DSI UNDERGROUND: A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO LEAN MANUFACTURING DSI UNDERGROUND IS AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST MANUFACTURER AND SUPPLIER OF SPECIALIST STRATA REINFORCEMENT AND SUPPORT PRODUCTS TO THE UNDERGROUND COAL AND METALLIFEROUS MINING SECTORS. WITH OVER 2,000 EMPLOYEES WORLDWIDE, DSI UNDERGROUND BOASTS OPERATIONS IN OVER 70 COUNTRIES ACROSS EUROPE, AFRICA, ASIA-PACIFIC AND THE AMERICAS. OVER THE LAST EIGHT YEARS, DSI UNDERGROUND HAS INVESTED IN A HOLISTIC PROGRAM OF PROCESS IMPROVEMENT INCORPORATING AUTOMATION, INDUSTRY 4.0 AND LEAN MANUFACTURING PROCESSES.
Complying with all technical standards, DSI Underground's solutions cover just about every mining application, from shaft sinking and horizontal drift excavation, through to shaft rehabilitation and emergency support. DSI Underground's largest volume, and longest standing, product is their friction bolt. The friction bolt is a ground support system that consists of a high strength steel tube with a slot along its entire length. One end of the friction bolt is tapered to assist insertion into the bore hole whilst the other end has a welded steel ring to retain a bearing plate when installed into the mine roof. The company also boasts newer products like the Kinloc bolt—a fast installation, non-resin anchored 30 tonne rock bolt. The system develops significant additional point anchor capacity via a threaded non-rotating head. The Kinloc bolt’s ability to better
“
Our drive is keep to manufacturing in Australia. We could have offshored but, instead, we're investing in automation and are working with our suppliers to continue to be a low cost producer. With the globalisation of products and supply chains, we want to ensure that we remain globally competitive."
endure shifting ground conditions creates a new option in ground support where loading after movement is important. NATIONAL PRODUCTION FACILITIES
DSI Underground has three production facilities in Australia. Their head office and main facility in Newcastle manufactures rock bolts for the mining and tunnelling industries. In Brisbane, their workshop produces hard rock products for the gold copper, zinc, lead markets. In Western Australia, where DSI Underground services the hard rock space, their Perth facility is focused on the production of friction bolts, plates and mesh. As Derek Hird (Regional Chief Executive Officer, DSI Underground) explained, DSI Underground started their automation journey about seven or eight years ago, focused on productivity and competitiveness.
"Our drive is keep to manufacturing in Australia. We could have offshored, but instead, we're investing in automation and are working with our suppliers to continue to be a low cost producer. With the globalisation of products and supply chains, we want to ensure that we remain globally competitive," said Hird. "Automation and investing in technology is vital to the future of manufacturing in Australia. We need to preserve our in-country capability, particularly in the wake of COVID-19. We have seen massive supply chain interruptions, and massive issues with importing a range of products into the country." Safety and efficiency improvements were also an important driver in DSI Underground's decision to invest in automation. "Our manufacturing processes were, and continue to be, very manual and repetitive, giving us a high conversion cost from a labour
