CR
CR (formerly CQMS Razer) is a global IP, engineering, software and manufacturing company, delivering innovative, Technology Defining Productivity to mining operations around the world.
Engineering a productive and digital future for mining
For over 40 years, CR has been a world leader in designing and manufacturing innovative mining productivity technology for both surface and underground applications. With a footprint in every major global mining region, CR is a leader in engineering innovation and the manufacture of productivity-enhancing software. The company, which has headquarters in the US and Australia, has two divisions: CR Mining and CR Digital.
CR Mining engineers a suite of advanced products for both surface mining and underground primary production assets, such as cast lip systems and ground engaging tools (GET) for hydraulic excavators, rope shovels, LHD and wheel loaders, as well as dragline buckets and rigging, conveyor systems and fixed plant wear products.
CR Digital has a portfolio of technology for the optimisation of surface mining, from blasthole drilling guidance and rock knowledge, to load and haul circuit optimisation for excavators, face shovels and wheel loaders. The CR Digital product range overlaps with the CR Mining range, with advanced sensing of GET attached to these production assets. All digital systems are underpinned by a suite of real-time analytics and open integrations that turn highly accurate sensing into real-time operational decision-making information.
Smarter Engineering
With an approach to product engineering that directly focuses on productivity outputs for customers, CR employs a scale testing method to develop and test cast lip designs before they are sent to site. Using a 1:7 model of the same machinery, CR can design new lighter and smaller lips via scale testing at their Global Technology Centre in Australia. Recently, CR developed the RazerEdge RE1522 – the smallest cast lip ever designed by CR suited to 100-140-t class machines. By developing the RE1522 product through scale testing, CR’s engineers were able to engineer a product that was both lighter and stronger than conventional plate lip installations which improved cycle times, decreased dig energy and increased reliability with improvements in maintenance and associated downtime related to GET changeouts. By scale testing the product concept, the engineers were able to test and tweak elements of the design to ensure the optimal product had been developed.
Performance of the scaled designs are captured via CR Digital’s Titan 3330 Load Haul Optimization System, which provides real-time analytics on bucket payload to assess the efficiency of the design before full-scale development. The Titan 3330 system works by providing information to the shovel or excavator operators in real time, allowing them to make decisions to optimise bucket payloads to ensure each truck payload is as close to the target payload as possible. By ensuing every truck is loaded to its optimum point, the productivity of the overall truck fleet is maximised, allowing the operation to consistently work at an optimal level. CR Digital’s Titan 3330 also provides significant advantages in reducing damage to the machine by providing information on how much stress and fatigue the machine is under.
The integrated process collaborating Titan 3330 and Orion data analytics to help evaluate data provided by the scaled models ensures that every product is tested and productivity benefits are proven before they arrive on a mine site.
Smarter GET
CR has embraced the unification of traditional mining and industry 4.0, with the intelligent integration of analytics and steel. The recent acquisition of GET Trakka, a ground engaging tool loss detection system, propelled the company into the forefront of smart mining. The GET Trakka product package offers GET detection on and off the bucket alongside analytics previously unknown to operators. Within the GET sits a rugged wireless IoT sensor that provides all GET information back to the CR database. If the GET is lost or broken whilst in operation, the operator is immediately informed via the in-cab alarm module, safely preventing expensive downtime events due to lost GET in the crusher. By upgrading current GET products with intelligent analytics, GET Trakka is a gamechanger in the integration of technology and tradition within the mining sphere.
With a strong history of creating innovative products and a focus on driving productivity and performance outcomes, CR continues to test designs and partner closely with customers to focus on delivering the forefront of technology, revolutionising the performance of mining equipment across the globe.