and manufacture of “high integrity steel castings” for more than 80 years.
It supplies a range of markets across the world within the mining, construction, industrial, defence, agriculture and railway sectors.
This article originally appeared on The Bendigo Advertiser
