Sandvik has announced the appointment of Graeme Wolfenden, to the new position of Australian Drill Master for its mining and construction business, taking on this specialist role effective immediately. The company says “the role is unique to Sandvik in Australia and offers customers the opportunity for a Mineral Ground Tools (MGT) expert to be on call nationwide for maintenance, assessment and training purposes.
Wolfenden, an MGT professional with 30 years in the underground coal industry under his belt and a background as a fitter and turner, has been working for Sandvik Mining for more than 10 years. He says his position as Drill Master was developed to ensure Sandvik customers experience “the greatest return on investment from their equipment, from training operators to use and maintain the equipment safely, to carrying out field tests on Sandvik MGT products.”
He is enthusiastic about his new role, which will encompass all current cutting, shearing and roadheader equipment for Sandvik and other selected brands. “I will be available to carry out product trials or technical assistance for our sales teams and customers across the mining and construction sectors for all areas of MGT product,” said Wolfenden.
He has spent the past 10 years as an MGT Tool Sales and Service Representative for Sandvik and will draw on this experience to support his new role. “In my previous role, I was responsible for the sale of all drilling consumables, drill rods, drill bits and spanners, and cutting tools and sleeves for continuous miners and long wall shearers. With my experience in the industry and time spent working in the Newcastle and Hunter Valley region, I have a good understanding of the needs of underground mines.”
The Drill Master role is part of a new Sandvik initiative that focuses on a ‘carbide-to-customer’ approach which ensures the entire customer service chain is trained to offer customer-specific service and appropriate products, from initial order through to replacement or disposal of machines, consumables, components and parts.
In spearheading this customer-centric approach, Wolfenden recently played a key part in training Sandvik staff at the company’s Heatherbrae site, across roles ranging from Customer Support Centre and sales representatives to engineers and operators.
His approach to the training ensured each person in Sandvik’s customer service chain was knowledgeable about the products and services their customers require, while providing a personalised and consistent customer experience.
“The ideal end result is being able to show the value of Sandvik products in reducing costs and increasing production levels by using the correct Sandvik products for the task at hand,” said Wolfenden.
“Even if customers are comfortable with the current product being used at the mine site, a fresh set of eyes and some technical input or site trials of new products may bring about significant advances in cost reduction and increased production levels.
“Once the market is aware of this new resource from Sandvik, and our capability to carry out productivity trials and report back with test results, I can see a very positive result for our customers.”
Wolfenden said the benefits for Sandvik’s customers went beyond productivity and cost reductions, when customers were able to see the value added through experience and personalised service.
“The most important part of our service offering is the hands on, personal experience our customers receive when dealing not only with me, but also our Customer Support Centre, account managers and product engineers,” he said.
“Sandvik’s customer relationships are built around integrity, reliability and pride in our products – and this is reflected in our daily communictions with customers.
“This new Sandvik Drill Master role will play an important part in building and developing our service and support offerings,” said Wolfenden.