The BSC branch in Orange, New South Wales, has been servicing mines and quarries in the central-west region since 1965.
“Other bearing companies have come and gone, but we remain – it’s testament to the strong foundations of BSC, which is currently celebrating 100 years of business, and is Australia’s longest established distributor of bearings and power transmission,” says Branch Manager of BSC Orange, Phil McGarity. “Becoming a part of Motion Asia Pacific has been a huge milestone for us, but our purpose remains the same: to keep the local businesses in motion.”
That of course extends to customers such as the Hanson aggregate quarry in Molong, about 30 minutes northwest of Orange.
“We have been solutions providers to the Hanson quarry since I’ve been branch manager here – so at least 13 years,” says Phil. “Back in 2011 they were having ongoing issues with their conveyor, with repeated bearing and shaft failures. We had our engineers go out to site to assess the situation and create a custom bearing solution. It significantly reduced their issues and improved their productivity.”
After diagnosing the problem – which was componentry failure due to dust and rock getting into the housings and bearings – the BSC team recommended the Timken® Spherical Roller Bearing Solid-Block Housed Units.
“We offered them this bearing solution and provided an in-house training session at our Orange BSC branch,” expands Phil. “They have now installed this product on every conveyor over the last 10 years.”
Sales representative Kelvin McCarron, who worked with the Hanson quarry manager on providing the bearing solution, elaborated further on the customer’s reaction.
“He was over the moon with them,” enthuses McCarron. “After successfully trialing the first conveyor, he asked us to swap out the rest of the conveyor bearings at the site with the Timken® Spherical Roller Bearing Solid-Block Housed Units. We only replaced those units in 2019 – almost nine years from their original trial. That’s a remarkable life for bearing units in this kind of application and environment.”
Both industry experience and product knowledge played a role in the recommendation of the Timken® Spherical Roller Bearing Solid-Block Housed Units.
“The solid steel housing of these units makes them pretty indestructible. They’re specifically designed to withstand conditions like those out at the Hanson Molong quarry, which is why we knew they would be a good fit – and we knew from our experience and knowledge exchange at BSC that other customers had achieved success in similar applications,” explains Phil. “Besides the cast steel – which can manage extreme loads and speed capacities – these units have multiple levels of sealing to protect them from harsh contaminants, which maximises their operational life.”
Importantly, the Timken® Spherical Roller Bearing Solid-Block Housed Units are pre-assembled which eliminates the chances of contamination when they’re installed.
“They also allow the operator to grease the bearing unit,” adds Phil. “And have a purge feature so they can’t be overfilled, which helps maintain their integrity and reliability.”
Besides supplying the Timken bearing units, Phil points out that it is the service that his BSC branch provides that makes the real difference to the quarry.
“While we are a small team at the BSC Orange branch, customers such as the Hanson quarry know that we’ll go above and beyond for them,” enthuses Phil. “We are a close knit branch and we pride ourselves on the quality of our service.”
It is the BSC Orange branch’s commitment to both quality service and product that makes them such an exceptional team.
“They rely on us because of our customer service and they can use us as a one-stop-shop,” explains Phil. “We visit the Hanson site regularly and they also call on us for advice. We’re their ‘go to’ branch. Mine and quarry sites are always looking to minimise their suppliers, and from the customer’s perspective, we’re both reliable and trustworthy.”
To illustrate the lengths that the team at the BSC Orange branch will go to for customers, Phil concludes with an example.
“I have gone to the local hardware shop in Orange to source materials for the Hanson quarry before. They know we will have a crack at sourcing anything for them,” Phil concludes. “Ultimately it helps them by reducing their time searching for and chasing materials and products. And they know that we’re here for them – around the clock.”
