Kress has a full machine product offering for the steel industry to handle all aspects of mobile equipment material handling.

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Kress is an OEM manufacturer of mobile equipment serving the mining, construction, steel, and oil and gas industries. It has been in business since 1965, and the Brim-field, Ill.-based heavy equipment manufacturer continues to adapt to the changing marketplace.   

Kress has a full machine product offering for the steel industry to handle all aspects of mobile equipment material handling. Its product lines consist of machines to handle products such as scrap, slag, liquid iron, liquid steel, slabs and coils. The company’s carrier capacities range in excess of 500 tons or based on customers’ specific needs.  

Kress makes a bottom dump coal hauler for the mining industry that is sold through the Caterpillar global dealer network. “This machine has a payload capacity of 240 tons with top speeds of approximately 45 miles per hour,” says Nathan Kress, director of marketing. “This machine is used primarily for long haul applications in Australia and North America.

“The truck has an extremely high payload-to-weight ratio and turns in not much more than its own length so it is very manageable in tight pit applications. The high-speed lightweight truck allows for one of the most efficient methods of coal transport over long haul distances.”

Kress also produces specialized equipment for oil and gas applications, where special rubber tracked trailers and tractors are used to move materials for pipeline and oil and gas exploration. Other applications for Kress equipment can be found in Antarctica for general exploration of the South Pole. “These rubber-tracked systems are especially advantageous in environmentally sensitive areas,” Kress says. “We look to provide solutions specific for mining, smelting and steel, but also for other industries where particular needs are currently not met with current equipment or systems.”

Evolving Innovator
Kress Corp. is the largest provider of slag pot carriers in the world, Kress says, and is known for its innovation and the ability to handle the toughest, most demanding applications.

“We take the customer’s needs and try and develop the lowest-cost solution for their material handling requirements,” he explains. “So basically, we’re not just providing a piece of equipment, but we’re looking at the whole system and then furnishing customers with support throughout the product’s lifecycles.”

Shifting Design
The design of Kress’ dump coal haulers has changed recently, but the operating principals remain, Kress says. “The Kress unitized bottom dump coal haulers have a high payload-to-weight ratio, a high power-to-weight ratio and a Kress dual compensated suspension system, which provides one of the smoothest rides of any large mining truck in the industry,” the company says.

“This suspension feature allows the unit to travel at higher speeds, which translates into greater productivity and efficiency. This is especially important since most mines will be experiencing longer hauls in the coming years.”

Changing Steel Industry
Kress says the demand for steel is dramatically increasing, which is providing more opportunities for the company.

However, customers are becoming increasingly focused on operating costs and long-term reliability. As a result, Kress’ production is increasing and becoming more complex as customers require more from their machines.

“We’re focused on developing the next generation of product, and further refining the product,” Kress says.

This includes a higher focus on operator comfort and safety. “There is a much higher focus in safety along with operator comforts in general,” Kress says.  The new generation product has now implemented a full training seat integrated into the cab.  

This required a wider and longer cab to accommodate the extra person. The training seat has allowed improved training of new operators to ensure the equipment – which operates in very demanding applications carrying items such as liquid iron, liquid steel, slag, scrap and slabs – is operated correctly.            

“We’re implementing a higher focus on safety and training for our customers to ensure that the operators are qualified to perform specific jobs,” Kress says. “We perform the training when we go out and commission the machine with the customer. Our field service representatives have to perform more training than was required in the past. We are hoping that the operators are trained better and more in tune to the design of each particular machine’s intent and capabilities.”

Kress says the firm is known for being “the most robust, longest-lasting, and efficient for the industries that we serve.”  Kress plans to continue to “listen to customers’ specific needs and innovate new machines to meet customers specific requirements,” as well as support its customers through the “full product lifecycle.”