Q: What are the key features of Element as a manufacturer?

Ability to manage the product. We know how to work with the market and we understand its needs. We develop the product and its technical documentation, so we know the scope of its application. In addition to this, we control the quality and production process across all parameters. Moreover, we work with an extensive product line – to do this, we develop and improve our own IT structure. All data is systematized and stored in directories on the company’s servers – this is more convenient and secure, than conventional methods. Ability to create a product. Before starting production, Element selects manufacturing plants based on their technical capabilities, quality control, prices and raw materials. Our machining process engineers, who are specialists in metallurgy and synthetics are constantly developing the capabilities of suppliers and improving the quality of their work. Element cooperates with manufacturers from all over the world: China, South Africa, Finland, Turkey, India, Germany, Spain, the Czech Republic and other countries with developed production facilities. Ability to provide technical support for the product. We provide warranty obligations, upgrade the product based on operational experience, and provide technical support for our customers. To ensure the successful operation of the Customer-Manufacturer Chain, Element employs market support and production specialists. The former specialists know the machines and make out the list of parts from the electronic catalog, and the latter group of specialists work with designers, manufacturers and production engineers.

Question 1

How does Element differ from its competitors?

Accepted Answer

Element’s specialists know the structure of the machines being serviced and the spare parts they consist of. We will consult our customers on the materials used to fabricate spare parts, specify the configuration and modification of parts, select equivalent parts, and inform you which part should be chosen for the equipment that works specifically in your operating conditions.

Element represents a wide range of products and provides technical support to its partners and customers at the level of reputable equipment manufacturers.

Element has arranged a complete production cycle. Identification of the most popular and in-demand items, followed by further engineering and technical support for the production, and then acceptance and evaluation of the part quality by our specialist team.

To improve the level of customer service, Element works hard to plan the warehouse and production program, and makes sure to optimize logistics.

Question 2

What is the main idea of the Element brand?

Accepted Answer

Element offers spare parts for the mining and metallurgical industries — this is fundamental production, the basis of any economy.

We work to support the operational components of our customers: we supply spare and wear parts and provide after-sales service for equipment with a rate of use, that works under heavy conditions.

Element supplies spare and wear parts under its own Element® brand. We analyze and consolidate market needs using unique techniques and IT tools. Element guarantees and provides technical support for all of its customers' equipment. Element is a risk-free choice at the best price.

Question 3

Does Element have a license to manufacture and sell its products?

Accepted Answer

Element operates legally in compliance with local and international business requirements. We set the same requirements for our partners and suppliers.

If local legislation requires product certification, we certify products independently or with the help of specialized organizations.

Element provides quality certificates, technical specifications and other technical documentation for products on request. We also reserve the right to retain the intellectual property and the commercial interests of the company.

Question 4

What are the key features of Element as a manufacturer?

Accepted Answer

Ability to manage the product.
We know how to work with the market and we understand its needs. We develop the product and its technical documentation, so we know the scope of its application. In addition to this, we control the quality and production process across all parameters. Moreover, we work with an extensive product line – to do this, we develop and improve our own IT structure. All data is systematized and stored in directories on the company’s servers – this is more convenient and secure, than conventional methods.

Ability to create a product.
Before starting production, Element selects manufacturing plants based on their technical capabilities, quality control, prices and raw materials. Our machining process engineers, who are specialists in metallurgy and synthetics are constantly developing the capabilities of suppliers and improving the quality of their work. Element cooperates with manufacturers from all over the world: China, South Africa, Finland, Turkey, India, Germany, Spain, the Czech Republic and other countries with developed production facilities.

Ability to provide technical support for the product.
We provide warranty obligations, upgrade the product based on operational experience, and provide technical support for our customers.

To ensure the successful operation of the Customer-Manufacturer Chain, Element employs market support and production specialists. The former specialists know the machines and make out the list of parts from the electronic catalog, and the latter group of specialists work with designers, manufacturers and production engineers.

Question 5

Where are Element’s factories located?

Accepted Answer

In China, South Africa, Finland, Turkey, India, Germany, Spain, the Czech Republic and other countries with developed production facilities. Element cooperates with manufacturers from all over the world.

Element places orders for the parts production according to its design documentation in any country. It does this while renting the manufacturer’s production facilities, and does not depend on a specific supplier.

Element works with many manufacturers around the world, combining their process capabilities to offer the best product to its customers. The choice of the manufacturer is determined by the quality of its organization, logistics, exchange rates, and readiness to integrate into Element Group's technological cycle.

Element selects supplier companies based on their technical capabilities, quality management systems, prices, and quality of raw materials. We carefully check suppliers for their business reputation, while inspecting their quality and guarantees.

Question 6

How can the customer be sure that information about indicators, organizations and technology will not be shared?

Accepted Answer

Element is attentive to the security of our customers’ data. We request the customer’s permission for any publications that would like to share such information..

We enter into a non-disclosure agreement and follow the agreed procedures before submitting the design and commercial documentation.

Element’s IT specialists constantly monitor data protection in our systems, so you can be sure that your information is in safe hands.

Question 7

Which products do Element manufacture and supply?

Accepted Answer

Element’s product catalog contains tens of thousands of product names. We focus on the production of spare and wear parts for crushers, pumps, mills, conveyors and other equipment that is required by our customers.

For crushers there are liners, shafts and bushings, gear and transmission parts, wear protection elements, frame parts, and fasteners.

For pumps there are wet end parts (impellers, case liners, back liners , others), shafts, bearings, housings and seals.

Element offers conveyor belts and conveyor components We also offer parts of general industrial application, such as belts, couplings, gearboxes and their motors, sensors, and elements of hydraulic equipment.

For mills, Element designs and manufactures mill linings made from various materials. These could be cast metal, rubber or combined.

We manufacture equipment parts for Sandvik, Uralmash, Warman, Krebs, FLS, Telsmith and other manufacturers.

Question 8

What materials are used to produce liners for Element’s crushers?

Accepted Answer

Element offers 4 main grades of manganese steels. The carbon content in them is regulated, depending on the amount of manganese in the composition. Classic Hadfield steel comprises of 13% manganese, whereas modern alloys contain from 18% to 21%. Specifications have been developed for each alloy.

Element specialists select the optimal grade of manganese steel, taking into account the casting configuration and application conditions. All Element’s grades of manganese steel are available with a microstructure enhanced by a THOR initializer, which increases the service life of the part.

Question 9

How does Element formulate a quote for the spare parts needed?

Accepted Answer

Our specialists virtually disassemble each machine in the list of installed database and classify the parts by types. We firstly select the most in-demand and critical parts , launch the design phase, and then move onto production.

Consolidating an order by part type (for example, a batch of shafts or a batch of bronze bushings) helps us to optimize prices and logistics.

Question 10

Didn't find your machine or product number in the Element catalog?

Accepted Answer

If you can’t find your machine or the required product number in the catalog, please contact us. Element specialists will address this issue and complete the design and production work plan.

Question 11

How does Element work with mill lining orders?

Accepted Answer

In the production and supply of mill linings, we use a project management methodology. It is divided into several stages: budget proposal, research of the customer’s operating conditions and experience, engineering, approval of the solutions, firm commercial offer and finally, production. Each mill lining is considered to be an individual project.

Element supplies complete sets and individual lining elements, fasteners, rubber seals and gaskets for grinding mills of any type and size.

We manufacture linings from manganese and chromium-molybdenum steels, high-chrome white cast iron, in addition to rubber and composite rubber-metal linings.

When installing a new mill lining, the project manager and developer of the design documentation will be present at site. If necessary, we will provide a chief engineer from the service department to attend. During operation, we can provide a status scan of the lining and give a forecast of its expected life time.

Question 12

What modern materials does Element use in the production of mill linings?

Accepted Answer

Manganese steel with a manganese content of 13%. Element can alloy such steel with chrome (up to 2%) to increase the hardness of parts and offer a better resistance to abrasive wear. We can also alloy such steel with molybdenum (up to 0.5%) to improve the mechanical properties and hardenability of thick-walled castings.

Perlitic chromium-molybdenum steel. Hardness 325-400HBW. Unlike manganese steels, this material is not subject to riveting action, which makes it easier to dismantle the lining. Depending on the application conditions, the service life can be 10-50% higher than that of manganese steel.

High-chromium white cast iron. Hardness >500HBW. Chromium content of 18%. Depending on the casting configuration and wall thickness, this can be additionally alloyed with molybdenum or nickel. The highest wear resistance of all metallic liners can be found in grinding mills without ball load.

The rubber lining from mills is made of wear-resistant and high-strength rubber.

The rubber-metal mill lining is made of wear-resistant rubber with HARDOX steel elements.

We select the optimal mill lining material while taking into account not only the grinding technology itself, but also the needs of the customer.

Question 13

What wear protection does Element provide? What makes our solutions unique?

Accepted Answer

Element conditionally divides the problem with handling bulk materials into two components. Wear, which can be circumnavigated by avoiding abrasive and impacting actions, and adherence, which can be circumnavigated by avoiding the uncontrolled accumulation of excessive wet materials.

To provide wear protection, we manufacture and supply five types of materials: rubber-ceramic plates, rubber and polyurethane plates, wear-resistant steel plates and bimetallic plates.

To avoid adherence, we manufacture and supply plates made of ultra-high-molecular polyethylene.

We also manufacture and supply polyurethane lining materials to protect against wear and adherence.

Our solutions are based on a comprehensive assessment of all operational factors, such as wear, adherence, temperature and environment. They play a key role in choosing the type of material and the thickness of the plate. Our service team is ready to offer a solution with combined materials to optimize service life and cost.

Question 14

What is included in the range for slurry handling?

Accepted Answer

We produce spare and wear parts for slurry handling system equipment. First of all, these are spare and wear parts for slurry pumps of various brands used in mining and processing plants.

Element also offers solutions for cyclones and upgrading and replacing slurry pipelines.

Question 15

What is included in the range of conveyor components?

Accepted Answer

We supply rubber-fabric and steel-reinforced belts (general purpose and specialized, chevron, with a sidewall and buckets, which can be general purpose, specialised, chevron, sidewall and bucket bearing, tubular conveyor, temperature-resistant or oil-resistant. In addition to this, we are able to supply cleaning systems for conveyor belts, conveyor rollers, drums and shock-absorbing bars for reloading points.

Like the rest of Element’s products, conveyor belts are manufactured in world-class factories, led by global brands, under the watchful eye of quality control and in accordance with the technical documentation provided by Element.

Element’s products have attained all of the necessary certification.

Question 16

What is included in the range of general industrial parts?

Accepted Answer

The components for electric and hydraulic equipment, including bearings, belts and pulleys, bolts and filters, etc. — almost any standard parts used for general industrial purposes, regulated by industry standards. Element owns the base of installed equipment and knows the machine structures (including the standard parts classification list), so we are able to offer comprehensive solutions and deliver ready-to-install sets of wear parts with fasteners and other required products.

Manufacturers often provide new accessory modifications. OEM suppliers are also coding part numbers in the catalogue of machines for commercial purposes. Because of this, Element's specialists have created a system of alternative items and used modifications, which is stored within their stored in our own database.

Due to the terms or price requirements, sometimes it is necessary to offer an identical device, or a device that operates similarly, chose a different design or a material that provides the optimal performance. That is why we sometimes select alternative items.

These parts are also included in the warehousing program for our regular customers. We work with representatives of well-known brands in the countries in which we work.

Question 17

How is the difference in price achieved in comparison with original spare parts? Why are there parts, which are cheaper than those offered by Element?

Accepted Answer

Element offers branded spare parts, but does not markup the price for the brand. The Element brand is a protected trademark that guarantees high-quality spare parts with a high level of technical support.

Element consolidates the needs of our many customers into a planned production program, that helps to optimize the logistics of production and delivery, and as a result - the price.

We do not allow ourselves to do unreasonable savings on raw materials or skip technological operations in the production process — this could lead to hidden defects in products.

Question 18

Does Element provide guarantees for its products?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Element provides a guarantee for each and every one of its products.
We provide a standard guarantee for the compatibility of parts with the equipment and the absence of damage and defects (6 months or 1000 hours of use, whichever comes first).

The process guarantee covers the wear parts' operating time. Approval of the guaranteed life time occurs after the customer has provided additional information (such as the material grain size, a physical-chemical analysis of the rock, a logbook of the lifetime of wear parts etc.).

The claimed part life time is attained by observing the rules of transportation, storage, installation of the product and operation of the equipment, in accordance with the instructions of the equipment supplier.

Question 19

Does Element guarantee the compatibility of parts with equipment?

Accepted Answer

We provide proven spare parts. The design, durability and quality of Element's spare and wear parts fully meet the requirements of equipment manufacturers.

Element’s parts are made by reverse engineering; many of them have been improved based on the results of operation or according to the customer’s requests.

Question 20

Does Element have product certificates?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Element issues its own quality certificates for its products and issues not only legally required certificates, but also voluntary ones.

These documents are developed based on production documentation and are issued according to the quality plan for each type of product. For example, these can be certificates for raw materials, process control data, chemical composition, heat treatment reports, and laboratory measurements.

Products are checked during acceptance tests and measurements — the part must meet the requirements of the design documentation and be accompanied by the manufacturer’s documentation.

Question 21

How does Element deal with complaints?

Accepted Answer

Quality control and complaints are handled by a quality control department with established business processes. The team consists of quality engineers who work with manufacturers.

In countries that we do not have a presence, we use the services of specialized companies that accept goods according to our documentation. Element's specialists work in a single IT environment that automatically sets tasks for the receiving goods at the time of shipment. It also records and collects documents regarding each shipment.

This allows you to identify and analyze every possible complaint case, find its cause, and perform the appropriate corrective actions.

Question 22

How does the design Engineering department work?

Accepted Answer

When it comes to reverse engineering in the mining industry, Element's team is one of the most experienced.

The scan process has a lot of features. An inefficient operator, even with the best equipment, can get an unsatisfactory result. In addition, the scanner is not able to get into the cavity and it cannot scan deep holes, so calipers and micrometers still need to be scanned. In addition to the scan, you need to perform a number of sketches for the individual product elements.

The designer must carefully analyze the product, sketches and scans, make measurements of the mating parts, study the operating manual and other operational documents, and only then assign dimensions and tolerances for them.

In fact, this is a full-time product design job.

Question 23

How are the materials for manufactured products selected?

Accepted Answer

The material is selected in accordance with design documentation, in addition to international, industrial and internal standards. We also take into account the customer’s requirements.

Element’s team has specialists in the areas of metallurgy, mechanical processing аnd synthetic materials, who develop technical specifications, monitor new products, and work on development.

Question 24

How is quality control organized within the production chain?

Accepted Answer

Element uses quality control processes and is constantly improving them.

The goal of the quality control system is to significantly reduce the risk of losses and save resources on maintenance throughout the supply chain.

Element uses a standard cycle of product control and improvement, which ensures that our customers receive quality products:

— A plan is formulated, where Element considers the methodology of attaining a quality product, defines its main parameters, requirements for materials and production, as well as control points and verification methods.

- Procurement is launched, and all necessary measures are taken into account. We arrange the audit and check the manufacturing companies, prepare and approve a set of technical documentation (drawings, specifications, acceptance methods, etc.), manufacture and check the equipment.

At the control stage, we check the quality of the finished product and evaluate the manufacturer’s performance based on the results (including the timing, return quantity and time for correction, if this is needed).

Element constantly works to improve the quality of their products based on the results of their operation, including feedback from customers, and makes changes to the quality plan accordingly.

Then, the cycle repeats.

Question 25

Does Element provide data about the control performed?

Accepted Answer

Element provides quality certificates, technical specifications and other technical documentation for products on request.

We also reserve the right to retain the intellectual property and commercial interests of the company.

Question 26

How does Element select manufacturing partners and suppliers?

Accepted Answer

We are interested in constantly expanding our network of certified suppliers and production partners with various production facilities.

The production department verifies the legal integrity of potential partners’ businesses and conducts audits using standard evaluation checklists. Specialists examine all stages of the production process and the company’s compliance with international standards (ISO). Based on the results of the audit, we formulate an overall assessment from the interim results (at each stage) and make decisions about whether or not to interact with the supplier.

A prerequisite for starting to work together is compliance with the high standards of Element's production. In addition to this, we require an integration into the quality control system at all stages: from the purchase of raw materials to the packaging of finished products. On our part, we provide engineering and technological support and stable volumes for loading production.

Question 27

How does Element work with partner manufacturers and suppliers?

Accepted Answer

Our production scheduling and control department keeps records of tooling and versions of technical documentation for the product range that our partners are able to produce and deliver.

They also form current production plans based on customer needs and our warehousing program, then start placing an order.

At this point, additional coordination of the plan on quality, technological and logistical issues takes place.

A standard business process for delivery with control points is then launched, including acceptance of the goods before shipment, which is carried out by our quality engineers.

Question 28

Does Element have warehouses and a warehousing program?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Element specialists analyze the installed base of their customers in a particular region, and then form a stock of consumed wear and spare parts for them, according to the identified machines variety.

We keep most of the required spare and wear parts in our own warehouses in Russia and Finland as part of the warehousing program. In addition, we have buffer warehouses, supervised by our partner companies.

Question 29

Can Element maintain a reserve in its warehouse for our company?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Element and its partners (dealers) offer consignment warehouse programs at the site of the customer's enterprise. Our regional representatives are ready to provide the necessary documents for such a project.

Question 30

How does Element carry out the transportation of goods?

Accepted Answer

Element makes full use of the entire infrastructure of modern local and international logistics: delivery by sea, rail and road. Urgent cargo can be delivered by air.

Using an analysis of market needs and based on the current warehousing program, the company’s specialists form optimal batches of goods for the same type of production load and reduce transport costs in the process.

Question 31

Can Element support or provide quality installation of spare parts at the production site?

Accepted Answer

Element's team can provide an on-site consultation. The attendance of our service engineer or specialist partner for installation work is also possible.

Question 32

What does Element classify as a repair? How is the repair method selected?

Accepted Answer

Repair is the replacement and/or partial restoration of one or more parts to their original shape by resurfacing or machining. Special parts with repair dimensions can also be used during repairs.

Our specialists will carry out the detection of defects of the machine or individual components, develop a repair plan, approve the technical card and documentation, before finally carrying out the acceptance and installation of the part.

Question 33

What types of service does Element provide?

Accepted Answer

In addition to standard technical support functions, such as the supervision of the installation of parts and prompt investigation of warranty cases, Element identifies “losses” in operational management and provides recommendations for improving the performance of equipment.

Preguntas más frecuentes