Fleet Revamp

Barr Group invest in Komatsu ADTs and wheel loaders equipped with the Komtrax machine tracking system

Ayshire-based Barr Group have been supplying building materials to the construction industry, local authorities and their own precast unit, in Barhill, for over 30 years.

Operating five hard rock quarries and three sand and gravel extraction sites, the company’s quarry division, Barr Quarries, produces around 1.5 million tonnes of materials a year, ranging from ready-mixed concrete and coated stone to high-quality aggregates, for the regional markets, including those in Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway.

Since the sale of Barr Ltd in May 2007 to Northern Ireland-based Trench Holdings, the owners have embarked on a major investment programme in all four divisions of the business – construction, manufacturing, industrial and environmental.

The quarry equipment replacement programme, in particular, has seen a substantial amount of investment made in modernizing and improving Barr’s plant and machinery fleet, which includes crushers, screening equipment, ready-mix plant, earthmoving machinery, cranes and surfacing units.

Investing in the latest models of plant and processing equipment has not only improved operational performance and reliability for Barr, but also reduced their fleet maintenance costs.

New additions

To help meet the operational requirements of the company’s processing plants at Barlockhart and Clayshant quarries, a number of articulated dumptrucks were acquired from Marubeni-Komatsu.

It was important that the ADTs satisfied Barr’s hourly tonnage, payload demands and operator comfort standards and, after considering machines from several manufacturers, the quarry operators opted for Komatsu’s 35-tonne HM350-2 and 40-tonne HM400-2 models.

The large Komatsu machinery order also included wheel loaders, ranging from the WA320-5 to the WA480-6, as direct replacements for existing machines in the fleet. Barr wanted their drivers to benefit from a better working environment, and the cab design of the Komatsu wheel loaders has achieved this with improved visibility and operator controls, together with air-conditioning and a stereo system.

Komtrax

In addition, the machines are equipped with Komatsu’s monitoring and tracking system, Komtrax, which wirelessly sends vehicle operating information, such as location, fuel usage and maintenance alerts, to a secure information hub.

This allows Barr to view actual working records of a machine, giving them data on how productive the loaders and ADTs are and whether the engines are switched off during non-productive times.

In addition, the monitoring of fuel and service scheduling has been of great benefit to the company, as this provides potential cost savings. Barr’s local Marubeni-Komatsu customer support depot, in Hamilton, can use the Komtrax system to perform remote diagnosis to identify any faults before a machine operates on site.

This means replacement parts can be quickly ordered and taken out to Barr’s workshop facilities, reducing operational downtime. Having signed full-service, maintenance and extended warranty contracts with Marubeni-Komatsu, Barr have ensured that they are maintaining reliability and maximum productivity on site.

‘We were required to improve the age profile and overall productivity of our fleet, so we invested in machinery that would improve fleet performance and reliability, as well as reduce maintenance costs,’ said Andrew Gillon, divisional engineering manager at Barr.

‘Komatsu are renowned for having reliable machines where residual values can be maintained, and with the Komtrax monitoring system as standard, we took the decision to purchase from Marubeni-Komatsu.

‘We’re using Komtrax to create accurate daily and monthly reports to view working information and keep an eye on each machine’s health. Whether it’s for monitoring fuel usage or the scheduling of preventative maintenance, the system has helped us to become more proactive in managing our fleet.’

Komtrax has been a huge success in the UK market, with tracking systems fitted in over 2,500 machines for around 350 customers to date. Barr say that by using Komatsu equipment, coupled with their own quality-management accreditation and commitment to the environment, they will continue to build successful business relationships and fulfil the needs of their clients.