The seam team
Polish mining equipment company Mine Master Ltd is expanding its markets beyond its homeland. Andrzej Czajkowski and Witold Hnat tell Ruari McCallion about it.
There have been many political and economic changes in Poland over the past 40 years and the history of Mine Master Ltd has tended to reflect them. It grew out of activities in the ÔÇÿnew copper basinÔÇÖ, which was discovered in the late 1950s, and when the Lena mining facility was exhausted and closed in 1972, it gave the opportunity for a free standing business to be established on the site.
The company is located in the south-west of the country, not too far from Wroclaw. Owned by the KGHM state enterprise, it focused on the manufacture of mining equipment and within two years had produced its first twin-boom pneumatic drilling rig for the non-ferrous metal ore mining sector. Its first market was the nearby Polish copper basin and its large mining industry.
The end of the Soviet bloc era was a time when opportunities were opening up but the state-owned industries were not well-placed to exploit them. In 1993, KGHM restructured the company and entered into a joint venture with Boart Longyear. In 2006, that partner decided to change its business approach and to dispose of its mining equipment interests. The Lena operation was sold to its management and has, since 1 December 2006, been known as Mine Master Ltd.
ÔÇ£We now employ about 170 people and turnover is around Ôé¼19 million a year,ÔÇØ said Andy Czajkowski, a member of the board of management. Its primary market remains the Polish copper industry but it also exports. Turkey is its second-largest market, followed by South Africa. ÔÇ£We have also sold several machines to customers in places like Estonia, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Chile and other countries.ÔÇØ
Chile offers particular opportunities. ÔÇ£As a copper producer, itÔÇÖs bigger than Poland,ÔÇØ said Witold Hnat, sales and product manager. ÔÇ£We face competition from other European companies and Canadians, too, as everywhere. We arenÔÇÖt as big as many of them but our strength is our ability to offer tailor-made equipment. We are really flexible in fulfilling customer requirements, which is sometimes difficult for the large organisations, who tend to be geared to offering standard equipment ranges.ÔÇØ That flexible approach is reflected in the recognition for innovation the company has received.
ÔÇ£We were presented with an Innovative Product Award for our Facemaster 1.7D,ÔÇØ Czajkowski said. ÔÇ£It is diesel powered and able to work without an electrical and water network.ÔÇØ Normally, underground mines have water and electricity supplied from outside sources and nothing much happens without it. The Facemaster 1.7D carries a 1000 litre water tank on board, which enables it to go straight to site and move ahead of the support infrastructure, preparing the ground or cross-cutting seam facesÔÇöwhich is great, but what happens to the exhaust gases generated in an enclosed space?
ÔÇ£We make modern machines that comply fully with the most stringent requirements,ÔÇØ said Hnat. ÔÇ£The exhaust gases have greatly reduced levels of particulates, CO2 and NOx, and the exhaust is controlled. ThatÔÇÖs why itÔÇÖs allowed to work underground.ÔÇØ
Mine Master makes roof bolting and face drilling rigs and excavator drilling attachments, and supplies load/haul dumpers and dump trucks made by its partner company, GHH Fahrzeuge. It can thus offer customers a full package of machines for mining and tunnelling works. The company has particular expertise in low and ultra-low seam equipment.
ÔÇ£We make everything ourselves from scratch; everything is done in-house,ÔÇØ Czajkowski said. ÔÇ£We have a strong and very experienced design team, who use ProEngineer for CAD. We buy components like axles, engines and transmissions from leading specialist companiesÔÇöour engines come from Cummins and DeutzÔÇöbut we design and build the chassis and the working attachments, such as booms and multi-feeders, ourselves.ÔÇØ
Mine Master has become a very different company from the original joint venture, which was established at a time when old working practices were still prevalent. It has now adopted lean manufacturing techniques and has taken the principles into its culture.
ÔÇ£There have been a lot of changes in the company,ÔÇØ Hnat continued. ÔÇ£We adopted lean in 2002 and are continually improving and investing. We hold ISO certification and we are seeking to invest more, in order to improve quality and productivity.ÔÇØ Mine Master acquired 3D software for its engineering department in 2005. ÔÇ£That was a big investment from our point of view and enabled us to make computer-controlled machines.ÔÇØ One of those, the Face Master 2.8CC, is equipped with a fully electronic on-board control system, which is managed by specialist software but on the familiar Windows 2000 platform.
ÔÇ£At the highest level it is fully automatic. The electronic system allows the operator to push a button and the machine does the work itself,ÔÇØ he said. ÔÇ£We won an innovation award for the highly sophisticated electronics system, which was presented to us by the prime minister of Poland.ÔÇØ
Mine Master goes further than simply building and selling equipment. It believes in long-term relationships with customers, which is manifested in after-sales service and upgrading with a team of specialist engineers. Its employees are encouraged to upgrade their own qualifications and help the company to continually raise its own standards.
ÔÇ£In five yearsÔÇÖ time I expect we will be much the same but with bigger production capacity and more advanced technology,ÔÇØ Czajkowski said. ÔÇ£We are a modern company, with good conditions for our employees and good products. We estimate, when our expansion plans are in place, in about three yearsÔÇÖ time, we will almost double our production capacity, so we are moving forward with technology, capacity and quality.ÔÇØ
