Weir Minerals says it has opened a new service “Supercentre” in Almaty, Kazakhstan, marking a strategically important milestone that expands local capabilities of its engineering and service expertise to accelerate customer support in the region.
The new facility includes a customer service office; a workshop for maintenance, repair and assembly of Warman® pumps, Cavex® hydrocyclones and Isogate® knife-gate valves; and a warehouse holding strategic equipment and spare parts under Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) contracts. The 3,300 sq.m Weir Minerals Supercentre is fully equipped to perform rubber lining with premium Linatex® rubber in both cold and hot bonding, the company added.
Weir Minerals service capabilities in Kazakhstan include a complete range of services, such as installation supervision and commissioning, operational support, maintenance and troubleshooting, assistance in developing a maintenance strategy and equipment condition monitoring and analysis.
The official opening of the Supercentre was carried out by Carola Schulz, Managing Director of Weir Minerals NATCA (North Africa, Turkey and Central Asia); Gavin Dyer, Regional Managing Director of Weir Minerals ENACA (Europe and NATCA); and key customers and partners of Weir Minerals in Central Asia.
Schulz said: “Our new Supercentre in Kazakhstan will support our key customers in the region, as well as manufacture Linatex hoses and execute rubber-lining activities. This £1 million ($1.1 million) investment is core to our localisation strategy and we will continue to invest to support our ambitious growth plans in Central Asia. We have a very close strategic partnership with our customers in Kazakhstan; and we have recently been very successful with new projects in Uzbekistan. This facility will initially be supporting our customers in Uzbekistan.”
Dyer continued: “We are guided by the philosophy of supporting the local economy and always being located close to our customers. We strive to be able to contribute to our customers’ value chain and support their success; and for me the local employees are the main pillar ensuring that we are successful. It is our people that create our legacy, and we are heavily investing in the development of our employees to support our growth and the growth of our customers.”
George Sweiha, Group Procurement Director at KAZ Minerals Group, said: “From the very beginning of the mineral extraction projects at the Bozshakol and Aktogay sites, KAZ Minerals Group has been striving to ensure that original equipment manufacturers are represented in Kazakhstan to develop local capabilities; by this I mean hiring and developing local specialists and building best-in-class facilities. I am glad to see that Weir Minerals shares our vision and recognises the huge benefits of localisation for business partners, but most importantly for the country and society in which we operate.”