What you can hire us for
We take on a plant’s technical task and see it through to a result in tonnes and dollars. The result is written into the contract before work starts.
How we get there. We come and solve the task together with your team. We show your people how to do the work and how to control it, and go the whole way with them until the result shows in the figures. Our person is at the plant on the days that matter, for a month, two or six months, as long as the task takes. A supervising lead who has run a plant section or department answers for the work.
An investment project on schedule, without slippage
The project is run by a finance or general manager, the general contractor comes from another industry, and each supplier answers only for its own scope.
- Result
- Start-up on the date in the schedule. Every month of delay costs the plant tonnes of lost output and money, and we work out that cost with you at the start.
- How we get there
- We work alongside the project lead as people from the industry. We pass the general contractor, contractors and suppliers the fine points of materials and of how process stages fit together, and review decisions before they push the schedule.
Commissioning and ramp-up to nameplate capacity
Start-up is six months away and the operations team is not ready. Or the plant is already running, the general contractor has left, and design performance is still a long way off. A study of 41 start-ups names technical support during start-up among six traits shared by the best start-ups2.
- Result
- The plant at nameplate capacity by the date in the contract.
- How we get there
- We prepare the start-up together with your operations team, and after start-up our person stays at the plant until output at every stage reaches design level.
The plant runs below nameplate capacity
The money is spent, but output is below design. Often each supplier’s equipment works on its own, yet together the line falls short.
- Result
- Output rises to design level. The gain in tonnes and its value in dollars are written into the contract.
- How we get there
- We find what holds output back and remove it together with your people, machine by machine, until the line reaches design.
Breakdowns and repairs that were not needed
Scheduled repairs cost money whether they are needed or not, and the equipment still stops.
- Result
- Fewer hours of breakdown downtime and less money spent on unnecessary repairs.
- How we get there
- Together with the chief mechanical engineer’s team we move the equipment where it pays off to condition-based maintenance, and stay until downtime and cost figures move.
Tasks from your list
The chief engineer’s office has more tasks than people. They are too small for a design institute, and a supplier only takes on its own equipment.
- Result
- The tasks on the list are closed, each against a figure set before work started.
- How we get there
- Once a month we choose the next task with the chief engineer and solve it with your people through to acceptance. A one-year contract.
Engineers for the length of a project
The project needs people you do not have on staff.
- Result
- The project is handed over on time at design performance, and your people can carry it on themselves.
- How we get there
- We provide engineers with a supervising lead who has run a plant department, and build a team from your people and production professionals we know from work.
Automation that people use
Past sensors never took hold, and the production management system sits idle.
- Result
- The unit runs more steadily, and it shows in tonnes and downtime. Foremen use the sensors and the control system, not only the automation team.
- How we get there
- We start with one unit, a thickener or a mill for example, and stay with it until your people run it by the sensor readings. Then the next one.
For general contractors, contractors and equipment suppliers
You build or supply for a mineral processing plant, but your team lacks industry experience.
- Result
- Your scope is handed over to the client on time and at design performance, the certificate is signed and the final payment received.
- How we get there
- Our engineer works in your team, advising on the fine points of materials and how processes fit together, leading installation, adjustment and start-up, and staying until the certificate is signed.
We split the work into stages and close each with a certificate showing the result in figures. The next stage starts when you decide.
If you need to understand the situation first
Sometimes you first need to understand what is going on, without us working at the plant. This is consulting, not taking a task through to a result. It is often where results work begins.
- Loss analysis
- Two or three days at the plant. We work out where and how much is lost in tonnes, hours and dollars, and write findings with a roadmap.
- Second opinion before you sign
- We read the design, feasibility study, brief or contract through a production professional’s eyes and answer in writing whether to sign and what to change.