A successful relationship spanning over 35 years has led Striker to provide a custom-designed pugmill for WA Limestone
Western Australian crushing and screening leader Striker has been providing innovative solutions for the quarrying, mining and construction industries since 1998.
The family business has significantly grown over the years, and so too has its range of mobile equipment. Striker now offers cone, jaw and impact crushers, scalpers, screeners and conveyors for not just the Australian market, but around the world.
Building relationships that last has always been a key aspect of Striker’s success, and there’s no better example of this than with fellow local and family-owned business WA Limestone.
Family ties
WA Limestone has been operating for over 50 years, with quarries strategically located all over the Perth Metropolitan area, making it one of the largest suppliers of road construction materials in the state.
Founded by two brothers, Michael and Renzo Della Bona, and their brother-in-law Peter Zamboni, the company’s relationship with Striker’s founder Craig Pedley can be traced back to 1988.
Although Striker wasn’t established until 10 years later, Pedley had already worked alongside the WA Limestone team to design a mobile jaw crusher for them.
When he eventually founded Striker, it was inevitable that WA Limestone would continue working with him into the future.
Thanks to this thriving relationship, WA Limestone now has over 50 pieces of Striker equipment and continues to choose it for its crushing and screening needs.
This is set to continue with the next generation of both family businesses, as Steven (son of Michael) and David Della Bona (son of Renzo) have assumed the roles of directors at WA Limestone, while Jordan Pedley (Craig’s daughter) is set to lead Striker into an exciting future.
Having this relationship and understanding of each other’s business is a big reason why WA Limestone has once again chosen Striker to design and manufacture its next piece of equipment.
“Craig is very knowledgeable and experienced within the industry,” Steven says.
“His understanding of our business and the aggregates that we crush makes him a pretty easy choice to come back to. He has a great ability to understand the requirements of what’s needed by us as a customer, and he delivers that.”
Custom-made pugmill
The most recent collaboration between Striker and WA Limestone came in the form of a research and development project that was 10 years in the making.
It all started when Steven approached Striker about a custom-designed pugmill for WA Limestone, coming fully prepared with his own design in mind and drawings to showcase it.
“I gave Craig the drawings and asked if he could build it for me,” Steven says.
“He came up with some designs and tailor-made it to our requirements.”
Dubbed the ‘Eco Mix’, the Striker fully custom-designed and manufactured pugmill with a 12ft (3.7m) mixing chamber, recently arrived at WA Limestone’s operations.
The specially designed plant was created to make what WA Limestone calls its ‘2 per cent bitumen and limestone emulsion mix’.
Although WA Limestone is extremely experienced with this product, having made it for more than 20 years, Steven says the Eco Mix was needed to replace an older and outdated plant.
“We’ve probably had the old plant for 30 years now and it’s getting harder to maintain,” he says.
“The Eco Mix was designed to be easy to work on, safe to clean and easy to maintain.”
With cleaning and maintenance of the machine being such an important factor for WA Limestone, Striker integrated special features on the pugmill, such as on-board pressure cleaners and pressure washers.
Compared to WA Limestone’s older pugmill, Steven says these features make cleaning the Eco Mix much easier and safer.
Steven is looking forward to seeing the Eco Mix in action, having had a fantastic experience with all of Striker’s pieces of equipment that are part of the WA Limestone fleet.
He adds that his idea and concept wouldn’t be able to come to fruition without the help of Craig and Striker.
“It comes down to the relationship I have with Craig, I told him my idea and asked if he could it, and he did,” Steven says.
“That’s the relationship we have, Craig knows what we need.”
WA Limestone north metro quarry manager Joe Concei has already been impressed with the custom-designed machine.
“The old plant was producing about 200-tonnes an hour, whereas we will be able to get 350 tonnes an hour comfortably with the Eco Mix, possibly even 400,” Concei says.
“The old system also required an operator to control the flow rates of the feed, water and bitumen, whereas the Eco Mix is fully automatic, so you can dial the feeder to 350 tonnes an hour and you don’t need an operator to control it.”
A three-man team would usually be required to operate the old plant, including two wheel loader operators – one to feed the material into the hopper and one to take it away and stockpile – as well as the pugmill operator.
Now with the Eco Mix, the pugmill operator is removed, which Concei says generates significant cost savings for WA Limestone, while also improving efficiency.
The Eco mix was built as one of the prototype machines in the Henderson manufacturing facility using the new set-up of the factory made possible by the Modern Manufacturing Initiative government grant.
Aligning values
WA Limestone and Striker’s relationship is strengthened by the fact that they are both family businesses and ‘on the same wavelength’, according to Steven.
Sharing the same values and understanding of the industry and the people in it is invaluable to both business’ relationship.
Steven knows that Craig, Jordan and Striker will continue to provide innovative solutions for WA Limestone into the future.
“You can’t beat the feeling of having someone to ring up any time of the night or the day when there’s an issue and know that they’ll answer the phone and resolve it,” Steven says.
“With Striker, you also know that you’re dealing with the people that have designed and built the plant. They carry all the spare parts, so you know they’ve got everything that you’ll need.”
For more information on Striker’s crushing and screening solutions, visit strikercrushing.com
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