After 10 years of growth, Australia?s mining sector has some difficult decisions to make. The China-led demand from the developing world has wavered while rising capital costs and a high dollar have led to Australia to becoming one of the most expensive places in the world to develop a mine. To address this, mining companies need to find ways to reduce costs without compromising output or safety.
This is where Babcock International Group, a global engineering support services company, can help to provide a competitive advantage. A previous article in Quarry1 outlined how Babcock?s model of fleet management transforms the way critical fleets of vehicles and equipment are managed in the global mining industry. This time we examine how Babcock does this by focusing on ALCAMiE, its unique approach to managing large, complex fleets of equipment.
CUSTOMISED SYSTEMS, PROCESSES
ALCAMiE combines a range of customised systems and processes that deliver services and manages costs over the whole life of an asset – from procurement through to disposal. Key to this is the granular information it delivers to provide a full picture of the fleet and enable strategic decisions to be made.
Critical to successful fleet management is the way ALCAMiE categorises and manages assets. For example, it recognises that some equipment will bring an operation to a grinding halt if it breaks down, as opposed to other equipment whose function, while important, can be easily replicated by other machinery. By segmenting equipment according to its criticality, ALCAMiE reprioritises what needs to be done first to ensure that equipment is available, when and where it is needed.
Through ALCAMiE, customers benefit from increased asset availability, savings of up to 20 per cent, reduced costs and processing, and transference of risk. The centralised running of contracts means that customers get a holistic view of their entire fleet through a secure web-enabled application, rather than using traditional accounting tools. For example, ALCAMiE is helping Babcock to reduce costs per tonne for global mining and construction customer Lafarge in territories from the UK to the US and Canada.
Babcock?s approach has been developed and honed over a number of years, working with companies that have similarly complex and technical portfolios of equipment. It does not matter if the customer is a flagship global airline, a mining company or operates within the defence or emergency services sectors; ALCAMiE is designed to deliver the support, systems and proven capability they need for the management of their critical equipment. Across the globe, Babcock manages the ownership and operation of more than $60 billion worth of vehicles and equipment.
Customers also value Babcock?s impartial approach to maintaining and managing equipment – regardless of the manufacturer. This approach means Babcock does not encourage customers to buy any specific make of asset; the customer gets the right asset to do the job.
The success of ALCAMiE has not only led to new opportunities across commercial and public sectors but also brought recognition very quickly in new markets, such as within the mining and construction sector, which Babcock entered in 2011.
With new operational offices in Australia serving Pan Asia, ALCAMiE looks set to cross new territories and sectors as Babcock continues to prove itself both unique in its approach and the partner of choice for fleet management operations.
Robert Caprile is business development director for mining and construction (Pan Asia), Babcock International Group.
REFERENCE
1. Mobilising and standardising the fleet. In: Quarry 21 (3), March 2013; 20-22.