IMS test plant will lower total cost of ownership

In line with IMS Engineering’s (IMS) philosophy of matching the machine to the material and optimising the process for the lowest cost of ownership, it has developed a test centre that compares with anything of its kind in the world.

The test plant, located at IMS’s premises in Spartan, Kempton Park, has a full range of crushers and sorters including a new generation Hazemag secondary impact crusher, a Hazemag double-rotor hammer mill, a Hazemag double-roll crusher and a Hazemag secondary/tertiary impact crusher; a new generation Kawasaki Cybas-I cone crusher; and others. HPGR testing is done with IMS’s machine based at Mintek.

The facility also includes a fully-equipped laboratory for the analysis of pertinent data.

IMS Engineering MD, Paul Bracher, says his company is the leader in maximising asset value in the fullest sense of the word – intrinsic value, post-sale service value, and extending the life-cycle of each machine. “While many operators focus solely on the capital outlay cost, it is, in fact, the operating costs that invariably prove more far more expensive in the long run and the test centre is fundamental to lowering the cost of our customers’ ownership over time.”

According to Bracher the efficiencies will be created in this way:

• When buying a machine, through strategic testing and experimentation, a customer can choose the most suitable machine or machines for the job.
• If and when material inputs change the test facility enables experimentation with the changing material without disturbing main-line production.
• IMS will conduct its own continuous testing, feeding the results back to its technology partners to ensure the constant appropriateness of the technology with new generation machines.

Bracher says the test plant is the visible aspect of IMS’s ‘systems’ approach to continuous monitoring for continuous improvement. Working as a close adjunct to the facility, is the on-site monitoring system where sensors, fitted to IMS equipment, monitor material and machine making failure prediction possible and significantly minimising downtime.

He adds that with commodity prices as volatile as they are, the ability to consistently get maximum value from equipment is vital for those the mineral processing business, and IMS’s test plant will be the basis to achieving this.

IMS, a leading comminution and separation/sorting technology provider has completed more than 600 installations in the mining and minerals processing, construction materials (aggregate, sand, clay, and limestone) and recycling (concrete, rubble and scrap metal) segments. Its installed base has an extensive and growing footprint. Apart from the southern African region, the company has installations in South America and Australasia, with expansion planned into other regions.

Founded in South Africa in 1949, IMS focuses on end product requirements and provides optimal crushing solutions from concept to design through to end of plant.

IMS has distribution agreements with many of the world’s leading comminution technology providers including Kawasaki, Koppern, Minpro, Taprogge, and, of course, Hazemag, which is the majority shareholder in the company.

For more information please contact: Paul Bracher on 010 001 8200