GE and Komatsu announce expanded 10-year partnership agreement

Komatsu and GE have today announced a 10-year partnership agreement to provide electrical remanufacturing services for mining equipment and vehicles.

At Komatsu’s Welshpool facility in Perth, GE will apply expertise to the remanufacturing of wheel motors, alternators and grid blowers for Komatsu mining trucks through Komatsu Reman.

According to Sean Taylor, Komatsu Australia’s managing director and CEO, together with GE, Komatsu will improve its Reman build process for large mining customers.

“Our expanded partnership with GE will ensure quality and efficiency improvements under our Kaizen continuous improvement process for Reman operations. This creates added value for our customers by helping them extend component life and reduce unplanned downtime,” said Taylor.

“GE is a company with a rich history, providing Komatsu with a great opportunity to further expand our long-term relationship as technology partners committed to customer-focused solutions.”

Chris Duhamel, senior regional services manager – GE Mining, is confident that the Komatsu/GE partnership will deliver the levels of quality, responsiveness and innovation that customers today expect.

“At this point in our industry’s cycle when efficiency and productivity are paramount, this partnership makes so much sense. We are excited to work together with Komatsu and look forward to the positive outcomes it delivers for our mining customers,” said Duhamel.

The GE workshop at Welshpool will be fit for purpose to accommodate specialised tooling and machinery for electrical testing, varnishing, machining and balancing functions.

Taylor said that recruitment, tooling and preproduction planning activities are now in progress, with production scheduled to start in October 2016.