Company Profile – 2021
The BAFOKENG Hydraulics Ltd Company in Chingola commenced operations on December 2012.
BAFOKENG Hydraulics has invested heavily in stock material and seals for ±95% of the in-country mining equipment requirements. Should a requirement beyond our stock holding present itself, then specific material will be shipped to our facility for this.
The Sunnen CNC honing and polishing machine is a critical piece of equipment that every Hydraulic repairer should have, it is capable of honing & polishing barrels up to 5000mm in length, and is used in determining if barrels are “blown” or have internal denting which can not be determined by hand measuring equipment.
It is standard practice of BAFOKENG Hydraulics that all cylinder manufacturing/repairs undergoes honing/polishing, this ensures that every cylinder repair/manufacture will be of the highest possible quality, and has as the correct crosshatch as per OEM specification for seal lubrication. This will result in optimum lifespan of components and seals.
BAFOKENG Hydraulics is qualifying for ISO 9001-2015 Quality Assurance System, and is currently apply this system to all repair and manufacturing operations, this guarantees traceability to ensure the highest possible standards and procedures set out by BAFOKENG Hydraulics are adhered to.
All incoming components will be subject to rigorous failure analysis by these experienced and qualified personnel, and a full Failure Analysis Report will be presented to the client, detailing the exact cause of failure of the component, this information will also contain the repair costs, and a price for a newly manufactured cylinder.
Currently BAFOKENG Hydraulics has a database containing detailed manufacturer drawings of over 200 cylinders from major OEM’s, such as;
- Liebherr
- Komatsu
- CAT
- Hitachi
- Sandvik
- Atlas Copco
- LeTourneau
This enables Bafokeng to manufacture complete cylinders and any component in-house without a sample at hand. This also allows our team to compare incoming cylinder repairs to the OEM standard, and for returning cylinders back to OEM specifications should components be changed by previous Third Party Repairers.
BAFOKENG Hydraulics is confident in its ability to develop cost effective, and sustainable relationships with our clients. BAFOKENG’s major focus is to ensure that all cylinder repairs will ensure maximum reliability and availability for Clients on their fleet.
Cylinder Computerised Testing Facility
BAFOKENG Hydraulics has the most advanced Cylinder Test Bench in Africa with capabilities of testing cylinders up to 8m with a maximum test pressure of 500bar. Auto test functionality eliminates any human errors during assembly. Static laser measurement equipment ensures that any possible drifting is identified upon assembly/testing. This guarantees absolute integrity in our test reports. This Test Bench, also has the capability to torque and un-torque cylinder components up to 150,000 Newton meters.
Hard Chrome Plating Facility
BAFOKENG Hydraulics commissioned its Hard Chrome Plating facility in 2014, along with linishing and polishing capabilities, which is the largest in Central Africa. Our multiple tanks can handle up to 9m in length, and are temperature controlled to give unrivaled quality of Hard Chrome required in the Mining industries heavy workload environments.
BAFOKENG Hydraulics has under gone extensive auditing by several OEM’s to ensure that our Hard Chroming operations meets and exceeds the OEM requirements. A large investment has been made in the necessary measuring technology (Roughness tester, Hardness tester, Chrome thickness tester) , to enable BAFOKENG to meet with international chroming standards. BAFOKENG has separate final inspections procedures for the Hard Chrome facility.
BAFOKENG Hydraulics Hard chrome tanks are fully automated, temperature controlled, systems in place with heating elements and a Cooling tower, to ensure optimum plating is being carried out by the Facility. Any deviation from the strict operating conditions will set off Control alarms to enable the plating staff to rectify the cause of the issue immediately.
BAFOKENG Hydraulics has strict procedures in our Chroming facility, and Clients can be assured that their chroming will be at the highest quality achievable at a world class facility.
BAFOKENG Hydraulics with its extensive mining experience has, over several years, has built up a wide range of hydraulic cylinder manufacturing drawing through it’s in-house qualified drafting department to allow BAFOKENG Hydraulics the ability to ensure all cylinder are brought back to the original parts manufacture’s (OPM), and/or the original equipment manufacturer’s (OEM) specifications.
BAFOKENG Hydraulics has developed Country specific solutions for Zambia’s harsh mining conditions, and have created partnerships with Mining Engineering Personnel to Re-engineer cylinder designs to provide optimum reliability for hydraulic components.
BAFOKENG Hydraulics, over the recent years, has established separate workshop facilities to departmentalise Quality control measures in each individual Departments. This enables strict controls within each department with QC personnel taking responsibility for their specific department.
BAFOKENG Hydraulics is incessantly Self-evaluating our internal QC procedures and systems, by investing in latest manufacturing technology (I.e. CNC equipment, Digital measuring equipment, computerised Assembly/Testing equipment, etc). This continuous Self-assessment and Self-improvement, allows BAFOKENG Hydraulics to be at the forefront of Cylinder Repairs in the Southern African region.
BAFOKENG Hydraulics Ltd is available to discuss the modalities of the aforementioned services to suit individual client requirements.
Workshop Capabilities
- Cylinder Repairs and Manufacture
- Up to 8,000mm lengths
- Up to 1000mm Diameter
- CNC Component manufacturing
- Striping, Linishing, and Hard Chrome Plating facility
- Failure Analysis
- Material Specification analysis
- Service Exchange optional for Contractual Clients
- Coded Welding certified personnel
- Collection and delivery of cylinders
- Line Boring
- Design and Construction of Hydraulic power packs
Machinery & Workshop Equipment
- Stationary 385 KVA Generator for uninterrupted production
- 1 x 1 meter bed conventional Lathe
- 3 x 2 meter bed conventional Lathes
- 1 x 2.5 meter bed conventional Lathe
- 1 x 3 meter bed conventional Lathe
- 2 x 4 meter bed conventional Lathes
- 1 x 8 meter bed conventional Lathe
- 1 x CNC Lathe (Victor V-turn 36)
- 2 x Radial Arm Drills
- 1 x 3m Grinding machine
- 2 x Turret Milling Machines
- 1 x 350mm Power saw
- 1 x 600mm Power saw
- 1 x Sunnen CNC honing + polishing machine (5000mm)
- 1 x Micron Technologies Computerised Cylinder Assembly & Test Bench
- Maximum 500bar test capability
- 15m length
- With built in Nut cracker – 150,000 N/m capability
- Laser analysis
- 1 x portable Hydraulic Testing unit 150 bar capability
- 1 x Hydraulic Testing unit 250 bar capability
- 1 x Hydraulic Testing unit 350 bar capability
- 1 x Hydraulic Load Test Bench ( for Struts, Jacks)
- 1 x 250 tn Hydraulic Press
- 1 x Negative (-85) Deg Celsius freezer
- 1 x 2.5 tn Forklift
- 1 x 7 tn Forklift
- 1 x 3 tn Forklift
- 1 x 5 tn Forklift
- 5 x C02 and 2 x Arc Welding 500 amp machines
- 3 x Rotary Welding Benches
- 2 x Ventilated Spray Booths
- Dedicated Stripping and Cleaning Bay – Environmentally compliant (oil separators)
- Assorted hand tools to enable stripping and assembly of hydraulic cylinders
- Precision measuring equipment
- Non Destructive testing – Magnetic Particle Inspection
- 10 tn – Overhead crane capability
- 2 x Hard Chroming Plant (4.5m + 2.5m Deep tanks & 5000amp rectifiers) including Caustic Soda Stripping Tank.
- 2 x Cooling towers and Heating Elements for Temperature Controlled Hard Chroming
- 2 x Automatic digital Temperature Control system with sirens/Beacon to alert Staff of temperature parameter issues.
- Ultrasonic Hardness tester – Rockwell/Vickers to ensure chrome quality
- Chrome thickness tester
- Roughness Testing Ra/Rz equipment
- Grinding machine 3m between centres
- Dedicated Polishing Lathe equipment
- 1 x linishing machine 9m
- 2 x linishing machine 2.5m
