Last week saw the annual Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town. Shall says “mining in South Africa today, is tougher and costlier than ever and industry investments are flowing outwards instead of inwards. This, coupled with a combination of deteriorating reserves, rising labour costs and regulatory uncertainty just to mention a few challenges, caused major miners to contemplate business in the country.

“South Africa is home to the world’s largest platinum, chrome, manganese reserves and the source of one-third of gold ever mined in the world. With the pending transformation legislation, some of the top mining executives are appealing for more support and if we consider this situation from the point of view of mining equipment, we identify the following trends emerging as demands in the mining sector:

• Delivering the same objectives with a reduced number of vehicles
• Increasing loads for each of the vehicles
• Improving conditions for the machinery operators
• Reducing operational costs
• Complying with latest environmental norms and regulations.”

“Heavy duty machinery and equipment in the mining sector are becoming more complex and require the highest levels of professionalism from operators and servicing technicians”, says Tendani Ndwamise, Direct Sector B2B Marketer at Shell South Africa, “Breakdowns in machinery can cause unexpected downtime and increase costs incurred by fleet operators. This is where Shell Commercial Lubricants can make a difference to help achieve maximum effectiveness of the equipment and increase life cycle of the vehicles.”

Over the years, Shell’s Lube Expert as well as Shell’s global partnership with original engine manufacturers in the mining sector, have made Shell best placed to identify trends, understand sectorial needs, and respond with relevant and value adding service offerings.

Despite wide availability of various Genuine Part Oils (GPOs), businesses are not always able to make full use of the machinery available in various markets. Close collaboration and experience exchange between leading OEMs and lubricant manufacturers can allow the parties to find a mutually beneficial solution resulting in an increased effectiveness of the equipment on offer and growth of the popularity of the brands of both manufacturers.

Close collaboration amongst all the parties helps to achieve maximum profit and effectiveness of the implemented solutions. Collaborative approach to the application of lubricants allows a business to achieve additional profits. Shell Commercial Lubricants #1 Global lubricant supplier as per 2016 Kline report of OEMs and customers.

“We create opportunities for technical dialogue to win strategic partnerships”, adds Ndwamise. Collaboration with leading OEMs allows Shell Lubricants to participate in the development of new equipment, lubricants, and fuels as part of a single process. These processes are needed to achieve the main objective and to help achieve maximum performance of the equipment that has a “knock-on effect” on the effectiveness of business operations.

“We add specialists, Shell Lube Experts, who are responsible for evaluating performance of the equipment, selection of lubricants as well as ensuring correct application of the lubricant. This means that a field specialist actively participates in the life cycle of lubricants, from its development to implementation” says Ndwamise.