Sumitec: machining solutions for Industry 4.0

Sumitec, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation, has been providing engineering and technical support for mining equipment and Komatsu shovels and trucks since 2003, when its working partnership with Ferrexpo began. Well established in Ukraine, Sumitec is the official representative for Komatsu construction and mining equipment as well as Toyota material handling and lifting equipment and works with a host of mining multinationals, including ArcelorMittal and Metinvest. 

Trusted technical support

“We provide 24/7 in-house technical support for Ferrexpo with a maximum reaction time of one hour,” explains Sumitec Director Alexander Scherbakov. “Our people are trained by Komatsu Germany’s mining division and in Japan. We also work closely with our Canadian sister company SMS Equipment which has 60 years of industry experience.

“We aim to reduce downtime of the equipment and, despite the limitations of Ukraine’s infrastructure, meet international standards. For example, we’ve replaced conventional lifting with jack systems which have reduced repair time down from 20-28 days to just 5 days.”

Sumitec manages rebuilds of all components: final drives, engines, transmissions, differentials. “We can also rebuild hydraulic cylinders and manufacture hydraulic hoses at our in-house facility,” adds Scherbakov. “We’ve always got the right parts in stock to put machines back into operations as fast as possible.”

Digitalization

Digitalization is driving efficiencies for both maintenance and operations at Ferrexpo. “We’re looking at introducing more automatic equipment on site,” adds Scherbakov. “We can design the workflow and work with Ferrexpo much faster with a digital approach that also allows for the introduction of new autonomous equipment. We can receive projects and download them on to our machine and take control of daily operations progress. This enables us to ensure everything is done on plan and controlled remotely to guarantee quality and reduce time.”

Going green with intelligent machines

Scherbakov highlights the key trend in the industry today is the move towards greener capabilities when it comes to operations machinery. “Companies are requesting green products geared at carbon reduction, carbon neutrality and eventually carbon free operations,” he notes.

Allied to this, Scherbakov sees the demand for autonomous trucks and operations equipment increasing dramatically… “Our sister company SMS Equipment currently has over 300 autonomous pieces of equipment operational in its territory. We’re definitely seeing the rise of the intelligent machines as more companies go digital. We have a special team within our organization monitoring these developments and implementing our own digital projects. It’s really important to listen to the customer, because you can take the technology from an OEM or you can take the best technology from a third company supplier and you can add your own elements… This way the customer can receive a custom solution to meet their needs that they have effectively designed with Sumitec’s support.”