Mining and power projects around the world are moving millions of tons of ore with conveyor belts running on South African technology.
Innovation and improvement in the manufacturing and supply of traction products for heavy-duty conveyor belts, mainly used by mines and power plants, have propelled the products of Abear Industries onto centre stage of this specialised industry.
The relatively young company was started after its founder, Douglas A’bear, came up with a prototype machine for “automating the surface preparation process of pulley manufacturing”. But demand from prospective clients for the actual lagging or rubber gripping ‘that fits onto conveyor belt pulleys prompted the mechanical engineer to augment his business strategy.
Boosted by a R4.3-million investment from the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller (GEP), and following a period of tooling made from A’bear’s custom machine designs, the business commenced with production in December 2016. Since then, in a relatively short space of time, Abear Industries has accumulated some 40 clients, mainly pulley makers who apart from exporting to leading African economies and SADC members, sell around 70% of their conveyor belt rollers to countries as diverse and distant from one another as Denmark, Kazakhstan, Italy and Israel.
“Our lagging is used in some of the remotest corners of the world,” said Abear. He’s quick to simplify things, saying that his products are “a bit like tyre tread. “It gets bonded onto conveyor belt pulleys to provide all-important traction. We don’t make the shoe, we make the sole.”
And yet it’s far more complicated than that. One of the biggest challenges is dealing with the immense tension created in the pulling and letting go of raw materials moved by conveyor belts. And yet pulley manufacturers are increasing relying on the tested traction provided by Abear Industries’ rubber-backed ceramic lagging.
A’bear explained that compared to ordinary rubber lagging which the company also supplied, “ceramic lagging is very expensive. “Unlike rubber lagging, it has a much better coefficient of friction in that it creates much stronger traction than rubber-on-rubber lagging.” Currently, local competitors are still supplying lagging that involves embedding the ceramic tiles in an epoxy paste – “a time-consuming, rigid, and outdated method”, according to A’bear.
Elaborating on his flagship product, he said that “by putting the ceramics in a rubber backing they are able to flex and move with the contraction of the conveyor belt as opposed to being stuck in a paste that makes conveyor belts less flexible.”
In addition, A’bear has come up with a cut-to-size solution to an old problem: non-versatile, size-specific lagging. Essentially it means pulley manufacturers can buy rolls of lagging from Abear Industries that they can cut and fit themselves as per their clients’ pulley specifications.
In the past this has often led to conveyor belt downtime as pulley manufacturers scurry around looking for the right size of lagging to repair damaged or destroyed conveyor belt surfaces. Speaking at the time of announcing the GEP fund for Abear Industries, Gauteng MEC for Economic Development, Lebogang Maile, confirmed the transformative effect of the company on the market.
“Importing stock is usually more expensive, has much longer lead time, and the quality is harder to regulate – hence the initiation of this blackowned business.
“This factory would mean a reduction in the frequency of conveyor system downtime related to excessive conveyor belt wear and pulley lagging failure.” Ultimately, success is determined by the standard of service they render through innovation and insight, A’bear said.
“We’re always aware of concerns such as the potential for lagging to tear. That’s why we use 3D digital printing and finite elements analysis to give our clients peace of mind.”
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Around 70% of our conveyor belt rollers are exported to countries as diverse as Denmark, Kazakhstan, Italy and Israel. –Douglas A’bear
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Workers at Abear Industries prepare to apply lagging to industrial conveyor belt pulleys.
