Not an ordinary partnership

In the early 2000s, major deposits of coal and gold-copper ore were discovered in Mongolia, leading to an increased interest in mining projects in the region. At this time, Monnis was primarily engaged in gold mining and in the automotive industry as an official distributor for Nissan Motors. Recognising the potential for growth that the mining boom presented, Monnis’ owners foresaw an opportunity to establish themselves as a mining equipment and service provider. However, Monnis didn’t want to supply Mongolian miners with any run-of-the-mill equipment – they wanted to be sure companies had access to machinery with a reputation for reliability and efficiency.

The early days

The partnership between the two companies began with a tour of Liebherr’s European factories, organised by the then Asia Director of Liebherr-Export AG. The tour included comprehensive tours of Liebherr’s production facilities in Colmar, France, and Kirchdorf, Germany, so that the Monnis executive team could experience Liebherr’s attention to detail and stringent quality assurance practices first-hand. It was during this time that the foundation for the relationship between the two companies was laid; a relationship that has remained close and friendly to this day.

This steadfast partnership served both companies during the, sometimes challenging, early years of establishing a new brand of equipment in a burgeoning market. One of the most memorable – and, in retrospect, somewhat amusing – moments from this time came about when Monnis was expected to deliver Mongolia’s first Liebherr electric excavator, the R 994 E, to Erdenet Mining Corporation in 2005. Assembling one of these machines requires a 100-tonne crane to handle all of the heavy lifting. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a single crane that fit this description in all of Mongolia.

So, in order to overcome the problem, Monnis purchased an LTM 1100-5.3 100-tonne mobile crane from Liebherr to ensure the R 994 E was assembled and delivered to Erdenet Mining Corporation on time.

In the following years, as Monnis’ business began to grow and expand, it became more and more apparent that the company needed a branch that was central to its client base. Thus, in 2011, the company opened its Gobi branch, which is close to both Tavan Tolgoi and Ukhaa Khudag mines – both of which are part of one of the world’s largest coking and thermal coal deposits. Once the Gobi branch had opened, mines working with Liebherr equipment had fast and reliable access to Liebherr spare parts and OEM-trained technicians. This came in handy in 2016 when Monnis extended its Liebherr product offerings to include mining trucks and dozers due to the significant growth of Mongolia’s mining exports at that time.

Today, Monnis is one of the largest companies within Mongolia and works across a wide range of industries, such aviation, automotive, energy, property and infrastructure. The company has won countless awards for business excellence – both for its parent company and for each of its 16 subsidiaries – and is supported by a dedicated team of more than 1,500 personnel working across all of Mongolia.

‘Despite the logistical, environmental and regulatory challenges of the Mongolian mining market, there is immense potential for growth,’ explains Bertrand Bedo, regional sales manager, Liebherr-Mining Equipment Colmar SAS. ‘By addressing these challenges with innovative solutions, Liebherr and Monnis have positioned themselves as key players in the mining market with promising returns and strategic importance.’

Monnis and the Mongolian mining industry

Monnis supports its customers within the mining sector in a number of different ways. For customers wanting to use Liebherr equipment on their own sites or within their own businesses, customers can purchase Liebherr equipment directly from Monnis as the company is the official distributor for the Liebherr Group within Mongolia. Monnis takes the orders from its customers and then imports the machines directly from the Liebherr Group. Through Monnis, businesses within Mongolia not only have access to Liebherr’s entire range of mining trucks, excavators and dozers but also the Group’s cranes and construction equipment. The company has supplied Liebherr mining equipment to 11 customers across 9 mine sites throughout Mongolia. Most recently, Monnis has supplied a total of 17 Liebherr mining machines – a mixture of excavators and dozers – to its long-term customer Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi, the largest coal exporter in Mongolia.

‘The reliability and efficiency of the Liebherr machines is very satisfying,’ says the mine master of Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi.

And it’s not just management that holds this view of Liebherr machines – so do the people in the operator’s chair!

‘We hope that our company will purchase more of these machines. They are very reliable and operator friendly,’ says an R 9600 operator.

Another recent success for Monnis was the delivery of two R 9350 E electric excavators to the largest copper exporter in Mongolia. Together, both of these recent successes propelled Mongolia to Liebherr Mining’s third-largest market behind Australia and Indonesia in 2024.

Monnis is also a mining service provider in its own right and has its own fleet of 32 Liebherr machines – including excavators, mobile and crawler cranes, off-highway trucks, crawler dozers and wheel loaders – that the company uses in its mining contracts all over Mongolia. At present, Monnis currently provides its mining services to some of the largest mining companies in Mongolia, such as Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi, and has made significant contributions to Mongolia’s coal exports while also supporting Mongolia’s copper and gold production.

More than machines

To support its fleet of Liebherr machines working throughout Mongolia, Monnis also supplies genuine Liebherr parts and aftersales support. Regardless of whether customers buy Liebherr equipment from Monnis in its capacity as a Liebherr dealer or work with the company as a mining contractor using Liebherr equipment, Monnis provides crucial aftersales support for all Liebherr machines in the country.

Ensuring its customers have timely access to genuine Liebherr spare parts means leveraging the global Liebherr network as well as the resources available closer to home. Monnis liaises with Liebherr’s factories all around the world to make sure that whichever part a customer may need at any given time is near to hand. In addition to providing new parts, Monnis also operates a thriving remanufacturing and repair centre. The 1,350 square metre facility not only refurbishes essential machine components to as-new quality, in line with Liebherr’s fastidious quality standards, but also has the resources necessary to provide comprehensive repair services for the Liebherr equipment currently hard at work throughout Mongolia.

‘Our Reman program has seen significant success in both the mining and earthmoving sectors. We provide major repairs on key components and cylinders for Liebherr mining excavators and trucks as well as repairs on critical spare parts for earthmoving equipment,’ says Mr Erdenebayar, maintenance service manager, Monnis. ‘Feedback from our customers has been overwhelmingly positive, with many appreciating the high quality, cost-effectiveness and reliability of our reman components.’

An important part of aftersales support is making sure that personnel on the ground know how to handle Liebherr machines. As such, Liebherr provides operator and technical training to Monnis’ onsite technicians.

‘It’s vital that Monnis can support their customers as soon as there is any kind of issue or maintenance request on site. That’s why we offer training to Monnis technicians for everyday machine operation and maintenance tasks as well as in-depth technical training,’ says Bedo. ‘Through this comprehensive training program, Monnis is able to train its own customers in the maintenance and repair of Liebherr machines, which drastically reduces machine downtime since the people needed for maintenance and repair are already on hand.

Service excellence in Mongolia

But there’s more to aftersales support than just knowing what to do – you have to know the best way to do it. That’s why, as an official Liebherr dealer, Monnis is part of Liebherr Mining’s Service Excellence Program – an internal quality assurance scheme that optimises and standardises best practices from all of Liebherr’s sales and service affiliates. If one of Liebherr’s branches around the world discovers a faster, more efficient or safer way of doing things, the Service Excellence team ensures this information is disseminated across all branches.

‘The knowledge Monnis has gained through the Service Excellence Program has been invaluable. The results and recommendations from the audits have helped us refine and enhance our operations, not only improving our internal processes but also positively impacting the results Monnis delivers to clients. As a result, Monnis has received encouraging feedback from its customers, further reinforcing the value of this program in driving both our growth and customer satisfaction,’ says Erdenebayar.

A partnership for the ages

Mr Chuluunbaatar Baz, chief executive officer and president of the Monnis Group, has worked with Liebherr for over 20 years and has seen how the relationship between these two companies has evolved over the years.

‘We’ve enjoyed our successful partnership with the Liebherr Group for over 20 years. Looking ahead to the next 10 to 20 years, we envision that we will deepen our collaboration and introduce low and zero emission technologies into the Mongolian mining sector. Monnis Group is committed to helping ensure a cleaner environment for future generations, and the technologies Liebherr is developing with major global mining companies will play a crucial role in this mission. Monnis, alongside Liebherr, is already in discussions with Mongolia’s leading mining companies about implementing these technologies, and we are confident that this collaboration will help drive significant progress toward a more sustainable and environmentally responsible future for the mining industry,’ says Baz.

Published March 2025