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A single, smooth supplier of bearings and components

 

A proficient partnership between manufacturer and distributor aims to minimise downtimes in the quarrying, construction, extractive and processing industries with a one-stop-shop for high performing bearing systems.

When it comes to bearing assemblies, a glaring need for a complete set of parts from a single manufacturer has made itself apparent. That is why manufacturer SKF has taken it upon itself to develop, design and manufacture its very own Quarry Kit to please producers across industries. The kit takes time out of researching and ordering all the necessary parts for bearings in crushers, screens, transmission shafts and conveyors.

With 114 years of research and development under its belt, SKF has become well-positioned to deliver a comprehensive, reliable bearing solution – all that was left was a dependable distributor to provide exposure to a hungry market. Enter, Applied Industrial Technologies to circulate this soon-to-be-released kit.

“All too often out in the field, customers share the predicaments they find themselves in by not having all the necessary parts to complete a bearing assembly change,” Anthony Mikhail, Applied’s branch manager for Wetherill Park and Minto, told Quarry. “Or even worse, they’re suddenly faced with a catastrophic failure on a conveyor drive and realise seals or adaptor sleeves are missing or housings are incorrectly sized to suit the bearings.

“SKF have put together a solution package which eliminates customers from being left in such painful situations and Applied Industrial Technologies delivers this innovative mindset to optimally satisfy supply chain demands for its valued customers.”

Mikhail has been with Applied for four years in the metropolitan Sydney region, and previously worked with SKF for several years. Through almost 20 years in the industry, Mikhail has learned exactly what keeps the wheels spinning for the average Australian quarry.

By July this year, pending final launch approvals, the Quarry Kit will be available nationwide, and Mikhail said there are too many benefits to be ignored.

“This package isn’t just presentable and a premium quality offering for conveyors – it’s designed to reduce the costly time spent ordering all the components of a housed unit separately, which then helps make the process much smoother and simplified,” Mikhail explained.

“Rather than customers having a mixture of brands to make up a housed unit, this kit offers our customers one brand, all SKF components, making sure nothing is mixed and matched. One brand supports aftermarket reliability and local support, again through one channel – Applied.”

The kit will be available in two forms to provide options for customers, depending on application – the open-type bearing, and the sealed bearing.

The first option includes open-type SKF premium spherical roller bearings, matched with SKF robust housings, four-lip elastomer rubber sealing, adaptor sleeves with accessories and an SKF auto-lubrication unit. The lubrication unit is vital because it ensures the rest of the kit can operate at maximum efficiency and safety.

The sealed option is the answer for producers looking for increased service life in contaminated areas, Mikhail explained.

“We also offer SKF’s sealed spherical bearing option, delivering maintenance cost-savings due to minimised lubrication consumption, as these bearings are pre-lubricated and sealed, enabling easy mounting methods,” he said.

The kit is most suited to a wide variety of applications on a smaller scale basis, where high performance demands don’t outweigh the need reliability. Given quarries are the types of operations that can’t afford unscheduled breakdowns, Mikhail implored all quarry managers and supervisors to consider the value of an improved bearing replacement inventory.

“Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) is something that manufacturing companies and quarrying operators should be seriously considering,” Mikhail said. “Applied helps its customers keep their inventories at levels that ensure low to minimal downtimes, resulting in smoother running operations, peace of mind and a focus on continuous improvement and customer satisfaction.”

In a country where small to medium quarry businesses form the backbone of the infrastructure and construction industries, products like the SKF Quarry Kit allow such businesses to serve the growing demand for resources. For those managers who can ill afford to be worrying about the serviceability of every bearing on-site, the Quarry Kit may just be the tonic required. •

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