Komatsu Australia opened its third Condition Monitoring Services (CMS) centre in Australia in early March.
The new CMS centre, located in the Thornton Industrial Estate in Newcastle, adds to Komatsu’s national condition monitoring capabilities, working in conjunction with its two existing centres located in Perth and Brisbane.
It will serve Newcastle and the Hunter Valley region, as well as NSW generally.
Services available through the Newcastle CMS centre will include oil analysis, coolant and grease analysis, metallurgical testing and evaluation.
According to John Hardy, Komatsu Australia’s National Condition Monitoring Manager, the new centre will meet demand from clients in Australia’s south-eastern and southern regions and the Hunter Valley, as well providing additional national capacity for CMS around Australia.
"There is considerable demand in Newcastle and the Hunter Valley for the sophisticated, high-level and diversified condition monitoring services we are able to offer," said John.
"However, for us to be able to cater for this demand, we need to have a local CMS centre to meet turnaround, service and reliability requirements, and so that our own technicians can carry out on-site testing and inspections, as well as providing direct customer support.
"This covers not only mobile plant, such as earthmoving and mining equipment, but also fixed plant, including mining crushing and conveying equipment, as well as coal and bulk-handling equipment at the Port of Newcastle – which is the world’s largest and busiest coal-handling port."
He said that currently 45% of Komatsu’s CMS business in Australia covered non-Komatsu mobile and fixed plant-and that this was set to grow with the opening of the Newcastle centre.
"Already we are working with major clients in Newcastle, providing CMS-related consulting and advisory services."
John said that the Newcastle facility would offer the same range of services as were available in Brisbane and Perth, but with additional instrumentation, testing suites and specialised support to cater for the large amount of fixed plant in the region.
Services offered through Komatsu’s condition monitoring centres include:
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Oil analysis, for all types of equipment including earthmoving, mining, forestry, utility, marine and on-highway vehicles, along with fixed plant, such as conveyors, crushers, screens, coal loaders and other bulk-handling equipment.
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Coolant analysis for cooling system maintenance and troubleshooting.
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Grease analysis.
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Metallurgical inspections (surface crack detection, ultrasonic testing, NDT and failure analysis)
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Vibration analysis.
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Thermal imaging.
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Particle imaging.
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Failure analysis programs.
Oil analysis, which has been an important element of Komatsu’s product support program for many years, uses regular analysis of oil to identify and predict potential problems in key components in both mobile and fixed equipment.
This includes:
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Spectroscopic and infra-red analysis
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Viscosity and neutralisation number
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Fuel and water detection
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Particle analysis (microscopy)
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Grease and fuel analysis
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A wide range of physical tests.
Today, CMS also plays a significant role in managing Komatsu Australia’s risk exposure in major contracts and agreements by providing key data for parts and maintenance planning.
Komatsu’s Newcastle CMS facility is based at Unit 2/49 Sandringham Avenue, Thornton, NSW 2322.
Contact details are phone (02) 4028 5855, fax (02) 4028 5855, email cms@komatsu.com.au