Atlas Copco aims to keep Australian mines on track by eliminating issues before they arise.
Gone are the days of carrying a canary into a mine shaft. At a modern mine site, sophisticated air compressors are tasked with keeping miners breathing easy with a reliable supply of fresh air.
When choosing the right air compressor, great care needs to be taken to ensure the machine is the right fit for the mine.
“It all comes down to quality. Quality products, quality service,” Atlas Copco field service technician Eddie Thompson told Australian Mining. “At Atlas Copco, we’re known for setting the industry standard.”
Thompson said customers know what they’re in for when they choose an Atlas Copco air compressor.
“The quality of our materials sets us apart from the competition,” he said. “Our products are engineered in Belgium with the highest-grade steel on offer.”
When you’re sending out equipment engineered to the highest standard, making sure that equipment keeps operating to that standard is key.
Atlas Copco can provide an air compressor for any situation, but it’s the ongoing preventive maintenance of compressors that has become a cornerstone of the company’s commitment to its customers.
“Some of our customers are 1000km away in remote, hard-to-access areas,” Thompson said. “If a lack of preparation leads to a breakdown, it could mean hundreds of thousands of dollars down the drain until the equipment is back up and running.”
Thompson said skipping preventive maintenance is a costly mistake he’s seen too many times.
“If an air compressor’s filters aren’t cleaned, for example, it can’t suck in air and the strain on the machine will double electricity bills and halve its lifespan,” he said. “If you don’t take steps to effectively maintain a compressor, you’re setting yourself up for inefficiency and expensive breakdowns.”
Image: Atlas Copco
Under Atlas Copco’s service contract plan, technicians are on hand to keep machines running as they should with genuine company-certified parts.
The company’s highly trained and experienced technicians work behind the scenes of a mine site to eliminate potential issues before they even need to be called out.
“We’re always thinking six months ahead,” Thompson said. “By identifying what parts are going to need replacing soon we can swap them out before they become a problem.
“We have technicians all over Australia maintaining air compressors so mines can get on with the work of extracting resources efficiently.”
Thompson emphasised every customer is different, so Atlas Copco works with each site to execute a maintenance plan based on the needs of an individual operation.
“Our customers can’t afford breakdowns when they’re running high-turnover operations 24–7,” he said. “It’s our ability to adapt and think ahead that separates us from the competition.”
Working alongside Atlas Copco technicians is the company’s integrated SMARTLINK software solution.
By monitoring equipment and sending data directly to Atlas Copco, SMARTLINK enables technicians to remotely evaluate maintenance needs.
“We can see if there’s anything wrong with the machine and run diagnostics based on real-time data,” Thompson said. “We can even use the data to enable customers to quickly solve the problem before a technician even needs to be called out, saving them costly downtime.”
Thompson said Atlas Copco’s preventive maintenance offering makes it an obvious choice for a complete air compressor package.
“Our customers keep coming back because we prevent breakdowns, keep operations running, and save them time and money,” he said.
“Reliability is key. That’s where we have the competition beat.”
This feature appeared in the March 2024 issue of Australian Mining.