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Weir Minerals Chile provides technology to address the impact of earthquakes


In February 2010, Chile suffered the sixth largest earthquake in history. Since that


event, private and public companies have studied how to protect their buildings and structures from seismic shocks. That’s meant growing demand for the Vulco Seismic Isolator developed several years ago by Weir Minerals Chile. Following the tragedy, many people have


turned to this solution as they reconstruct and prepare for the future. Weir Minerals Chile has received orders to manufacture more than 2500 seismic isolators in the last 12 months. These units will be installed in public and private sector buildings such as Hospitals, Universities, commercial properties and ports. Most of the seismic isolators purchased have been developed for installation in the foundations of wider, buildings of four floors or fewer. They absorb the vibrations of the quake, allowing the buildings to remain more stable as the earth shifts beneath it. However, Weir Minerals Chile has also de- veloped technology for taller buildings. They are installed in the roofs of buildings, and support a


Rubber expansion joints in action


large concrete plate of nearly 200 tonnes - the plate is filled with steel balls or another compo- nent of similar density. The concrete plate is con- nected to the building using 4 seismic isolators. The system is operated by an inverse force in the top of the building. When the ‘tuned mass isolators’ are moved by a shock, it dis- sipates the energy through the rubber of the isolators. This results in the building moving with lower intensity in the higher floors, thereby minimising damage. Weir Minerals Chile is currently manufacturing eight such seismic isolators (900 mm diameter by 420 mm high), some of the largest ever made for Edificio Infante, a 22 storey apartment building. Another effect of earthquakes is the dam- aging impact on fluid transport. As a solution to this issue, Weir Minerals have offered flex- ible, rubber expansion joints, which allow the pipelines the ability to better withstand the stresses of an earthquake. Weir Minerals Chile has received orders for


Illustration showing how seismic isolators work


more than 300 such expansion joints, some of them larger than three metres in diameter.


Slotting rooms create a sense of ownership and provide a platform for problem solving


Simple magnetic white boards are used to drive personal accountability


Managers and shop floor employees audit their own products together, asking “Will I buy what I make?”


Meet TIM WOOD - a novel way of educating employees about reducing waste


Any problems that affect customer value need to be identified and solved quickly. At Weir Minerals Africa this culture has been supported by making strong use of visual controls. It has encouraged and empowered people to identify waste and make customer-driven improve- ments.


tion System in March 2008, Weir Minerals Africa has made significant strides in lever- aging it as a platform to provide customers with products and services when they want them, where they want them and how they


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The eyes have it: visual aids deliver customer value want them.


One focal point has been the company’s


slotting rooms - rooms dedicated to the visual management of orders. Within these rooms, operations teams, suppliers and customers discuss the flow of orders on a daily basis. Accountability is driven on a daily basis


Since the introduction of the Weir Produc-


through visual processes - everybody knows who has to do what by when. Simple white boards, magnetic pictures, handwritten notes and photographs are employed to drive a sense of ownership. Processes like the “Pump audit bay”


linked with an understanding of waste, enable managers and shop floor employees to assess their own products through the eyes of their customers by asking, “Will I buy what I make?” Employees are also trained to identify waste by listening to TIM WOOD, a ‘virtual’ champion who highlights the seven wastes of Transpor- tation, Inventory, Motion, Over production, Over processing and Defects identified by the Weir Production System. Weir Minerals Africa will continue to build on its understanding of the Weir Production Sys- tem to further create and add customer value.


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