As far back as the Middle Ages, a one-year anniversary was celebrated with gifts of paper. However, the first anniversary of the partnership between DT HiLoad and BHP is being celebrated with gifts of steel, and lots of it, about 2.5 million tonnes to date give or take.
“We first started delivering our Hercules dump truck bodies to BHP in November 2018,” says Schlam Group General Manager Glenn Brearey.
“The Hercules bodies are now being used across Four of BHP’s operations in Western Australia including Mount Whaleback, Jimblebar, Eastern Ridge, and Area C.”
While the Hercules has an excellent track record around the world, there are a couple of features that won the job for Schlam. The Original DT HiLoad Hercules is lightweight and has a higher carrying capacity over its competitors.
Mr Brearey says that the extra capacity could result in hauling up to 10 tonnes more per load for BHP.
On the back of the original deal to provide replacement trays for BHP’s fleet of Caterpillar 793 trucks, Schlam was able to secure an order for new Komatsu haul trucks for South Flank.
“Everyone has worked together to get this project over the line and continue to deliver on our promises to a great customer,” continued Mr Brearey.
“From sales who kicked this off, to engineering who came up with solutions to problems unique to this project, it has been a genuine team effort.”
With all the trays being built in Western Australia, in both Forrestfield and Waroona, the General Manager said that the manufacturing team deserved a special mention.
While local sourcing and industry-leading performance are all on the wishlist for operators around the globe, BHP also expects suppliers to join the company on its journey to deliver shared value in the area of diversity and inclusion.
Speaking at a recent industry conference, BHP’s Group Procurement Officer Sundeep Singh, said that more inclusive and diverse teams outperform other teams on safety, productivity and culture. Highlighted in this is an up to 67 per cent lower injury rate, 11 per cent better adherence to schedule, and 28 per cent lower unplanned absence.
“Our Original DT HiLoad Hercules trays have been painted in various colours recognise the diversity of the BHP workforce, including blue for men’s health, pink for women’s health, and purple in recognition of Jasper – BHP’s employee inclusion group for BHP’S lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and others (LGBT+) community and its allies,” said Mr Brearey.
The group’s name Jasper was inspired by the mineral jasper, known for its unique multi-coloured patterns. This characterisation reflects the rich diversity of the LGBT+ community.
BHP’s supply chain spans 60 countries, 10,000 partners with an annual spend of $20 billion across its capital and operating expenses portfolio in its 2019 financial year. It sourced 215,000 different types of material and equipment for its Australian operations alone in that year.
