BHT and TRS have come together under one roof to form a dynamic mining partnership.
To the untrained eye, Bulk Handling Technologies (BHT) and Total Rockbreaking Solutions (TRS) may seem like separate entities that happen to work in the same building.
While both companies support mining and heavy industry, BHT is focused on the design and manufacturing of bulk material handling equipment and systems, and TRS provides leading hydraulic attachments and a large range of boom systems and automation.
But by looking a little deeper, it becomes obvious that the companies are intrinsically linked by a common factor: a focus on the customer.
And when two companies work together for this reason, great synergies can be achieved.
“I started BHT about six months before TRS was established,” BHT and TRS director Paul Ingleson told Australian Mining. “Then, separately, I partnered with Jeff Jackson and Mark Godsell to start TRS to focus on the Rammer range of rock breakers and fixed plant hydraulic boom systems.
“The idea was that, while TRS focused on Rammer and complementary rockbreaker products and attachments, BHT would provide engineering support if and when TRS needed it.”
As the two companies continued on their journey, Ingleson found that they were starting to work together more and more, and the projects were growing in size.
It seemed the next logical step would be to unite the companies in the one large facility– and Kewdale, Western Australia, was the perfect location.
“Working together under the same roof means that TRS can take on a broader scope and manage larger projects that complement its equipment,” Ingleson said.
“If a customer has a special requirement, TRS has the added engineering capacity to meet that requirement in-house.
“For BHT, it means we can complete projects end-to-end. We can do the design, manufacturing, assembly and test work in-house.”
Image: BHT
By sharing a workshop and project management and engineering resources, BHT and TRS are better placed to help customers with their needs.
“There’s no competition as each company focuses on different segments of the market,” Ingleson said. “We grow together, and we’ve been doing so for the last decade.
“It means that no request is too hard. We have a vast amount of experience and talent across the two entities which means we can respond quicker and provide innovative and custom solutions where required within very short time frames.”
And customers are loving the benefits.
“The way we work is seamless”, Ingleson said. “Often customers don’t realise how integrated the companies work day-to-day until we explain it to them, and straight away they see the benefits.
“We’ve had customers come to visit us at the workshop to see a boom system test with TRS, and then at the other side of the workshop is the belt feeder BHT is assembling for the same project.”
Ingleson explained how the Rammer brand helped establish TRS quickly in the early days, with the BHT brand now also well established.
“BHT had a longer establishment phase without the benefits of a well-known brand to start with, but after nearly 12 years, has really developed a strong order book and a long list of clients and successful projects,” he said
“We’re still very much in a growth phase with BHT, and I can see us continuing to grow our market with innovative Australian-made and engineered products.”
Supporting local is important to BHT and TRS, and this ethos is something Ingleson said the owners are keen to carry into the future.
“It’s important to all of us that we are making this equipment here, and making it well,” he said.
“It makes BHT and TRS a nice place to work, too, because everyone knows they’re supporting local businesses and suppliers while also working with quality and genuine products.”
So what’s next for the two companies? For Ingleson, it’s all about innovation and doing things a little bit differently.
“We’re focused on product development and innovation,” Ingleson said. “Spending extra time on a product is worth it to make something perfect.
“We’re starting to see real growth in enquiries and our product line, but most importantly, our long-term goals are to keep maintaining excellent customer relationships.
“Without strong relationships, there’s no business. For us, it’s all about what we can do to make a customer’s job safer and easier.”
This feature appeared in the October 2024 issue of Australian Mining.
