Australian Mining discovers what puts Bosch Rexroth’s hydraulic products and systems ahead of the curve.
Bosch Rexroth is no stranger to materials handling in the mining and resources sector; whether it is stackers, reclaimers, conveyors, feeders or ship loaders, the company takes rightful pride in all its products being applicable for assorted equipment.
With around 33,000 employees in over 80 countries and customising sites in 20 countries, Bosch Rexroth (‘The Drive & Control Company’) has sustained a solid and long-standing reputation by delivering high-performance hydraulic products and systems for machinery applications over the past 200 years.
From a comprehensive product portfolio, Large Hydraulic Drives strikes as a speciality field, particularly in the materials handling sector. In addition to this, the most eminent Hagglunds hydraulic drive has been identified as a robust solution when dealing with the risk of shock and frequent load spikes in a harsh environment.
As stated by Rod Elvin, who is the sales and service manager for Bosch Rexroth Australia and has been working for the company for 23 years, “The name of the game is quality”.
“Quality, no doubt!” he said. “Fit for purpose, the drives have a high power density, which provides high starting torque, variable speed, precise control and predictable life cycles.
“The low inertia rate of 0.1 per cent is determined to increase the uptime of your conveyors by limiting the stress on machinery, chains and drivelines.
“The advanced engineering designs are tailored to suit the challenges of customers based on their requirements and specifications that provides a feasible path to increased productivity.
“Therefore, we guarantee high-performance solutions to ensure quick payback and minimal maintenance cost for your mining applications.”
Furthermore, in most low-speed applications, the Hagglunds Drive solution also has an operational advantage of being a low inertia drive, stopping within a degree of rotation with no windup and additional loading of the internal components, offering precise speed control. This is in contrast with electro/mechanical drives where the input speed to the drive is typically above 1000 rpm in combination with a gearbox of, say, a 30 or 40:1 reduction.
Bosch Rexroth also offers a bevy of service options through its Service Department.
With nine locations strategically located throughout Australia, operators will always find a reliable service partner in the vicinity.
Whether it is field service, component repair, equipment overhaul, spare parts and predictive analysis, Bosch Rexroth is always one call away to help equipment owners and operators identify potential issues and reduce unscheduled downtime.
“Bosch Rexroth understands the life cycle approach to hydraulics products and systems we apply. It starts with the initial concept; we design the systems, install and maintain the systems and recommend necessary upgrades when technology or the customer’s application requirements dictate a redesign is necessary,” Elvin said.
Moreover, retrofitting and modernisation of hydraulic components and systems instead of machine replacement is in some cases a much more financially viable option for machinery owners and operators.
Bosch Rexroth engineers work with owners and operators to evaluate machinery and give options for modernisation, avoiding large upfront capital costs.
“Port facilities, mine sites and industrial sites all benefit with the proven reliability of our products and systems, coupled with our extensive applications experience. This is tested and proven by our extended list of customers all across Australia and New Zealand,” Elvin explained.
Lastly, the company is also playing an active role in actuating the future of hydraulics integration. The spreading contingent of Industry 4.0, aka i4.0, is leading to an increased autonomy of machine systems. As a result of which, Bosch Rexroth is involved with various smart manufacturing pilot projects, collaborating with various original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and organisations to help usher in a new stage of automation development.
“For Bosch Rexroth, Industry 4.0 is not only about machine integration but making the hydraulic systems autonomous with analytical analysis of component life and maintenance intervals, minimising planned and unplanned machine downtime,” Elvin explained.
“The connectivity of these individual systems in a plant and the predictability of their maintenance and/or failure, which can give a holistic outcome for the owner, operator plant or machine, is what defines i4.0 for hydraulics at Bosch Rexroth.”