McLanahan well positioned to support Australian miners through uncertainty

According to Mining News Pro - During the mining downturn of 2014, while other suppliers consolidated and centralised to reduce costs, McLanahan deliberately decentralised.

The intention was to enable faster response times to a concentrated set of customers by having its own technical service personnel and distributed inventory.

Fast forward to 2020 and the benefits of distributed local centres and a wider source of subcontractors now delivers more certainty to miners enduring the current challenge.

McLanahan workshops in the Perth, Mackay and Newcastle regions could be described as both abundant yet sparse.

High levels of spare parts inventory and a significant number of projects fill the physical space. Yet there are fewer technical personnel, split into discreet teams working opposite shifts and utilising unique workspaces.

Changes in work practice have been implemented early and teams are settled into a new routine; customer expectations are balanced against the health and safety of McLanahan’s people and their families.

Miners across the country are working at full capacity to develop stockpiles and ensure they are ahead of the curve in case they are forced to shut down operations due to COVID-19; this feeds concern about the global supply chain and the ability for OEM’s to support their operations.

Like most of McLanahan’s contemporaries, it is constantly fielding enquiries about its ability to offer timely responses for spare parts, onsite services and refurbishments.

McLanahan would never have been able to foresee that changes made to its business model in 2014 would provide the flexibility to rise to the challenges of a global viral pandemic in 2020.

What circumstance could anyone envisage that would see state borders become closed gates. Of course, equipment can still be transported across borders but people less so.

Having field service and engineering people in Western Australia, Queensland and New South Wales helps McLanahan to provide support close to each of the major mining communities, reduces response times and we would like to think, provides a level of certainty to its customer base.

Similarly, over the years McLanahan has embraced the use of localised subcontract machining, fabrication support and component supply, not just around Australia but right across the Asia-Pacific region.

As geo-economic circumstances change across the world, McLanahan can source supply from multiple locations and respond in a timely manner.

McLanahan senior customer service specialist, and one of McLanahan’s longest serving team members, Brad Peterkin, has seen many changes in the market and knows the importance of speed of response when miners need support.

“Communication is the key,” Peterkin said. “Customers want to speak directly to someone local. They want to know you understand their operation and they need to trust our ability to respond.

“Having multiple facilities allows for multiple projects to be completed at once and delivered safely and on time.

“As an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), customers know that we have designed the equipment here, manufactured it and we have the capabilities to repair and refurbish everything, including feeder breakers, DDC-sizers, crushers, rotary scrubbers and rotary breakers.”

With the current impact of the COVID-19, McLanahan has implemented rosters throughout all Australian locations to ensure continued engineering and design support, field services, repairs and refurbishments.

It is in constant contact with its key customers to ensure it develops suitable safe engagement methodologies and to ensure suitable inventory through future planning.

To ensure your operations are experiencing minimal downtime during this challenging period, speak with one of McLanahan’s customer service team members about how you can proactively plan for spare parts, consumables and site audits on your equipment today.