Home > Mining > View from the Top

Robit, Focusing on Performance Comparison

Mikko Vuojolainen - Robit Plc
Vice President Americas

STORY INLINE POST

Alejandro Ehrenberg By Alejandro Ehrenberg | Journalist and Industry Analyst - Tue, 01/19/2021 - 12:39

share it

Q: What is Robit’s product offering in Mexico?

A: Generally speaking, we divide drilling in the mining industry into top hammer, down-the-hole and rotary drilling. We focus on the first two categories, for which we offer a full range of solutions through a comprehensive portfolio. Down-the-hole is used in open-pit mining. Most top hammer applications are used underground. Some cases require a mix of both. So far, we have been strongest in Mexico in underground mining, providing top hammer products. Mining is our main focus in Mexico. We are growing our top hammer market share while also developing applications for open-pit mining. We also offer tooling for site investigation services, including hole deviation and reverse circulation drilling, with a related range of products, although these are for a specific market in Mexico.

Q: How does Robit attract customers?

A: Robit’s approach to business is to offer good value to the customer. When we see a client, we allow them to test similar products to those they use. We focus on certain factors and characteristics to find a similar product in our portfolio and conduct a test. This is called performance comparison and we usually perform very well. Next, we demonstrate to the customer that we can perform even better. We develop ideas with individual drillers to further improve performance. It all starts by helping the customer make the right product choices but it also has to do with working with the client. A common issue we have become proficient in solving, presents itself in long-hole drilling. Keeping long-holes straight is important to mine operators. Robit has technologies and products to make that happen. Among others, Robit offers guide tubes, full string drilling tubes and specialty drill bits, including diamond carbide bits, that all help keeping the hole straight. In addition, Robit’s new generation system for measuring hole straightness will provide valuable feedback to drillers for keeping the drill settings optimal for straighter holes.

Q: What is your strategy for gaining greater market share in the Mexican mining industry?

A: Robit established itself in the US in 2014. This entity looks after the Mexican market through distributors. We are still in the first phases of developing our mining business in Mexico. Distributor development is a process. We are proud about how systematic our onboarding of new distributers has become with five explicit phases of development. That is our strategy to penetrate the Mexican market. We believe in distributors. Only in some exceptional markets we have implemented direct sales, like in Finland and Peru, but otherwise, it is all based on a distributor network.

Q: What is one success story for your company in Mexico?

A: Our distributer worked with a contractor that is drilling in several mine locations. The contractor ran out of another company’s tooling product and our distributor approached them to provide it. They ran tests and realized that our product was better than what they had before. The contactor then started testing our distributor’s delivery capability: can they deliver continuously, without interruption? Once they confirmed that, we provided them onsite services through our distributor. The sharpening of the bits became important very early on. When the time came to renew their contractors, we entered the bidding and grew our business with them. These kinds of things seldom happen overnight but this is how we prove ourselves to customers. Our ambitions for the Mexican market are high. The market is attractive and we are in the country for the long run. We believe in mining in Mexico.

Robit is an international company that caters to global customers and sells drilling consumables for applications in mining (underground and open-pit), construction and contracting, tunneling and well drilling. The company’s offering is divided into two product and service ranges: top hammer and down-the-hole.

 

 

You May Like

Most popular

Newsletter