Words of wisdom on: Washing and classifying

By |  October 22, 2020

Editor’s note: As part of our Road to Recovery coverage, P&Q is turning to some of the industry’s leaders for their takes on the road ahead. This month, leaders from washing & classifying manufacturers were posed with the following question: How are you and your dealers coaching aggregate producers through the pandemic when it comes to their washing & classifying equipment?


McLanahan Mark Krause

Krause

Continuing education on maintenance, efficiency

McLanahan’s Mark Krause discusses connecting with dealers, customers

The arrival of COVID-19 challenged us all to look at how we support our customers. Having been classified as an essential business, many of our customers have been running continuously since the virus hit. 

With limitations on travel and some supply chains being delayed, the importance of knowing your local dealers who have people and parts readily available to support you when needed became more apparent than ever. Our field service team never stopped being on the road to supplement the work of our dealer network. 

The virus also highlighted the importance of regular maintenance and operational efficiency. Knowing that many customers decided not to make capital expenditures. We held additional webinars covering all facets of wet processing – some geared just toward our dealers and their ongoing training, as well as equipment and operations training for end users.

Mark Krause is managing director for North America at McLanahan Corp.


Dan Bradford Superior

Bradford

Providing virtual training for producers, dealers

Superior’s Dan Bradford explains how his company has adapted with technology

Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve really upped our commitment to producing virtual training content for our dealers and aggregate-producing customers. Video topics include installation, maintenance and best practices for operating your washing and classifying equipment. 

We’ve produced a dozen or so sessions to date and have a list of 100-plus more we plan to create. Our time in the field with dealers and producers was cut off for a period, but our travel schedules are returning to normal and it’s refreshing to be back in the field. We’ll continue to produce virtual training sessions, but there’s nothing better than strapping on our hard hats, lacing our steel toes and getting dirty alongside our customers.

Dan Bradford is wet processing product manager at Superior Industries.


Eagle Iron Works Dave Schellberg

Schellberg

Using data, specs to assist customers

Eagle Iron Works’ Dave Schellberg gets creative to keep in touch with customers

It is very possible to assist aggregate producers in optimizing sand processing equipment performance by receipt of data and specific observations. 

Upon reviewing the data and photos or videos of operating equipment, recommendations can be provided to increase product yields of specification sand products while minimizing loss of product-sized sand to lower-value products or, even worse, to tailings ponds. Such was the case when a producer asked for an evaluation of a sand classifying tank and sand screws at a suction dredge-fed sand plant. Canadian Geese were sunning themselves on the wash plant’s discharge on what appeared from a photo to be good plus-200 mesh sand that was flowing to a waste flow from the plant.

Information requested was supplied that included sand plant photos; classifying tank gradations from the first three valve stations; sand screw product gradations; an advisory of screw shaft speeds; and observations of sand screw overflow and sampling. From this data received, recommendations can be made to make adjustments to equipment, including changing screw shaft speeds to retain more product-sized sand being thrown away, resulting in more specification sand on the product piles and not in the waste tailings flow.

Dave Schellberg is global product manager at McLanahan Corp., which owns Eagle Iron Works.


Featured image: P&Q Staff


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