Full-Service in Ice and Snow

Full-Service in Ice and Snow

Alocality where the polar nights mean months of darkness, where the reindeer population exceeds the number of humans and where the temperature can easily drop below -35 degrees Celsius – is where Harald Hauff works with his team. As general manager of ContiTech Scandinavia AB he heads up a ContiTech office that is not only the most northerly, but also one of the oldest. ContiTech has had an on-the-spot presence since 1948 in this major iron ore region straddling Norway, Finland and Sweden.

The most important product group by far for ContiTech Scandinavia – apart from automotive products – is conveyor belts that sell well in the mineral ore and timber industries of Scandinavia. Harald Hauff is in charge of belt marketing in large parts of Scandinavia and in the Baltic states. And he is good at his job: “We supply original equipment manufacturers, large end users und regional dealers with a service function. In this way we have gained a market share of 35 percent and are one of the market leaders”, according to Hauff.

One of the most important customers is the Swedish LKAB Group that runs the largest underground iron ore mine in the world at Kiruna, almost 1200 kilometres north of Stockholm. For more than ten years, LKAB has been using ContiTech conveyor belts to transport iron ore materials in its surface and underground operations. Now Conti-Tech Scandinavia, together with a local partner, has set up a service point on LKAB premises, and from this base ContiTech meets its undertaking to ensure the availability and functioning of the conveyor.

LKAB in Kiruna has entrusted ContiTech with the total service responsibility for the pulley lagging and belts, totalling approx. 13 kilometres, installed in 200 different conveyors. Their remit encompasses giving comprehensive advice and support as well as the repair and maintenance of the conveyors. In this commitment ContiTech guarantees, for example, a 100% availability in the regular production time. Outside normal working hours, ContiTech guarantees that one of its nine local employees will be on site within two hours in the unlikely event that the conveyor shuts down. All the materials and services used in the maintenance of the conveyor are financed by ContiTech. Harald Hauff and his team get their income from the annual revenues obtained from the conveyed tonnage. So ContiTech relieves the customer of all the risks. At night time, on public holidays and at minus 50 degrees. Guaranteed.

ContiTech hat von LKAB in Kiruna die totale Serviceverantwortung für etwa 13 Kilometer Transportband in 200 Anlagen bezüglich der dort installierten Bänder und Trommelbeläge übertragen bekommen. Dazu gehört neben einer umfassenden Beratung und Betreuung natürlich auch die Wartung und Instandhaltung der Anlagen. So garantiert ContiTech beispielsweise eine 100-prozentige Verfügbarkeit im regulären Produktionsprozess. Außerhalb dieses regulären Betriebs ist garantiert einer der neun ContiTech Mitarbeiter innerhalb von maximal zwei Stunden vor Ort, wenn es einmal zu einem Stillstand kommen sollte. Alle zur Instandhaltung der Anlage eingesetzten Materialien und Dienstleistungen werden von ContiTech finanziert. Einnahmen generieren Harald Hauff und sein Team aus einem Jahreserlös, der sich aus der geförderten Tonnage errechnet. ContiTech nimmt dem Kunden das Risiko. Nachts, feiertags und bei -50 Grad. garantiert.

“We are very satisfied”, says LKAB project leader Lars Sterner, “the service agreement means that LKAB and Conti-Tech have joined forces – after all they share the same interests. That’s why we are prepared to enter into a much more extensive cooperation with ContiTech than we would with any “normal” service provider.”

LKAB uses ContiTech belts to move over 18 million tonnes of iron ore material every year. Every hour more than 4000 tonnes are transported on the 500 to 5200 millimetre-wide STAHLCORD® conveyor belts. In the “Super-V” version these consist of a self-extinguishing rubber compound that practically rules out fire damage while being hard-wearing. “The self-extinguishing grade of the conveyor belts also gives the customer a good opportunity to save costs. Thanks to the higher operating reliability, the insurance premiums are considerably reduced” adds Harald Hauff.

At the beginning of the 1990’s a serious fire destroyed three quarters of the LKAB mining complex in Malmberget-Gällivare, 300 kilometres south of Kiruna. So in 2001 LKAB decided to replace all the existing belts regarded as a fire hazard and installed in Malmberget-Gällivare, in Kiruna and in Narvik, a large port of shipment, with the self-extinguishing grade from ContiTech. This year the ContiTech team in Scandinavia will complete the swapping procedure for the belts totalling 25 kilometres in length. Apart from being self-extinguishing, all conveyor belts are low temperature resistant and so are made for service well within the Arctic circle. After a career stretching more than 30 years in Sweden, Harald Hauff is just as inured to cold as his conveyor belts: “The freezing temperatures don’t worry me”, says the engineer, “you can get used to just about everything!”

Contact Person:

Harald Hauff

International Distribution:

Please contact a local agency.

International locations: Conveyor Belt Systems