WearCheck conducts regular training courses for customers who invest in the company’s oil analysis and condition monitoring programmes. Here, diagnostician Quinton Verster visits a mine site in Zambia while conducting training in the country
Mining and industrial operations in Zambia and the DRC that invested in WearCheck’s oil analysis and condition monitoring programme, have reported that their operations are running at optimum efficiency, which translates into enhanced profitability.
Condition monitoring specialists WearCheck first opened in Durban, South Africa more than 40 years ago. Today, they process over 750 000 samples a year, in a network of 16 laboratories in nine countries across the African continent and beyond.
WearCheck’s first Zambian laboratory was opened in 2007 at Lumwana, with the lab at Kitwe launching in 2012. The DRC’s WearCheck laboratory opened in 2015 at Kibali Gold Mine.
The WearCheck way is to help customers save money and time, via a convenient “one-stop-shop”, offering the full spectrum of reliability solutions to getting plant to perform at its peak. As well as traditional used oil analysis, WearCheck Zimbabwe also conducts thermography, vibration analysis, balancing, laser alignment, motor current analysis and milling.
Using these preventive maintenance tools substantially reduces the chances of a machine failing without warning, which can often have a catastrophic impact on a production line while repairs are carried out and spare parts are ordered.
The more efficient option is to plan for component down-time using data gathered during condition monitoring, so that remedial work is done when it is needed and before it becomes a disaster. Many Zimbabwean companies have embraced this concept and, as a result, improved their efficiency.
WearCheck’s managing director Neil Robinson, who is committed to upholding the company’s analytical standards at world class level by ongoing staff training to keep up-to-date with global condition monitoring trends, also prioritises on-going investment into state-of-the-art laboratory equipment. In line with this philosophy, WearCheck Zimbabwe recently added an array of new instruments, including a new viscometer.
Says Robinson, “At WearCheck, we take top quality seriously. Our position at the helm of global condition monitoring trends makes us proud. As does the fact that WearCheck is currently the only condition monitoring company on the African continent with ISO 9001 quality certification and ISO 14001 certification for its environmental management programme, as well as, ISO 17025 accreditation for its laboratory-centric quality management programme.”
WearCheck is honoured to be a member of the prestigious International WearCheck Group (IWG), which meets annually to share information on global condition monitoring trends.
In addition to Zambia and the DRC, the network of WearCheck laboratories extends into South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Ghana, India and Dubai, with a presence in several other African countries.
WearCheck offers on-site sampling, as well as a 24-hour sample turnaround. Contact WearCheck via telephone: Zambia – Lumwana +260 (0) 977 622 287 or Kitwe +260 (0) 212 210 161, and WearCheck DRC: +243 (0) 819 595 822.
Please visit www.wearcheck.co.za for further information, or email support@wearcheck.co.za
