18 Nov Overcoming challenges with problem-solving approach
As a mechanical engineering consultancy offering design and maintenance services to major industrial plants across Australia and beyond, the team at PHD Engineering know that their clients cannot risk any unwanted downtimes in their operations.
Understanding this criticality, Senior Mechanical Engineer Stuart Hipsley says the team have adopted a proactive and hands-on attitude to problem-solving that ensures the desired outcome.
“Through all of our engineering services, be it failure investigation and diagnosis, repairing equipment or site installations and commissioning, we always take a holistic approach to problem-solving, trying to identify areas where we can improve efficiencies for our clients,” says Stuart. “This may be through structuring our work so that we can complete additional support tasks during planned downtimes or improving our own methodologies to carry out our work more efficiently.”
In just over 20 years of servicing clients from its head office in Wollongong, New South Wales, PHD Engineering has already developed an impressive clientele, with some of the biggest Australian mining and steelmaking companies as its regular customers. Stuart says the team has earned its reputation by taking up challenges that others would have considered too difficult.
“PHD operates with the mentality that ‘every problem has a solution’. Our innovative design activities are centred around a deep dive into existing or proposed designs and focussing on first-principle mathematical design to arrive at the best solution,” he says.
“An example of this was a re-design of the long travel drives for a stacker at a steelworks plant. The existing gearbox had become outdated and therefore too expensive to maintain. We changed the drive arrangement completely to incorporate an off-the-shelf gearbox, which made the equipment’s operation a lot cheaper and more reliable,” he adds.
PHD Engineering and BSC have worked closely for years, with BSC’s specialists supplying bearings and driveline components, as well as offering technical supports to PHD Engineers.
“PHD have had a long-standing working relationship with BSC, working together on a vast array of projects. Our complementary organisations provide an experienced and multifaceted approach that offers prompt support for local industries,” Stuart concludes.
