WDT Engineers’ partnership with SCHADE Foerdertechnik has delivered high-quality bulk handling equipment to Australia.
At the heart of this partnership is a mutual respect for SCHADE’s quality design and WDT’s quality production and technical services.
WDT fabricated parts for SCHADE’s early Australian representatives in the 1980s and 90s, but, as the market shifted, the German company was looking for a new partner to support its products in Australia. SCHADE was impressed by WDT’s in-house capabilities and technical prowess from its involvement in the delivery of SCHADE’s equipment and formalised their partnership.
“We developed a relationship with SCHADE 25 years ago, and it’s grown from there as a full Australian partner representing their machines in the Australian market,” Andrew Hauff, managing director of WDT Engineers, told ABHR.
“Over those years, we have supplied a number of complete machines to the industry, and we are in a position now where that’s growing further, and we are hoping to move into more markets within Australia.”
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WDT Engineers has grown over the past five decades to deliver engineering, fabrication, pre-assembly and shop testing, construction and site support, and aftermarket support for SCHADE equipment and other bulk handling equipment.
Bill Webster, Adrian Downs and Harry Tischler started WDT in the Australian sugar sector in 1970. It has grown to support many businesses across Australia’s broad spectrum of bulk-handling markets from its two facilities in Brisbane and Mackay.
The company has been based in their Acacia Ridge facility in Brisbane for nearly the entire duration of its operations, which is now 50 years. Its Mackay workshop is strategically placed to service key markets in the region.
SCHADE equipment is also strongly present in the New South Wales and Queensland coal industries.
“We have quite a diverse range of products; bulk materials handling equipment is a big part of that now,” Hauff said.
“The SCHADE stockyard machinery is certainly suited to a broad range of applications, particularly the new age minerals, alternative fuels and other developing products.
“We have a strong partnership with SCHADE; we complement each other, combining their long history in the design of their well-proven machines across hundreds of installations around the world and WDT’s local presence, technical and manufacturing support.
“WDT provides the interface for Australian clients to meet the customised requirements Australian projects demand ensuring compliance with Australian standards with the full local delivery of electrical engineering and supply.”
Few environments can match Australia’s claim as one of the harshest bulk handling sectors due to its exacting conditions. This means that few solutions can be “off-the-shelf” and often need to be made fit for Australian applications.
As part of the Aumund Group, SCHADE is known for its design quality. The German manufacturer began in 1879 and has forged an impressive track record in the bulk materials sector.
In 1952, SCHADE released its first scraper reclaimer in Germany before it launched the first scraper reclaimer with a double boom seven years later. Almost 50 years later, it debuted the world’s biggest scraper reclaimer with twin booms and now has more than 800 stackers and reclaimers in operation around the world.
“[In Australia], it is not an out-of-the-box solution. It tends to be made for purpose, and that is where the WDT-SCHADE partnership has worked very well and been very successful,”Hauff said.
“The SCHADE stockyard equipment is well-proven and is based on scraper chain technology that has been developed over the last 70 years, it is a very robust system without the complexity of balance machine solutions.
“There is greater reliability in the machines; they are easier to automate and better suited to the mining and mid-size capacity applications.
“SCHADE machines, as a result offer good value to small to medium size projects with their reliable and robust design.”
WDT is the first point of contact for Australian clients interested in SCHADE equipment. The German manufacturer supports WDT with the equipment design, process design, and key components, as well as construction management and commissioning oversight. WDT manufactures the steel structures from its two Queensland sites.
WDT Engineers also provides the electrical and control system design and supply.
Through the SCHADE–WDT Engineers partnership, Australian customers in bulk materials handling can access a wide range of stockyard solutions, including stackers and reclaimers and wagon tippler unloaders.
SCHADE offer solutions for both longitudinal or circular stockpiles to suit the footprint and plant layout of most sites. Depending on the application, there are solutions for use as buffer storage – with a longitudinal and circular stockpile of maximised volumetric capacity – which stacks and reclaims at high throughput rates or blending storage to provide a homogenised feed to downstream processes. Blending storage options can also use longitudinal or circular stockpiles, with reclaiming performed with harrows across the front of the pile.
“They have been providing this technology for the longest time and there is a lot of new companies providing this technology but not in this way and with this experience in the industry,” Frank Hahn, division manager for Bulk Material Handling at WDT Engineers, said.
WDT can also provide ancillary plant works, or a balance of plant works to integrate the stacker or reclaimer into the site through additional fabrication. The company can also assist with upgrades and retrofits for SCHADE brand equipment, or any other stockyard equipment, currently in service.
The Queensland-based company maintains a team of expert engineers and operators to help its Australian client base. It is well-placed to deliver service projects in the Eastern states and large fabrications and pre-assembled modules across Australia.
“We have chosen SCHADE and SCHADE have chosen us due to our experience and our engineering capability. We are not just an agent; we are a real partner for them,” Hahn said.
“As the local partner, we are here to support the client on this.
“We have a very proven track record on this over the years.”