Metso Park, Alwar, Rajasthan - Metso India's state-of-the-art plant

Metso Park is critical to the group’s operation and expansion plans, as it meets the domestic requirements for crushing and screening solutions and also for export to about 60 countries. Products include, for example, the skid and track mounted NordWheel crushing and screening plants. Within the facility are also produced pumps for mining and dewatering. Well-equipped with systems for fabrication, painting and testing, Metso Park is now enhancing its production capacity and introducing more advanced manufacturing processes.

A rubber plant, with an extruder and a molding press, is the key production line for making screens required for mining and screening of aggregates. The screening media is made using both manual and mechanical processes. Rubber for the facility is obtained from Metso’s sister company in Sweden, and a pressing line will be added this May.

Adjacent to the rubber plant is the facility for manufacturing pumps for use in mining applications and for dewatering in mineral processing sites. A testing line monitors the power flow in the pumps, rise in temperature or vibration, and any abnormality in sound. Use of chrome parts in the pumps ensure their higher quality and robustness.

The star attraction at Metso Park is the fabrication line for the superstructures and the components for crushers and screens. Plasma cutting machines ensure accuracy and minimize wastage, while jigs and fixtures, made as per Metso’s design standards, maintain evenness during welding. An ultrasonic testing facility for welding joints and a new vibration assembly shop for testing of the screening systems complete the well-equipped plant.

Metso’s group President & CEO, Pekka Vauramo

A recent addition is an inline assembly facility to ensure standardization of the crushing components. Phase-1 of the facility was commissioned during the visit of Metso’s group President & CEO, Pekka Vauramo. It will produce horizontal shaft impactors, and cone and jaw crushers. The assembly process will also help in identifying and rectifying any defect that may arise in the machinery during production.

According to company officials, the facility will also bring down cost of production as products will be cheaper than the vendor supplies.

Metso India: Roadmap for Growth

In view of the positive business scenario and increasing competition, Metso India has chartered a fresh roadmap for continued growth in the country.

Metso has completed 25 years of its operation in India, during which, it has leveraged its market positioning with new products and comprehensive service packages, having invested 100 million euros, so far. In 2018 alone, Metso invested 70 million euros to strengthen its operations in India: it enhanced the production capacity of its manufacturing facility in Alwar by 35 percent; acquired the RMEBS valve business of the privately-owned Rotex Group; and is setting up a 20,000-ton capacity foundry at Vadodara.

In an exclusive interview with NBM&CW, Pekka Vauramo, President & CEO, Metso Corporation, Markku Simula, President Aggregates Equipment, Kamal Pahuja, Senior VP - India Market Area, Mining & Aggregates, and K C Navin Kumar, VP - Manufacturing India, Metso Minerals India, discuss the company’s blueprint of the expansion plan.

What business opportunities do you envisage from the Indian crushing and screening sector against the backdrop of buoyant growth in Indian infrastructure, especially road construction?

Based on the resolve of the Indian government to develop infrastructure projects, with a major thrust on road infrastructure, we foresee enormous business opportunities in India. We will be gearing up to meet demand with our wide range of mineral processing solutions and services. For road construction work requiring crushing of granular sub-base materials, we have a range of fixed and tracked plants of varied capacity that can be used as per the size of the projects.

What are your plans for expansion?

We have a strong local presence in India having established our biggest greenfield investment by setting up our manufacturing unit in 2010 with an initial capital investment of EUR 30 million. We have consolidated our business over the years by strengthening our manufacturing capabilities, indigenizing our products, and setting up foundries complete with assembly and testing lines.

Our mobile NordWheel crushing and screening plants – the first in India – were rolled out in 2012. Well-established now in the market, the product line has given us the credibility and the confidence to undertake expansion in the Indian market. Moving forward, we will continue to expand our capabilities: we have recently inaugurated our vibrating assembly shop and crusher facility and will expand our product offerings so that we can cater to wider application requirements. We maintain very superior manufacturing standards and our aim is to ensure that Metso crushing & screening plant owners earn a high ROI.

We can ably meet competition with our premium products, which may cost more initially, but the solutions we provide minimize the cost per ton of operations and deliver the desired throughput. This justifies the initial capital cost of the plant owners.

Our expertise is based on research and development and our engineering capabilities. For instance, we redesigned the crushing chambers to reduce wastage and derive the right size of aggregates. Redesigning of the wear parts has led to lesser replacements. Plant automation through digitization has enabled preventive and predictive maintenance and condition monitoring, making plant operations more efficient, reliable and cost-effective for the owners.

What solutions are you providing for M-sand?

As we see sources of river sand dwindling in India due to the ban, we expect increased demand for solutions to produce manufactured sand. Metso is well equipped to offer cost-effective solutions for delivering the rated throughput in conjunction with plant optimization.

What service and support does Metso provide to owners of its crushing and screening plants?

Our service support system is based on the principle of Life Cycle Services, so our service begins right from the conceptualization stage, that is, when the customer decides to procure a plant. Accordingly, we prepare a flow sheet taking into account the critical requirements such as flexibility, in case the plant owners want to alter the processing line as per the crushing or screening requirements in the future. We also offer both annual and operational maintenance contracts so that customers can curtail their cost per ton of operations.