Brandt- Committed to Mining
June 10, 2014
For over 80 years, Brandt has provided powerful value to their customers through a solid commitment to strong core values. Quality, Innovation, Commitment and Customer Focus have been at the heart of their business.
Brandt also understands the importance of mining in Saskatchewan. With a long and successful history of serving this industry, Brandt is committed to helping the industry grow through outstanding service and support. From surface to underground mining, Brandt has a selection of equipment to fit their customers' wants and needs. With a commitment and track record in high-quality, innovative, customer-focused products and services, no other company is more committed to provide the mining sector with better solutions, more reliable products or smarter technology. For the last four years, Brandt has focused on creating solutions for companies in the underground mining industry.
A great example of Brandt's commitment to their customers is the relationship and investment they have with Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (PotashCorp). With a focus on employee safety, both organizations worked together to develop a new version of ground-penetrating radar.
Mining professionals use ground-penetrating radar to accurately locate underground anomalies while mining. The ground-penetrating radar is instrumental in helping to identify overhead separations in order to identify the potential for ground collapses.
With employee safety being a priority, Michael Pletz, Brandt's mining platform team lead, helped develop the ground-penetrating arm that effectively positions the ground-penetrating radar for a real-time, accurate visual of ground conditions. The one-of-a-kind product, which is eight feet long and has about four feet of travel, was developed concurrently with PotashCorp.
“By maintaining constant contact with the back (ceiling) of the mine, it allows for an opportunity to identify any potential danger areas. By identifying these areas, the necessary precautions can be taken to mitigate any potential risk,” said Pletz. “Together we created this innovative new customized equipment.” PotashCorp brought their safety needs to Brandt and together they created a solution to ensure optimum safety for their miners.
“With a strong design team and the manufacturing capabilities to support it, we design and create equipment for the specific application instead of force-fitting something that already exists,” said Pletz. “We are confident in the fact that our customers benefit from our solutions but creating what is needed to help them succeed.”
The new equipment assists in making sure the cut is safe. The radar arm can project a live readout that detects whether the geology above the cut is safe or if precautions need to be taken before advancing forward. “Successful collaboration means that the end product lives up to PotashCorp's requirements for safety, reliability and efficiency. The added bonus is that we are both based in Saskatchewan,” said Darren Cuthill, PotashCorp Rocanville's chief mine maintenance engineer.
The new ground-penetrating radar highlights the Brandt philosophy of creating working relationships with customers that lead to solutions that reduce costs, improve productivity, enhance safety and increase operational efficiencies. Over the years, other manufacturers attempted to develop a similar product that would work. Together, Brandt and PotashCorp found the solution in less than seven weeks.
It's Brandt's company-wide promise to help their customers succeed by empowering them with the outstanding performance of their people and the uncompromising quality of their products and services.