A team of SDLG Wheel Loaders is supporting HeidelbergCement Georgia and HeidelbergBeton Georgia to keep pace with its 24/7 production schedule at its concrete production sites across Georgia. Overall HeidelbergCement has seven concrete and two cement manufacturing plants which are maintained by SDLG Wheel Loaders. The company’s SDLG fleet is a mix of LG936L, LG953 and LG968 units and they are used for a variety of tasks, including cement loading and aggregates handling from the on-site quarries.
Zaza Sadunishvili, technical director at HeidelbergCement Caucasus, says one of the ongoing challenges for the company is dealing with the continually growing work levels.
“Our company has been operating in Georgia since 2007 and since that time our work volumes have continued to grow,” he said. “Reliability is crucial for HeidelbergCement, as we have a loyal customer base who expect the best from us. And we’re always looking to develop our relationships with customers over the long-term, so because of that we look to build partnerships with suppliers we know we can trust to help us meet our growing capacity levels.”
SDLG branded machines are manufactured in Linyi, China, by Shandong Lingong Machinery Co., Ltd. (known as Lingong). The company’s dealer for Georgia is Elite Motors, and the parts and service support provided by the company is essential to maximizing machine uptime in the grueling conditions of the concrete plants. In particular the wear parts - wheels, buckets and teeth - need regular inspections to ensure timely replacements given the arduous conditions they work in, handling abrasive materials on a daily basis.
Guga Kilbadze, sales and marketing manager at Elite Motors, says his company runs a disciplined maintenance schedule for the SDLG units working for HeidelbergCement and HeidelbergBeton.
“We carry out maintenance checks every 250 hours and pay particular attention to components such as the driveline to ensure they don’t become overly worn,” he says. “Our technicians also provide support for the parts and consumables that need to be replaced, such as hydraulic oil, fuel, air filters, engine oil, pins and so on. And of course, to ensure the machines work at their optimum capacity we only ever supply our customers with OEM-approved parts from SDLG.”
Although HeidelbergCement’s entrance to the Georgian market is relatively recent, the company is already the leading producer of cement and concrete in the country. Production volume across the company’s two cement plants averages around 1.7 million t of cement and clinker per year. As for its seven concrete locations (with nine production plants) volume averages around 880 m3/hour and a three-shift system is in place to maximize output. Understandably, the SDLG Wheel Loaders are run almost continually.
The smallest of the loaders in the HeidelbergBeton fleet are the three LG936L units, which have a lift capacity of 3 t. These lighter loaders are highly maneuverable and powered by a 92 kW WeichaiDeutz engine. The 2 m3 bucket on the units can be raised to a dumping height of 3.3 m and the maximum breakout force is 96 kN.
The next largest wheel loader in the HeidelbergCement and HeidelbergBeton fleet are the five LG953, which have a maximum lift capacity of 5 t. With a longer wheelbase than the 3 t units and greater lifting ability, the LG953 units are powered by a 162 kW WeichaiDeutz engine. The 3 m3 bucket can be raised to a dumping height of 3.4 m and the maximum breakout force is 160 kN.
Largest of the SDLG units in the Heidelberg fleet are the two LG968 units. They are most often used for aggregate loading. These powerhouses have a 6 t lift capacity and are among the largest available from SDLG. Maximum breakout force is 210 kN and the machine’s 3.5 – 4.0 m3 bucket can be raised up to 3.9 m. Power for these larger units comes from a 191 kW WeichaiDeutz engine.
Davit Jughashvili, director of building materials HeidelbergCement Caucasus, says that support and simplicity are the keys to the ongoing relationship between Heidelberg and SDLG.
“Overall our company is satisfied with the SDLG wheel loaders, as they are simple to operate and easy to maintain,” he said. “But most important of all is the fact that spare parts are available locally through Elite Motors.”
Elite Motors runs a large service center at Daba Tsitsamuri and also employs a team of mobile technicians capable of reaching customers across the country.
Ends.
For further information please contact:
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Alan Quinn
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Damian Joseph
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Director, SDLG North America
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SDLG PR Support
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Tel: +1 (770) 880-7640
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Tel: +1 (312) 527-5590
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Email: alan.quinn@sdlg.com
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Email: damian.joseph@sdlgna.com
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