Mining conveyor major Fenner Conveyors, a Michelin Group company, has celebrated the grand opening of ‘K3,’ its third Siempelkamp plant at its Kwinana/Australia location with the commissioning of a steel cord conveyor belt press line including a multi-cylinder press.
The company, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of conveyor belts for mining and large-scale industry, partnered with Siempelkamp in June 2020 as part of a A$23.5 million expansion to the Kwinana facility. A third press line was to be installed to increase Fenner’s steel cord conveyor belt capacity by a further 40%. With this project both companies manifest their long-standing cooperation: the facility already houses two of the world’s largest steel cord press lines made by Siempelkamp, measuring 18.5 m in length and having the capability to produce steel cord and fabric ply belts up to 3,200 mm wide and 50 mm thick.
With Siempelkamp’s support, Fenner Conveyors aims to strengthen the local production of steel cord and fabric ply conveyor belts. The statement said: “Iron ore mines are a relentless environment for conveying equipment. The ore can cut, gouge and rip through heavy-duty belts, while the fines can lead to serious abrasion issues. Miners know that these conditions require some of the strongest belts on the market that Siempelkamp equipment is capable of producing.”
It adds: “The aspect of sustainability also comes into play: The use of conveyor belts, compared to the conventional ‘truck and shovel operation,’ results in considerable CO2 savings when transporting the billions of tonnes of bulk material over kilometres in the mines, between mine loading stations, and within the loading ports.”
Siempelkamp’s scope of supply includes the whole production line. “The multi-cylinder press provides, as well as both existing press lines from Siempelkamp at this manufacturing facility, an outstanding pressure distribution during the full curing process. This state of the art press technology enables Fenner Conveyors to cure conveyor belts from 5 mm to 50 mm thickness, providing a unique process accuracy and stability which cannot be achieved with other, traditional press concepts. Likewise, the entire machine and process control technology was developed, tested and implemented by Siempelkamp in hardware and software. The project was primarily paved by the intensive cooperation between the Australian Siempelkamp subsidiary headed by Geoff Robson and the Siempelkamp sales team in Krefeld.”
More than 100 customers, government representatives, and industry stakeholders were invited to the factory to celebrate the achievement for Australian manufacturing and see the new Siempelkamp press line in action. The achievement of the new press line represents Michelin’s and Fenner Conveyors’ ambitions to support customers in maximising the value they derive from their products, services, and innovations.
“At Fenner Conveyors, we hold the quality of our products in the highest regard, which is why we invested in the latest technology in conveyor belt manufacturing. Siempelkamp is industry leading in belt manufacturing equipment. Their technology provides us with enhanced visibility over the manufacturing process,” says Hong Koh, General Manager Manufacturing at Fenner Conveyors.
“We are proud to have supported Fenner Conveyors in the USA and Australia with our equipment technology for almost 20 years. The fact that we are allowed to be a part of K3 today is a great compliment for the entire Siempelkamp group and a testament to the dedicated project and installation/commissioning team that ensured an on-time start-up,” adds Geoff Robson, Managing Director Siempelkamp Australia.
