Bradken

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Bradken Limited (ASX: BKN) is a global manufacturer and supplier of differentiated consumable and capital products to the mining and construction, rail and transit, energy and general industrial 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 over 6,000 people globally and has a truly global footprint with 59 manufacturing, sales and service facilities throughout Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, China, the United States of America, Canada, Malaysia and Indonesia. The company is a component of the S&P/ASX 200 index, code BKN.

History

Bradken’s history was grounded in a lot of luck, some true entrepreneurial spirit and a dedicated commitment by its founders. Between 1919-1920 two BHP Steelworks employees, Leslie Bradford (General Manager) and Jim Kendall (Chief Mechanical Engineer) and a group of friends backed a horse called ‘Jack Findlay' who completed a remarkable sequence of five wins. Each time the group rolled-over their bets, and by the 24 January 1920 they had won and pledged the £15,000 winnings they had accumulated to start the steel foundry business.

On the 28 April 1920, Bradford and Kendall used their winnings to establish the Alloy Steel Syndicate to 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 the 20th March 1922.[1]

In December 1974 the company officially changed its name to Bradken Consolidated Limited.[2] 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 2012 the company opened a greenfield foundry in Xuzhou for the manufacture of mining consumables.

Business structure

Bradken has four divisions that manufacture the following products:

  1. Engineered Products
  2. Mineral Processing
  3. Mining Products
  4. Rail

Engineered Products

Energy

  • Offshore oil and gas platform components
  • PumpsValvesGas compressors
  • Valves
  • Gas compressors

Industrial Products

  • 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

Albert Oil & Gas

  • Chromium carbide lined components and piping systems for
    • Mining, 
    • Oil sands / oil field 
    • Forestry 
    • Construction and 
    • General manufacturing 
  • Patented technology for circumferential lining of pipe elbows

Mineral Processing

  • 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 Gringing Mill Components

Mining Products

Crawler Systems

  • Crawler Shoes
  • Sprockets
  • Idlers
  • Load Rollers
  • Return Rollers
  • Pins and Bushes

Fixed Plant

  • Chromium carbide overlay
  • White iron block brazed to mild steel
  • Ceramic/polyurethane
  • Ceramic/rubber
  • Nickel chromium white iron
  • Quench and tempered and
  • Epoxy wear solutions

Ground Engaging Tools & Buckets

  • Points
  • Adapters
  • Lip and Wing Shrouds
  • Surface Mining Buckets
  • Underground Mining Buckets
  • Dragline Buckets
  • Dragline Rigging

Industrial

  • 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

Rail

  • Wagons
  • Locomotives
  • Bogies
  • Drawgear
  • Rail Equipment Spare Parts

References

  1. ↑ "Bradken: Company History". www.bradken.com.au. Retrieved 2010-05-09. 
  2. ↑ "BRADKEN CONSOLIDATED LIMITED - Company Profile and Status at deListed". www.delisted.com.au. Retrieved 2010-05-09. 

External links

External links

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