BOA Hydraulics co-founder Simon Boakes breaks down the key challenges and solutions facing the quarry industry in 2024.
BOA Hydraulics has become one of the fastest-growing hydraulic companies in Australia and New Zealand in the five years since it opened its doors.
The New Zealand-based company has helped more than 300 contractors save money and downtime with its unique 360-degree onsite hydraulic hose repair solution.
With a perspective spanning two countries across Australasia, Simon Boakes gave his perspective on the most significant issues facing the quarrying industry and potential solutions.
Q: What changes and challenges were most pertinent to the quarry industry and operators this year?
A: Like many industries, the quarry sector faced challenges related to supply chain disruptions, fluctuating material costs, and evolving environmental regulations.
These challenges put pressure on our customers to maintain productivity while being more cost-efficient and sustainable.
From your perspective, how was 2023 for BOA and its customers broadly?
This year has been a transformative year for BOA Hydraulics.
The demand for efficient and user-friendly hydraulic hose repair solutions continued to grow. More and more quarry owners are looking at their internal processes and challenging where they can increase efficiencies.
With the BOApod being a mobile all-terrain repair and maintenance facility, we think our offering is well-placed to help customers facing these challenges save money and downtime.
How did you change or adapt your approach or product to help customers tackle these challenges?
We have collaborated closely with our customers to develop tailored hydraulic hose repair solutions that address their unique challenges.
We’ve also continued to invest in research and development to enhance our product offerings, making them more reliable and environmentally friendly.
We know that more quarry operators are considering their environmental footprint and how to lower it to fit their sustainability objectives.
Our solution answers many of the quarry industry’s challenges regarding productivity, profitability, and sustainability.
With the BOApod, how did you see its year on the market?
The BOApod has had a remarkable year.
We’ve received some great feedback from the industry, both in Australia and New Zealand, about how it is helping operators either save downtime and increase profitability through better machine utilisation.
The BOApod’s success in the market can be attributed to its user-friendly design, ease of implementation, and the cost savings it offers to quarry operators. It gives the quarry industry more control over their downtime, optimising machine performance onsite.
We have contractors across various industries, from quarrying and mining to demolition and civil contracting, and they’ve given us good product feedback.
With productivity and efficiency becoming more important each year, we see our role in giving customers the critical components required to repair and maintain hydraulic hoses as essential to achieving their goals.
What do you see as a challenge for the year ahead, and how can quarries tackle this challenge?
As we look ahead, one of the significant challenges will be meeting increasingly stringent environmental regulations while maintaining operational efficiency.
BOA Hydraulics is committed to developing eco-friendly solutions that help our customers reduce emissions and minimise their environmental footprint while improving productivity and compliance.
What innovations or products is the company working on for 2024?
In 2024, we are excited to introduce several innovative products. While I can’t reveal all the details yet, you can expect more focus on asset utilisation through technology regarding hydraulic hose repair.
Our BOAhub Hydraulic Hose Management system is growing rapidly, embracing innovation to reduce onsite downtime.
How has BOA Hydraulics used technology to improve its offering to customers?
We have integrated the BOAhub Hydraulic Hose Management system with our hose repair unit, the BOApod, allowing users to manage inventory, create job cards, tag hose assemblies, and assign hydraulic hoses to assets to give the quarry industry more control over their hose repairs, allowing them to track and report on hose repairs with ease.
Through tech, we are removing the fear of carrying out hydraulic hose repairs yourself, giving control back to the machinery users. •
For more information, visit boahydraulics.com.
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