New press doubles capacity at Fenner Dunlop Australia

PERTH, Australia—Fenner Dunlop Australia has bolstered its position in the Australian market with the addition of a steel cord press line at its Western Australia conveyor belt plant.

It is the second Siempelkamp steel cord press the company has installed at its factory in Kwinana, a suburb of Perth in Western Australia. Its first Siempel¬kamp press was commissioned in July 2009.

While the size of the facility won't change, as space had been allocated for the new line, the site's manufacturing capacity doubled with the installation of the second press, according to David Landgren, executive director of Fenner Dunlop Australia's operation.

Fenner Dunlop, which made a $68.1 million initial investment in the factory in 2009, is spending about $22.7 million to add the new line. The press has a length of about 446 feet from creel to windup and will increase production capacity to more than 656,000 feet of belting annually.

The press platen alone is 6 feet 2 inches by 7 feet 2 inches, Landgren said. It gives Fenner Dunlop the ability to make steel cord rubber belts up to 6 feet 5 inches wide and weighing up to 70 tons.

Its other Siempelkamp press makes belts up to a little more than 10 feet wide.

Growing work force

The Kwinana factory produces rubber ply and steel cord rubber conveyor belting primarily for the large coal and iron ore mining industry in its region. The site also features a modern technical testing facility.

Fenner Dunlop Australia, headquartered in West Footscray, Australia, is hiring additional personnel and filling a range of positions at the plant and at other facilities in the country, Landgren said. The company employs about 900 in Australia.

It is looking to fill "an even larger number of sales and field services vacancies for installation and maintenance, mostly in Western Australia," he said.

In addition to housing two of the larg¬est and longest presses anywhere, the facility "is the most technically advanced of its kind and is further evidence of Fenner Dunlop's commitment to its Western Australian customers," according to Landgren.

Fenner Dunlop decided to boost capacity because of increased demand for belting from its customers, especially those in the iron ore mining industry in Western Australia, he said. The company also exports belts to several other countries, including New Zealand, Indonesia and Chile.

The Australian manufacturing, marketing and sales arm of England-based Fenner P.L.C. has a large presence on the continent and has been making belts there for more than 100 years.

Strong mining presence

In addition to its plant in the western portion of the country, it operates conveyor belt manufacturing factories in West Footscray and New South Wales and a conveyor system design and manufacturing plant in New South Wales.

Its West Footscray facility manufactures fabric-reinforced conveyor belting for above-ground coal mining and other segments ranging from quarries to cement plants. Its factory in New South Wales makes solid woven conveyor belts used for underground coal mines.

"Fenner Dunlop has the largest manufacturing facilities in Australia with three plants manufacturing three different types of belts," Landgren said. He said the firm has 18 service branches in the nation, also the industry leader.

"These branches are all located close to mines along the west and east coasts of Australia, as well as the coal mine area of New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania," Landgren said.