MST business development manager Denis Kent said the company had spent the past 10 years visiting China with the goal of developing relationships and opening up export opportunities.
“It has only been in the past four to five years, with the appointment of a trusted and respected local distributor, that we have made considerable headway with the Chinese mining companies,” he said. “Our local representative has established relationships with the larger mining organisations.
“Rather than set up our own operation, we felt it more effective to appoint a local distributor, as we have done in other countries, who understands the lay of the land.”
Working through a distributor had also benefited the company in its terms of sale with the distributor able to meet MST's requirements for payments on order and prior to shipping, removing the usual pitfalls of conducting business on the other side of the world. This peace of mind enabled the company to concentrate on the core focus of its business: enhanced mine safety through superior communication systems.
“Today the larger mining companies in China are well financed and committed to improving safety and productivity,” Kent said. “An effective communications system is a critical component in achieving and maintaining high safety standards. When you factor in the cost of a PED pager as being equivalent to a month’s salary for one miner in China, then you understand the level of commitment to improve the standards of their industry.”
Initial installations of the PED system were at the three mines in the Datong Coal Group – Meiyukou, Wangcun and Yanzishan – west of Beijing. These traditional longwall mining operations have numerous personnel working underground at any one time. The PED system facilitates communication between surface operators and the supervisors and maintenance workers underground via a pager receiver which is powered by the wearer’s cap lamp.
“We had to accommodate the requirement for a 16-character Chinese display within the units,” Kent said. “This necessitated an adjustment to the software used by the surface operators to communicate to those underground.
“Our agent was able to facilitate this by sourcing local software experts who were able to provide this interface by working closely with our software people. As a result we now have the right software to roll out the system in other mines around the country and have taken orders for five more PED Systems.
“This not only includes additional systems to Datong, but systems into two other mining groups, Zhengzhou and Hebi. Payments have just been finalised and installation is planned for October.”
The Chinese are keen to provide manufacturing services also, but Kent said MST was not convinced manufacturing in China would give the company the level of quality control it required for the product.
“All of our products are manufactured in Australia as part of our export philosophy for Australian developed products. Manufacturing in Australia also simplifies our control on manufacturing standards, ensuring that the quality and integrity of our products are maintained,” he said.
“However, if market demands dictate, and the Chinese can meet our requirements, then in the future we may well see Mine Site products produced in China for that market.”
* This article is part of a regular series on confirmed exhibitors at next year's Asia Pacific's International Mining Exhibition (AIMEX) in Sydney. The September expo is being organised by Reed Exhibitions.
