Eickhoff Capitalizes on Strength with SL 900

摘要

IN a country with a once prospering mining environment that is now in its last throes, Eickhoffs mining division, headquartered in Bochum, Germany, is thriving like never before. How is this possible? The company believes its perfectly tailored products based on close attention to the customer requirements are the key ingredient to this success. The fact that they produce more than 50 longwall shearers per year proves that they are on the right track. The company has also been recognized recently for its forward thinking approach toward mine automation. In 2010 Eickhoff won a bauma Innovation Award as well as an RAG Research award for its automated SL 750 shearer. The machine is currently cutting its way through hard coal 1,500 m below surface at the Auguste Victoria mine in Germany. Not resting on its laurels, Eickhoff has produced the next highlight, the SL 900. "After reviewing the shearer product range, which consisted of five machine types, the SL 300 for lower seams, going upward to the SL 500, then to the SL 750 and finally to Eickhoff's most powerful shearer, the SL 1000 with cutting height of 7 meters, the company decided th product line was not complete," said Marc Bartsch, title, Eickhoff. As a result, the decision was made to supplement the product line with the SL 900. "Closing the gap between the SL 750 and the SL 1000, the SL 900 combines the compact dimensions of the SL 750 with the staggering power of the SL 1000," Bartsch said. "Now, for the first time an Eickhoff shearer can cut coal from a wide spectrum of seams. It covers a huge range of cutting heights combined with more than enough power to deliver high production potential."