Liebherr TA 230 Litronic - Manual (Page 3)

4 // Quarrying Quarrying // 5
Feature: Mineral Baustoff GmbH
Trimming quarries
for economy
With around 200 quarries and gravel pits, Mineral Baustoff, part
of the STRABAG SE Group, is one of the largest raw materials
brands in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe.
One of the five limestone quarries operated by Wolfgang Beckers
is at Eigenrieden, near Mühlhausen. Here, two areas of 7 and
12 hectares are mined. From the front of the office building, we
have an unhindered view across both areas. We are able to watch
all production steps, from quarrying at the face through to loading
onto the customer’s trucks. One thing that is conspicuous is
that there are no dumper trucks or long conveyor belts in use.
The entire organisation is based on short distances, which saves
machines, personnel and time.
superb experiences in terms of productivity and diesel consumption.
In addition to the fact that it offers far better performance and a larger
bucket capacity, its fuel consumption is lower than that of its
predecessor.”
Beckers also puts his faith in Liebherr wheel loaders. Three generations
are currently working in parallel. The oldest one was built in 2005,
the youngest, an L 566 unit of the latest generation, has just been
delivered to the Themar quarry.
“What convinces me about Liebherr are the service intervals,
the availability of service, the technical advice, the quality and the
operation,” Beckers continues. “The machines are extremely
durable and highly economical in operation. In particular, diesel
consumption is important for us.”
Before purchasing a new machine, its economy and durability are
carefully scrutinised and documented. “We have made direct
comparisons between these machines and competitive models
in operations,” explains Beckers. “Fuel consumption and material
movement have been recorded and compared. This has enabled us
to obtain figures for fuel consumption per tonne of material quarried.
With Liebherr machines, we can save four to five, sometimes even
six litres of diesel per hour. At 15,000 operating hours per year that
makes several thousand Euro.”
Wolfgang Beckers, chief representative and regional manager
Mineral Baustoff GmbH for the German state of Thuringia.
When talking about reducing costs and boosting efficiency, Wolfgang Beckers is in his element. As chief
representative and regional manager of Mineral Baustoff GmbH for the German state of Thuringia,
he has economically optimised five of the company’s quarries to the last detail. One way of achieving his
ambitious goals is by keeping distances short, but another is the efficient use of Liebherr machines.
R 950 SME crawler excavator at the quarry in Eigenrieden.
The material is processed on site and sold where it is found.
“Economy is the be all and end all.
Our operation is completely mobile.”
Wolfgang Beckers, chief representative and regional manager
Mineral Baustoff GmbH for the German state of Thuringia
“Economy is the be all and end all. Our operation is completely
mobile. We have no stationary systems. We crush the material
where we find it. Then we process it, put it on a pile and sell it.
In between there are practically no distances to be travelled.
We have to be competitive. In sales every cent per tonne makes
a difference,” Beckers says. “We produce a broad range of end
products here, for example calcium-magnesium fertilisers, which
we sell to the agricultural industry in the area. Then we have
products for road building, gardening and landscaping. That
includes, for example, frost protection layers, gravel base layers
and hydraulically bonded layers.”
A new Liebherr R 950 SME crawler excavator recently started
operations at the quarry face loading the crusher. Its reach of
13 metres is exactly configured for the conditions on site. The
bucket size has been optimised for the throughput capacity of
the crusher. Beckers is proud of his new acquisition. “The excavator
has been in operation for three weeks now, and we already have