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Austin Engineering is a leading designer and manufacturer of customised dump truck trays, buckets, and water tanks used in the global mining industry. 

With manufacturing operations across four continents, Austin is also a complete service provider, offering on and off-site repair and maintenance and heavy equipment lifting services to customers including miners, mining contractors and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

Austin’s 2022 acquisition of Australian-based specialist bucket manufacturer, Mainetec, added an extensive range of high-quality, industry-leading mining buckets to Austin’s existing suite.

The acquisition gave Austin access to Mainetec’s Hulk range of high-performance mining buckets. The Hulk buckets complement Austin’s JEC bucket range and the dual-product offering will increase Austin’s bucket market share in Australia, especially on the East Coast where Mainetec has a well-established presence.

Austin is now offering Mainetec’s high-value dipper buckets into its global markets, particularly North and South America, where there is high demand and a large dipper bucket market. Austin sold its first Mainetec-designed dipper bucket into the US market in 2023. The Armadillo electric rope shovel dipper bucket is due for delivery by mid-2024. 

Austin’s CEO and Managing Director, David Singleton said: “We identified Mainetec as an innovative and entrepreneurial business that fitted our strategy to become a leading designer and manufacturer of customised mining buckets. Mainetec has allowed us to grow our bucket market offering domestically and internationally, particularly in the Americas, where a large dipper bucket market exists.

“The Armadillo bucket ordered from the US will be designed in Australia, manufactured in our facility in Batam, Indonesia, and will be supported by our US business in Casper, Wyoming. This process demonstrates Austin’s global reach and capabilities.”

Austin has established specialist bucket ‘centre of excellence’ in Perth, Western Australia, where it is able to produce the entire Austin and Mainetec range of buckets.

Austin’s purchase of Mainetec also came with its state-of-the-art condition monitoring software which Austin is able to fit to all of its buckets. 

The condition monitoring software provides a precise, fleetwide overview of buckets and trays to improve annual product replacement planning. This approach helps to maximise product life, and thereby reduce costs and greenhouse emissions by ensuring buckets and trays are not withdrawn before required.

Austin customers are able to access the most precise information on the condition of their truck trays and buckets through the Company’s industry-leading software, Mainetrack.

Mainetrack accurately detects the condition of equipment to determine wear and timing around replacement. 

The cutting-edge software was acquired by Austin through the Company’s purchase of Australian bucket specialist, Mainetec in 2022. Designed originally for Mainetec’s excavator and dipper buckets, the Austin team configured it for deployment on its truck tray range.

The Mainetrack device fits to Austin’s buckets and trays, allowing clients to instantly gain precise data and statistics around the equipment’s usage and wear. This data provides an accurate and vital understanding of when a bucket needs to be rebuilt, replaced or if it is running at its optimal ability. 

The software gives the most accurate picture of the health of Austin’s equipment, enabling customers to avoid a premature equipment replacement cycle. For example, the software may show that replacement is not required at a scheduled point and, instead of adhering to a scheduled replacement program, customers can defer the need for new equipment and capital spend.

The Mainetrack software provides Austin customers with a comprehensive overview of key asset information through an easy-to-use management app. 

Through the app, Mainetrack shows its users asset maintenance history and trends, captures wear rates, tracking and recording of asset information, tracking of the condition of assets and recorded damage, and provides downloadable reports for analysis and presentations.

The software also provides monthly wear measurement reports to predict when buckets will require a rebuild or replacement, and the app rapidly identifies buckets that need mid-life onsite repairs.

Austin’s CEO and Managing Director, David Singleton said: “This full-service reporting allows Austin’s customers to have a comprehensive understanding of their buckets and trays usage and history with the ability to set wear limits and maintenance forecasts. 

 “We are pleased to provide this extra service for our customers to assist with improved fleet and operational management, and to better utilise their equipment.”