A major industrial operation in Madagascar, located near Moramanga, was facing significant operational inefficiencies with its mobile haul trucks. The site is one of the largest lateritic nickel mining operations in the world, with a yearly production capacity of 40,000 tons of nickel and 4,000 tons of cobalt at 99.9% purity. The trucks were unable to fully off-load material due to sticky buildup in the corners of the truck bodies especially during the wet season. This buildup rendered nearly 20% of the body unusable, requiring frequent manual cleaning, which led to downtime, loss of productivity, and increased labor costs. The scale and importance of the operation meant that even small inefficiencies had a substantial impact on overall productivity.

Martin Engineering's expert Sales Engineer visited the site and recommended the customer to install two Cougar® DC Truck Vibrator - 3200 on the body of each haul truck Rugged and economical, the Cougar® DC Truck Vibrators provide vibrating power to loosen clogged material stuck to the inside of the body, improving speed and efficiency of unloading dump trucks and other mobile equipment. The Cougar® was selected for its high force output per unit, ease of installation, targeted impact area, seamless integration with existing systems and low maintenance.

The installation led to a drastic reduction in residual material left in the body after offloading. This significantly improved operational efficiency and reduced downtime for cleaning. One year post-installation, the customer reported a “night and day” difference in performance, noting that the body now retained far less material and that the trucks were achieving their expected operational hours and material volumes. The customer expressed confidence that equipping the entire fleet with Cougar® DC Truck Vibrators would yield even greater benefits and subsequently purchased an additional forty units.