Problem:
An Iron Ore Mine located in Northern Canada was in the midst of loading their high-grade iron ore material during their busy season when disaster suddenly struck. As their team was loading out a bulk carrier ship in the port, their steel cord belt suffered a 200-foot longitudinal rip, making it impossible to continue operations. As it was nearing the final quarter of their four-month ice-free window of ship-loading, the plant manager feared that this catastrophic failure would end their season. The result would be potentially $139M in lost revenue. In the past, belt repair solutions have taken quite some time to reach them, as their plant location was far away from main roads and shipping hubs. Knowing they had to act fast, and that downtime was costing their facility upwards of $1 Million per day, they decided to immediately reach out to their local Flexco distributor for help.
Solution:
After discussing their situation with a Flexco distributor, it became clear that the right solution for the job was the FXC™ Steel Cord Belt Fastening System. The main goal for the plant manager was to get their belt back up and running quickly, which is a huge advantage of the FXC. Instead of having to wait for a third-party belt vulcanization service, their installation crew was able to work with their distributor, provide them with their belt specifications, and order custom splice kits that would meet the exact needs of their application. Seeing as time was running out and every moment of downtime was limiting their throughput, their plant manager and distributor coordinated delivery and installation with a Flexco Territory Manager.
Result:
Once the distributor and Flexco Territory Manager arrived on-site, their maintenance crew got to work on their emergency repair. With a substantial amount of belt tear to address, the team worked to install a belt saddle with two FXC splices that replaced the 200’ of damaged belt. After 10 hours, the team successfully installed their FXC kits, and the site manager was able to restart their belt, getting material flowing out to port. In total, the team was able to complete the rest of its 1.5 million tons of material delivery, saving an average of $1 million per day in downtime costs. The plant manager was incredibly impressed with the efficiency and effectiveness of the FXC and decided that their facility needed to have more immediate splice repair solutions on hand. In turn, their team ordered multiple FXC splice kits for their site’s steel cord belts, allowing them to react quickly to future downtime incidents.
What Does Flexco Accumulating Value Mean?
When you see the Flexco Accumulating Value (FAV) icon, you can expect a Real-Life Result that represents the measurable, repeatable value added to an operation through its investment in a Flexco solution.
FAV results document the ongoing dollar value realized with implementation of Flexco products or services and details how that value helps operations achieve and maximize their productivity, efficiency, throughput, output, and uptime.