Richard Gruning

Richard Gruning Email and Phone Number

Richard Gruning @
Richard Gruning's Location
City of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa, South Africa
About Richard Gruning

I have always had an inquiring mind. Very few people have that. When I asked the question "why do you do it like that?" the answer in most cases was "we have always done it like that". That is a sign of a stagnant company.Or when I proposed a new solution to a mechanical problem on a mine winder the question is often asked: "where has it been done before?" Imagine if the Wright Brothers would have been affected by such sillyness we might not have aero planes today, because nobody had done it before them!I have TWICE been instrumental in getting a company from a blank sheet to near the top of the industry, simply by the superiority of my designs. In the process made the owners multi-millionairs. And I am not finished yet. Have designed a winder disc brake that is better than anything out there. Shaft sinking equipment that is better and cheaper then what others can offer. A change to some aspect of Koepe winders that will increase production by 15% and the clients profitability by $ millions at practically no cost.I have demonstrated in the past that I can solve problems relating to mine winders that even much better educated specialists cannot solve. I have on at least THREE occassions solved the problem of a slipping rope on a friction stage winder that even the engineers at Anglo Technical, a specialist division of Anglo American, the largest mining house in South Africa, were unable to solve. Nor did the supplier of the equipment solve it. Nor did the shaft sinking company solve it. But I did, and easily.I will demonstrate, once again, that top design capability is the most important ingredient in a technology company.AND HERE IT IS: have designed a new type of production winder that can replace ALL current ones, including Blair winders and Koepes, at much lower cost, better functionality and increased safety. Am looking for a global company interested in this design. Profit potential enormous. The future has arrived!Unfortunately mining companies as well as their suppliers are very conservative. I have sent this design to almost all suppliers and to many mining companies without getting a single reply. Yes, I can understand the reluctance, but a very simple and cheap way would be to build a reduced scale demo model. Undoubtedly, once the advantages are clear, the new design will dominate the market.Who is open minded enough to give it a shot?

Richard Gruning's Current Company Details
Tech Edge (Pty) Ltd

Tech Edge (Pty) Ltd

Richard Gruning
Richard Gruning Work Experience Details
  • Tech Edge (Pty) Ltd
    Retired
    Tech Edge (Pty) Ltd Mar 2013 - Present
    City Of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
  • Blane & Co, Siemag Blanes, Siemag Mtec, Siemag Tecberg, Winder Controls!
    Chief Draughtsman, Design Manager
    Blane & Co, Siemag Blanes, Siemag Mtec, Siemag Tecberg, Winder Controls! 1993 - 2013
    Jet Park, South Africa
    From small beginnings, mainly as a supplier of spare brake pins, the company grew to a reasonable size without being able to crack the large winder market. That was due to the managers being narrow minded and happy to sell some pins. Eventually bought by German company Siemag. This company had supplied the largest winder in the country to South Deep. Unfortunately there were two issues with this design: the drum was a bit light and unstable. I fixed that. The clutch operation gave trouble as the clutch operation system gave rise to heat generation during normal operation. I fixed that.The design division grew to 4 people. I introduced drawing office systems that were efficient and designed several smaller winders and a special Incline Endless Rope Haulage. The company quoted for several jobs with an untested design, against my advice, and lost every time. This indicated the existence of either arrogance or ignorance, or both. In one instance a design was offered and discussed with the consultants. This design had not been discussed with me and I only saw it an hour before the meeting. During the meeting the main engineer of the consulting company called the offered design a "triangular drum". Very embarrassing. The atmosphere progressively deteriorated, mainly due to arrogant managers, and I decided to leave at the end of February, 2013.
  • Blane & Co
    Design Manager
    Blane & Co 1992 - 2013
    Jet Park
    Designer, Chief Designer, Design Manager. Set up Design Office and introduce and implement engineering procedures.
  • Gec Mechanical Handling
    Designer - Special Projects
    Gec Mechanical Handling 1990 - 1992
    Johannesburg, South Africa
    Employed primarily for my Lashing Gear design. Tendered for the supply of a special unit, supported not on the bottom deck of the sinking stage but on the deck above. This was in competition with Winder Controls. My design was accepted but unfortunately the Platinum price collapsed at the time and the project was shelved, to be started only some 15 years later. Easily beat my former employer Winder Controls, whose offer was very poor indeed. And that was due to not having design talent in the company. And that company slowly deteriorated.
  • Winder Controls Hydraulics (Pty) Ltd
    Chief Draughtsman, Later Design Manager
    Winder Controls Hydraulics (Pty) Ltd 1975 - 1990
    Germiston, South Africa
    This was a start-up without anything to sell. The engineer at my previous company, JK Fulton, was a director and offered me the job. I was the first person employed and designed the full range of single drum and double drum mine winders from the smallest up to 5,6 metre diameter. I also designed stage winders of different configurations, including the Blair 4-drum friction winder. My first design was the Lashing Gear (mucking unit) used in the shaft sinking operation. It was quite different from the design supplied by JKF and it totally dominated the market and made a 100% profit, selling 4 units every year for 15 years while I was there. Unfortunately management did not appreciate my contribution that had made the company what it was. Clearly they thought that they had all the design they needed and my presence was not required anymore, and management treated me accordingly. I decided it was time to leave, early 1990.
  • Jk Fulton (Pty) Ltd
    Chief Draughtsman
    Jk Fulton (Pty) Ltd 1970 - 1975
    Germiston, South Africa
    Joined as draughtsman and was promoted to Chief Draughtsman after about three years. Introduced several novel designs relating to mine winders that are still industry standard today. The two most important ones are the winder drum without stiffeners, as stiffeners create problems and often result in drums cracking, precisely at the siffeners. The second one was the floating shoe winder brake, introduced 1974. The most common system in use at the time had many technical and practical problems that the mining industry was blissfully unaware of. In two instances where such brakes were used it lead to brake failures, in one instance ripping the winder off the foundation and dumping it outside the winder house. Yet some international companies are still using this design even in 2014.

Richard Gruning Skills

Problem Solving Of All Mechanical Winder Issues Start Ups Drawing Autocad Customer Service Commissioning Mechanical Engineering Cad Engineering Management Project Engineering Continuous Improvement Product Development Contract Management Strategic Planning Process Engineering Manufacturing Mining Computer Aided Design Project Planning

Richard Gruning Education Details

  • Weilburg (Germany) Technical College, Three Semesters
    Weilburg (Germany) Technical College, Three Semesters
    Mechanical Engineering

Frequently Asked Questions about Richard Gruning

What company does Richard Gruning work for?

Richard Gruning works for Tech Edge (Pty) Ltd

What is Richard Gruning's role at the current company?

Richard Gruning's current role is Richard Gruning.

What schools did Richard Gruning attend?

Richard Gruning attended Weilburg (Germany) Technical College, Three Semesters.

What skills is Richard Gruning known for?

Richard Gruning has skills like Problem Solving Of All Mechanical Winder Issues, Start Ups, Drawing, Autocad, Customer Service, Commissioning, Mechanical Engineering, Cad, Engineering, Management, Project Engineering, Continuous Improvement.

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