Coal Age

MAR 2017

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March 2017 www.coalage.com 45 product news continued "Eriez' dedication to constant innova- tion has enabled us to flourish over the past 75 years," said Tim Shuttleworth, president and CEO. "New robotic welders, laser cut- ting tables, high-efficiency manufacturing cells, proprietary automated assembly sys- tems and global lean initiatives across the company have driven cost out of opera- tions, improved quality and enhanced cus- tomer satisfaction." The company has con- tinued to develop new and refined process solutions, which lead to industry-changing breakthroughs, he added. To celebrate the 75-year milestone, Eriez will release "From Pioneer to World Leader, Volume II," an update of a book the compa- ny published in 1992 to chronicle the events and people that shaped Eriez during its first 50 years in business. According to Eriez, this new edition will cover the company's entire 75-year history through photos and stories about its product breakthroughs, business practices and employee culture. The book will be printed later this year. Synthetic Pendant Cables Three companies, Applied Fiber, WireCo WorldGroup and DSM Dyneema, have joined forces to deliver synthetic fiber dragline and rope shovel pendants. The announcement was made after Applied Fiber successfully installed the mining industry's first synthetic fiber main pen- dant cables on a Marion 8200 dragline for Cloud Peak Energy. Applied Fiber engineers, manufac- tures and tests the pendants. They specifi- cally engineered the termination and rope system for the demanding pendant appli- cations. The rope was produced by Lank- horst Ropes, a WireCo WorldGroup brand, who designed and manufactured the rope to give specific performance characteris- tics using the latest advancement in syn- thetic fiber, the DM20 manufactured by DSM Dyneema. "Following thousands of tests and years of development, we are excited to in- troduce a suite of advanced solutions that address the historical challenges of termi- nating large and critical rope systems," said Jim Pumphrey, vice president of industrial products, Applied Fiber. "By incorporating high-efficiency termination technology de- signed to mitigate bend fatigue in extreme conditions with the latest high-perfor- mance fiber technology from DSM Dynee- ma, we were able to design a solution that offers considerable weight savings and dampens the dynamic forces versus tra- ditional steel pendants. This results in in- creased payload with dramatically reduced boom compression cycling, providing the mine owner numerous economic benefits." "The use of our Lankhorst synthet- ic rope for this demanding application will be a very positive development for miners," said Blake Chandler, senior vice president-global mining for WireCo WorldGroup. "The product is lighter, easier to handle during installation and provides increased service life over conventional technology. This is a significant innovation for shovel and dragline boom pendants." "The design and installation of the world's first fiber dragline main pendant has been an impressive engineering feat," said Edwin Grootendorst, global segment director for DSM Dyneema. "DSM Dynee- ma worked closely with Applied Fiber and WireCo to turn an innovative idea into re- ality. The Dyneema DM20 XBO fiber was a critical enabling technology, ensuring the main boom pendant was able to re- duce stresses on the dragline while im- proving its efficiency. We remain commit- ted to supporting the mining community, and together with them, explore possibili- ties of improving profitability and safety in their operations." DSM Dyneema manufactures ultra- high molecular weight polyethylene fi- ber branded as Dyneema — the world's strongest fiber, according to Dyneema. Dyneema DM20 combines the high-per- formance properties of Dyneema fibers with a unique resistance to creep. http://applied-fiber.com/draglinevideo The terminating end of a pendant, which was made from synthetic rope, can be seen on a dragline in Wyoming.

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