In early January this year, Liebherr-Canada handed over an R 9150 mining excavator to new customer L. Fournier & Fils – a leading general contractor in Canada that works in the industrial, civil, and mining sectors. This R 9150 is the first Liebherr excavator commissioned in Eastern Canada and will go to work in the Abitibi-Temiskaming region at the North American Lithium operation, which is part of the largest spodumene – lithium ore – reserve in North America.
Within seven months of meeting for the first time at the 2023 CIM Expo in Montreal, L. Fournier & Fils (Fournier) had become a Liebherr-Canada customer. Tom Juric, Divisional Director of Mining for Liebherr-Canada, credits this to the entire mining team at Liebherr-Canada and their ability to demonstrate the company’s ability to not only supply world-class mining equipment but also to offer exceptional support services to their customers.
“It’s important to us that the Canadian mining industry understands we not only supply fantastic digging, hauling, and dozing solutions, but also products and services that can optimise the performance and longevity of our machines,” says Juric.
To experience Liebherr-Canada’s product and service offerings for themselves, representatives from Fournier were invited to Alberta to visit the Fort McKay service centre and the Acheson sales and Reman centre in October 2023. After a tour of the Fort McKay facility Gabriel Routhier – Operations Superintendent for Fournier who has been operating heavy equipment since he was a teenager – was given the opportunity to operate an R 9150 that Liebherr-Canada had on hand. After Routhier had experienced the R 9150 for himself, the whole group visited a nearby limestone quarry to see one of the site’s R 9150s in action.
“As soon as I started digging, I felt the power of the machine. It had the speed of a 50-tonne construction excavator!” enthuses Routhier. “When we were at the quarry, it only took three cycles to confirm the speed I experienced. At the time, I was wondering how it was possible for the machine to perform so effortlessly because I could barely hear the engine. Following discussions with the operator and the VP of operations, I was fully convinced the Liebherr R 9150 was the right tool for us.”
Besides highlighting the performance of the R 9150, Liebherr-Canada also wanted to showcase its ability to support customers across the entire lifecycle of their Liebherr equipment. So, during the same visit, members of Liebherr-Canada’s customer service team met with the Fournier delegation to discuss how they would support the customer with comprehensive machine inspections, troubleshooting, and problem resolution strategies to maximise uptime with the new R 9150. And to further understand how Liebherr-Canada helps its customers with parts planning, major component remanufacturing, and service support, the Fournier team also visited the Acheson Reman centre to see its impressive capabilities.
“After speaking with multiple members of the customer service team at Liebherr-Canada, I was thoroughly impressed with their attention to detail, professionalism, and passion. Everyone from the service technicians to the customer service team and up to the managing director took time from their busy schedules to present the process from the point of sales to the detailed support plan,” says Jason McNicoll, Mechanical General Superintendent for Fournier’s mining operations. “Our visit to Alberta was an eye-opener for us and we believe this has the potential to be the beginning of a great partnership.”
Once the R 9150 goes to work, it will be running round the clock. To ensure maximum uptime, one of Liebherr-Canada’s mining service technicians will provide full-time support to the customer and an inventory of consignment parts and components will be maintained at the North American Lithium site.
“North American Lithium operation is six hours away from our closest sales and service centre, which means that organising service for unexpected maintenance or repairs can take days, rather than hours,” explains Dominic Bergeron, Sales Representative for Liebherr-Canada. “By having someone on site, we can ensure that Fournier will experience minimal downtime with their R 9150.”
The Fournier team’s professionalism and technical knowledge was appreciated by all Liebherr-Canada staff involved with this project.
“It has been a pleasure working with Fournier’s team. The professionalism and passion shown by the members of their team was a great experience for the entire team at Liebherr-Canada,” says Bergeron. “With such a promising start to this relationship, we are excited to see what the future will bring!”
General Manager Marketing
Liebherr Mining Equipment Newport News Co.
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