Melco continues to gain steady market share in Australia
Rulmeca Melco Australia, which is wholly owned by Johannesburg-based Melco Conveyor Equipment, was established in Brisbane in 2011 after the company identified the need to establish a permanent presence in Australia, due to the major projects that it was servicing in the country.
Melco managing director Gavin Hall notes that the Australian company was officially established after Melco presented a formal business plan to its parent company Rulmeca - a worldwide Group of Companies that specialises in the production of rollers, idlers, motorised pulleys, fabricated pulleys and other components for worldwide bulk handling industries.
"Melco has had a presence in Australia through various distributors for over 15 years, and has become a well known and trusted brand in that time. Due to our continued success through large scale projects, the decision was made to open a dedicated Australian company that will deal directly with our clients, in order to speed up turnaround times and eliminate time zone delays," he explains.
Rulmeca Melco Australia sales and marketing manager Mark Robinson points out that the company services a number of metallurgical coal mining operations in Queensland, in eastern Australia. "Queensland is arguably the leading producer of metallurgical coal in the world today. As a result, we decided to base our head office in Brisbane, which also boasts a warehouse facility that stocks around 15 000 rolls to meet customer requirements."
According to Robinson, the standard Melco steel roller has proven to be a popular product for coal mining operations in Queensland, due to its high durability and cost effectiveness. For gold mining projects in Western Australia, he indicates that the Melco range of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) rollers is the most popular option in the company's product range.
“Melco HDPE rollers have a longer lifespan than standard steel rollers in corrosive conditions, thanks to a 12 mm external HDPE sleeve, and they are lighter than the corresponding steel roller too. These features ensure overall cost savings with regards to maintenance and downtime.”
Due to the continued success of Rulmeca Melco Australia in the gold mining and iron ore regions of Western Australia, Robinson notes that the company recently opened a dedicated sales office in Perth. "Australia is a vast country, and the distances between the east and west coast are immense. It therefore makes more sense to establish a full time presence in Western Australia, in order to further reduce delays related to travel."
Robinson indicates that a large percentage of all business generated by Rulmeca Melco Australia is replacement sales to companies with existing conveyors. "A number of large mining operations have approached us to replace their existing rollers, frames and pulleys with Melco branded products," he continues.
Looking ahead, Robinson is confident of the future outlook for Rulmeca Melco Australia. "The Melco brand is well known locally, due to the historical ties between South Africa and Australia, and the company is currently well positioned in the market. The Rulmeca brand is also gaining ground due to a large amount of exposure generated by the activities in Australia. The motorised pulley is also proving
to be popular due to its reliability, effectiveness and the fact that it is one of the safest conveyor drive systems in the world."
As an ISO 9001:2008 approved company, Melco operates a highly specialised testing facility, where products are tested under laboratory controlled environments prior to field testing, full scale manufacture and supply. This process ensures that Melco products are among the most advanced in the world. Melco also operates quality management systems, which control every aspect of the company. These systems are audited regularly to ensure compliance with the highest standards.
Ends
Notes to the editor
There are numerous photographs specific to this press release. Please visit http://media.ngage.co.za and click the Melco link.
About Melco
Melco is one of Africa’s major conveyor equipment manufacturers. Melco has been a proud member of the Rulmeca Group of Companiessince 2006. Melco idlers have been successfully utilised in many bulk materials handling applications in over 75 countries throughout the world, and installed on belt widths from 200mm to 3000mm. The Melco product range is comprehensive, comprising steel rollers ranging from 89mm to 215mm in diameter, with bearing and shaft arrangements from 25mm to 60mm diameter, HDPE rollers, idler frames and underground structure, and Rulmeca Motorised Pulleys.
Melco Contacts
Gavin Hall
Managing Director
Phone: 087 806 3160
Email: gavinh [at] melco [dot] co [dot] za
Mark Robinson
General Manager – Sales and Marketing
Phone: P. +61 (7) 33405180
Email: markr [at] melco [dot] co [dot] za
Media Contact
Ryan Collyer
NGAGE Public Relations
Phone: (011) 867-7763
Fax: 086 512 3352
Cell: 072 377 5000
Email: ryan [at] ngage [dot] co [dot] za
Web: www.ngage.co.za