CDC achieves goal of complete one-stop service
Dust Buster News

CDC once again recorded a large increase in turnover in the year to end-September 1999 to further consolidate its undisputed lead in the local market for dust suppression equipment for continuous miners.

The company has increased its penetration year by year in the market during the past four years, following change of ownership and management in 1996 which was the first step towards establishing it as the dominant player in its field.

"Since then we have transformed ourselves into a highly efficient and successful operation and are now fully justified in our claim of offering a one-stop dust suppression service to the industry," said managing director Doug Hutson.

"In the past four years we have ploughed all our profits back into the company to build up our infrastructure and systems to enable us to provide a comprehensive and complete range of equipment and services to customers to meet all their requirements. We are now satisfied that we have everything in place to cater to all the dust suppression needs of existing and prospective customers."

During this period of expansion and consolidation the company has replaced most of its capital equipment, including its transport fleet. Staffing has been strengthened, with customer support staff in particular being expanded to enhance backup services.

Stock levels have been increased sixfold, resulting in greatly improved deliveries and elimination of back-orders. The company’s accounting package has been upgraded to ensure faster and more efficient processing of customers’ orders and stock renewals.

The range of standard wet-fan scrubber box models – CDC’s core product – has been increased from one to five, ranging in capacity from 4 cu m/sec to 17 cu m/sec. New products have been introduced, among them centrifugal pumps and Monitech monitoring equipment. A new larger range of water filters incorporating improved designs has been introduced. The pump shop has been revamped and expanded twice and is due for a further revamp early next year.

Doug estimates that in South Africa CDC has supplied about 70 per cent of the dust suppression systems for the more than 280 continuous miners currently in operation in the country.

"But today our business is based more on supplying parts and service exchange units and providing on-going backup services than on selling new systems. With pumps, for example, we service five times as many units every month as we sell," he pointed out.

"One of our greatest strengths is that we are a service-orientated company. Our turnover depends as much on good service as on offering a top quality and competitively priced product.

"We have not stinted in giving the market all that it wants and offer good value for money. This approach pays off handsomely as customers come back to us and we continue to win more and more business."

Doug said CDC has also benefited from the increased demand for dust suppression equipment arising from the tightening of health and safety regulations in recent years. "The stricter regulations have not only increased the industry’s general awareness about the need to maintain minimum standards of health in the working environment, but in underground collieries in particular it has given rise to a programme of progressively reducing dust counts at the working face. We have participated closely in this programme, including provision of a lot of equipment for use in dust count tests by the CSIR."

CDC was the first dust suppression equipment supplier to meet the regulation minimum dust count requirement of under 5 mg/cu m as laid down in the Mines Health & Safety Act. This is now consistently achieved in the workplace through the application of CDC’s unique three-in-one integrated dust suppression system comprising the CDC wet-fan scrubber box, water-powered air movers and spray fans operating in complementary fashion, combined with good management, good ventilation practice and good mining practice by the collieries concerned.

Doug said increasingly greater attention is being given by CDC to export business, which is the way of the future. "There is still scope for growth of our business in the local market but in the future most of our growth will come from exports."

The company has already done the groundwork for launching its products in Australia and more recently has taken steps towards selling and supporting its products in India, which is among the top five coal producing countries in the world.