AMC develops, manufactures and supplies a comprehensive range of quality drilling fluids and speciality products to mining, water well, HDD, CBM, civil construction and tunnelling industries worldwide. AMC forms part of the Imdex Group, a leading mining technology company delivering technologies to the global minerals industry.
The challenge
AMC has been partnering with Floveyor to provide effective chemical conveying solutions for a range of challenging materials since 2005. The relationship began when AMC expanded their operations and needed to automate their labour-intensive manual handling processes for loading a variety of challenging materials into a ribbon blender and transferring blended product to a Form, Fill and Seal (FFS) machine.
AMC process a number of hygroscopic and flow resistant materials individually and in mixes. Conveying solutions that promote flow, prevent separation and minimise dust are essential to their operations. As chemical engineering innovators constantly developing new drilling fluids, AMC also needed access to quality materials testing to determine the single most appropriate materials handling system for their ever-increasing list of new and challenging materials.
The solution
AMC’s original mobile Floveyor fed raw materials into the ribbon blender, which was then placed to feed the FFS machine.
Floveyor drew on sixty plus years of experience moving thousands of materials in all manner of industries to customise a solution for AMC’s demanding product repertoire. AMC operates six Floveyor F3 Industrial units and two screw feeders in their Western Australian site. Two additional Floveyor F3 units are operational in their Queensland facility. A further mobile Floveyor installed continues to operate as a bulk bag and sack tip system.
Floveyor’s fully enclosed aero-mechanical design provide the ideal solution for conveying hazardous powdered and granular chemicals. The distinctive attributes of our chemical conveyor systems minimise hazardous dust build up, flow resistance and issues with incomplete batch transfer in bulk chemicals handling.
AMC continued to grow their operations. In late 2019, Floveyor assisted AMC in moving to Hope Valley, Western Australia to accommodate their growth and ensuring the future centralisation of all production. In early 2020, two Floveyors were relocated from their Queensland facility to Western Australia as part of the new plant configuration.
The results
Floveyor’s distinctive capacity to adapt quickly and easily to new materials has kept pace with AMC’s rapidly expanding operational scale and product diversity.
In the course of a 15 year partnership with AMC, Floveyor tested each of their new powders and formulas and modified their Floveyors to bring powders and granules into full production with minimum fuss and maximum speed.
The last word
AMC Manufacturing and Logistics Manager, Barry Skilton says,
“I started my career with AMC at the Jandakot facility in 1997 and have been heavily involved in the selection, testing and operation of all materials handling equipment from new product developments by AMC to the full production scale up.
Working with such a huge range of powders over many years has been a challenge to the Floveyor units but with the correct operation and understanding it has handled everything that has been put through it.
The increase in production and the various configurations meant we have had to adjust, lengthen and modify the units over the years. This was very easy to do with the Floveyor’s modular design and simplicity of build and maintenance.”
Floveyor F3 Industrial conveyors for AMC
