Bradken
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| Company type | Public company |
|---|---|
| ASX: BKN | |
| Industry | Foundry, manufacturing |
| Headquarters | Mayfield West, Newcastle, New South Wales , |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Metal castings, mining consumables |
| Revenue | $A1.135 billion (FY14)[1] |
Number of employees | 4800[1] |
| Website | http://bradken.com/ |
Founded in 1922, Bradken Limited (ASX: BKN) is a global manufacturer and supplier of differentiated consumable and capital products to the mining, transport, general industrial and contract manufacturing markets. As a leading heavy engineering company Bradken can manufacture fully machined cast iron and steel products from a mass of 0.5 kg to over 25 tonnes. Bradken employs 4,800 people worldwide[1] and has a global footprint with 54 manufacturing, sales and service facilities[1] throughout Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, China, the United States of America, Canada, South America, Malaysia and Indonesia. The company is a component of the S&P/ASX 200 index, code BKN.
History
Between 1919-1920 two BHP steelworks employees, Leslie Bradford (General Manager) and Jim Kendall (Chief Mechanical Engineer) and a group of their friends backed a racehorse called ‘Jack Findlay' who completed a remarkable sequence of five wins. With each win the group rolled-over their bets and by 24 January 1920 they had won a small fortune pledging their winnings to start a steel foundry business.
On 28 April 1920, Bradford and Kendall used their winnings to establish the Alloy Steel Syndicate and build a steel foundry in Alexandria, Sydney to take advantage of what they saw as an untapped potential for industrial growth. The syndicate was officially incorporated as Bradford Kendall Ltd on 20 March 1922.[2]
In December 1974 the company officially changed its name to Bradken Consolidated Limited.[3] Between 1981 and 2000, the Bradken business was a division of Australian National Industries Limited (ANI), an under performing industrial conglomerate. ANI was taken over by Smorgon Steel in 2000 and broken up. The Bradken casting business was sold to private equity firm CHAMP and subsequently refloated on the ASX in August 2004.
In 2005 the company acquired of Roche Castings Foundry, opened a coal mining services facility in Mackay, Queensland. In 2006 it acquired Firth Rixon Castings Ltd in the United Kingdom, a 20% share of Americast Technologies Inc. in the USA and a ferrous scrap business in Cannington, Western Australia.
In 2007 the company opened a manufacturing facility in Xuzhou, China, and acquired the Australian foundry supply company Cast Metal Services (CMS).
In 2008 it acquired the remaining 80% share of Americast Technologies Inc, and in 2010 it acquired the Canadian oil sands company ALMAC Machine Works Inc.
In 2011 it acquired Norcast Wear Solutions in Canada, a supplier of mill liners, and acquired the Australian companies Wear Protect Systems Pty Ltd Overseas Alloys Pty Ltd.
In 2013 the company opened the new Global Corporate Centre in Newcastle, Australia and a state-of-the-art greenfield foundry in Xuzhou, China for the manufacture of mining consumables.
Business Structure
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Bradken has four market focused divisions and an independently branded foundry supply business:[1]
- Mineral Processing
- Mining Products
- Transport & Industrial Products
- Engineered Products
- Cast Metal Services
Bradken's Mineral Processing Division is a global manufacturer of custom designed products for grinding mills, crushing and conveying equipment for the hard rock mining industry.[1] Bradken is the market leader in the manufacture and supply of grinding mill liners.
Products include:
- Mill liners and Fasteners for SAG/AG Mills, Ball Mills and Rod Mills
- Liners for Gyratory, Cone and Jaw Crushers
- Engineered spare parts for Mills and Crushers
- Grizzly Panels, Chute Liners and Apron Feeder Pans
- Vertical Grinding Mill Components
Bradken's Mining Products Division supplies the global mining industry with a wide range of wear resistant, differentiated consumable products for all types of fixed and mobile plant. The Division operates three separate Businesses:
- The GET & Buckets Business
- The Crawler Systems Business
- The Fixed Plant Business
Ground Engaging Tools & Buckets
Bradken's GET & Buckets Business is a leader in the design and manufacture of differentiated Ground Engaging Tools (GET), associated wear parts and buckets to fit front-end loaders, face shovels and hydraulic excavators. The Business also manufactures and supplies customised rigging packages and buckets to suit a variety of dragline machines.
Products include:
- Points
- Adapters
- Lip and Wing Shrouds
- Surface Mining Buckets
- Underground Mining Buckets
- Dragline Buckets
- Dragline Rigging
Bradken's Crawler Systems Business is a leader in the design and manufacture of differentiated undercarriage componentry for mining class electric shovels and hydraulic excavators.
Products include:
- Crawler Shoes
- Sprockets
- Idlers
- Load Rollers
- Return Rollers
- Pins and Bushes
Bradken's Fixed Plant Business (incorporating the Albert Oil & Gas Business) creates customised wear solutions through the design and manufacture of a wide range of wear resistant products to protect fixed plant equipment.
Products include:
- White iron block brazed to mild steel
- Ceramic/polyurethane
- Ceramic/rubber
- Nickel chromium white iron
- Quench and tempered and
- Epoxy wear solutions
- Chromium carbide lined components and piping systems for
- Mining
- Oil sands / oil field
- Forestry
- Construction
- General manufacturing
- Patented technology for circumferential lining of pipe elbows
Bradken's Transport & Industrial Products Division is a provider of both products and services to the bulk minerals, freight transportation and general industrial sectors.
Products include:
- Wagons
- Locomotives
- Bogies
- Drawgear
- Rail Equipment Spare Parts
- Specialised industrial castings
- Transit undercarriages and sub-assemblies
- Truck assemblies/bogie assemblies
- Mining truck suspension components, differentials, gear cases and sub-assemblies
- Heavy construction equipment
Based in the United States of America, Bradken's Engineered Products Division is a manufacturer of large, highly engineered, complex steel castings and differentiated capital and consumable products that are considered 'mission critical' and require first run production integrity. The Division operates three separate Businesses:
- The Industrial Products Business
- The Energy Business
- The Europe Business
Industrial Products Bradken's Industrial Products Business manufactures components predominantly for the mining and construction, rail and transit, military and dredging markets. The Business also manufactures components for specialized industrial markets such as structural nodes for use in building construction.
Capabilities include:
- Locomotive castings and componentry
- Transit undercarriages and sub-assemblies
- Truck assemblies/bogie assemblies
- Mining truck suspension components, differentials, gear cases and sub-assemblies
- Heavy construction equipment
- Specialised industrial castings
Energy Bradken's Energy Business manufactures components for the global energy and power generation markets. The Business also manufactures military products for Tier 1 suppliers to the United States government.[1] Products can range in size from 200 to 45,000 lbs (9 to 20,412 kg).
Capabilities include:
- Turbines
- Compressors
- Pumps
- Valves
- Nuclear
- Oil and Gas
- Oil Tool
- Hydro-electric
- Off-shore oil platforms
- Military (Naval)
Cast Metal Services is an independently branded Bradken owned Business supplying traded and differentiated consumable products to the global cast metals industry. Previously known as 'CMS' the business was officially rebranded as Cast Metal Services on 2 June 2014.[1]