Metso has celebrated the groundbreaking of its service centre expansion and new training facility, in Mesa, Arizona.
Both the service centre expansion and the training centre are expected to be operational during the December quarter of 2025. These enhancements will serve the increasing demands of mining customers by offering a wider range of repair services, advanced competence development capabilities, and improved safety and sustainability, Metso says.
Giuseppe Campanelli, President, North and Central America, Metso, says: “Our expanded service centre and innovative training facility in Arizona will significantly boost our ability to support customers with comprehensive and reliable services. The facilities will address labor shortages by equipping Metso as well as customers’ employees with the latest skills and technologies.”
With an investment of approximately €14 million ($14.7 million) announced in November 2023, the expansion will increase the repair shop area by nearly 60%, significantly enhancing Metso’s capacity and capability to provide OEM-quality repairs and refurbishments. This investment will support a wide range of mining equipment, covering essential process steps such as crushing, screening, grinding and HPGRs, filtration, flotation and slurry handling, among others, the company says.
An advanced training centre will be built on the same property to bridge the knowledge gap between people, equipment and operational goals. It will feature dynamic digital training assets like the Metso Geminex™ operator training simulator (OTS) as well as dedicated areas for classroom and hands-on learning.
Comprehensive programs will support mining professionals’ technical knowledge at the component, equipment and plant levels, enhancing their skills to promote safety and career growth, Metso says.
The Mesa center will offer jobs to skilled personnel, including service engineers and technical experts.
Numerous upgrades to the facility will be implemented to improve energy and water efficiency to meet the CO2 emission reduction targets set for own operations.
Annami Toukoniitty, Senior Vice President, Professional Services, Metso, says: “Beyond North America, we continue to invest in our service footprint close to major mining areas to support our strategic target to become the preferred service provider in our industries. Our goal is to elevate our service centre operations to a shared, industry-leading standard. We are committed to continuing our successful employee certification program, ensuring top-tier customer service experiences. Additionally, we are focusing on digitalisation to further enhance our capabilities and efficiency.”
Metso says it has a vast service and repair centre network, comprising over 3,700 field service professionals and technical support experts, spread across more than 140 service locations and repair centres on six continents. Since 2021, the Phoenix region has also hosted one of Metso’s largest warehouse operations globally.
Earlier in 2024, the company announced an investment to expand its presence with a new service centre in a key mining hub in Western Canada.