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Liebherr Mining Equipment Company trusts Pilsen
Pilsen facilitated the sale of a used Italian-manufactured COLGAR FRAL 515 machine to Liebherr Mining Equipment Company. Located in Newport News, Va., Liebherr provides the mining industry with an expanded range of high-performance Litronic hydraulic mining shovels/backhoes and large scale diesel electric AC and DC haul trucks. With up to 400-ton payload capacities, Liebherr’s mammoth machines service some of the world’s most demanding mining locations. Liebherr trusts Pilsen to help them meet the demands placed on their equipment.
As part of a joint venture with Pilsen and COLGAR, Liebherr moved the COLGAR machine to its Newport News facility. The machine, which measures 22 meters long and 5 meters high, offers tremendous capabilities and challenges due to its sheer size. Liebherr uses the COLGAR to machine major components for its truck frames and medium-duty parts that other manufacturers cannot produce.
“Not many people buy a used piece of equipment of this size and then put it into their operation,” said Cort Reiser, Liebherr Mining Equipment Company’s Vice President of Manufacturing. “To disassemble a piece of equipment and move it from one facility, reassemble it at another facility while adding a new control and software system and then get it up online and working quickly is impressive. Pilsen helped us get it installed, and they continue to support us. They were easy to work with, professional and very knowledgeable.”
Liebherr has come to know an important partner in Pilsen. A leader in the machine tool industry, Pilsen provides high-quality equipment and customer support, making them the complete solution for companies’ large machining requirements. Liebherr’s COLGAR machine currently operates two 10-hour shifts per day, six days per week, and will soon begin operating three shifts per day. When helping Liebherr locate and install the COLGAR machine, Pilsen provided comprehensive operator training, and continues to provide operator and maintenance training once or twice a year as Liebherr continues to bring the machine up to full capacity and hire more operators.
“Pilsen has been very responsive to our needs. The COLGAR seems to be running consistently,” Reiser said. “Since we machine our large parts in-house, we’re able to be more accurate on our overall dimensions. When your parts are very large, machining parts can be difficult. Pilsen has been with us every step of the way. And they’ve jumped in when needed to help in all sorts of areas to support us and get us up and keep us running. We would definitely use them as technical support and for service and parts for another machine.”
