Businessweek

Joy Global Inc. operates as a manufacturer and servicer of mining equipment for the extraction of coal and other minerals, and ores. The company sells its products primarily to major global and regional mining companies. Segments The company operates through two segments, Underground Mining Machinery and Surface Mining Equipment. UNDERGROUND MINING MACHINERY This segment is a primary manufacturer of underground mining equipment for the extraction of coal and other bedded minerals, and offers service locations near major mining regions worldwide. The company’s products include continuous miners, road headers, shuttle cars, flexible conveyor trains (FCT), longwall mining systems (consisting of powered roof supports, an armored face conveyor, and a longwall shearer), continuous haulage systems, battery haulers, roof bolters, crushing equipment, and conveyor systems. It also maintains a network of service and distribution centers to rebuild and service equipment, and to sell replacement parts and consumables in support of its installed base. This network includes five service centers in the United States and eight outside the United States, which are located in major underground mining regions. Products and Services Continuous Miners: Electric, crawler mounted continuous miners cut material using carbide-tipped bits on a horizontal rotating cutterhead. Longwall Shearers: A longwall shearer moves back and forth on an armored face conveyor parallel to the material face. Using carbide-tipped bits on cutting drums at each end, the shearer cuts 1.2 to 8.0 meters high on each pass and loads the material onto the armored face conveyor for transport through the stageloader to the conveyor belt. Powered Roof Supports: Roof supports use hydraulic cylinders to perform a jacking-like function that supports the mine roof during longwall mining. A longwall face might range approximately 400 meters in length. Armored Face Conveyors: Armored face conveyors are used in longwall mining to transport material cut by the shearer away from the longwall face. Shuttle Cars: Shuttle cars, a type of rubber-tired haulage vehicle, are electric-powered using an umbilical cable. Their purpose is to transport material from continuous miners to the feeder-breaker where chain conveyors in the shuttle cars unload the material. Some models of Joy shuttle cars could carry approximately 22 metric tons of coal. FCT: FCT’s are electric-powered, single operator, self-propelled conveyor systems that provide continuous haulage of material from a continuous miner to the main mine belt. The FCT uses a rubber belt similar to a standard fixed conveyor. The FCT’s conveyor operates independently from the track crawler system, allowing the FCT to move and convey material. Available in lengths of approximately 570 feet, the FCT is able to negotiate multiple 90-degree turns in an underground mine infrastructure. Roof Bolters: Roof bolters are drills used to bore holes in the mine roof and to insert long metal bolts into the holes to reinforce the mine roof. Roof bolters are available track mounted, wheel mounted, machine mounted, or mounted to devices that operate on longwalls. Battery Haulers: Battery haulers perform a similar function to shuttle cars and are powered by portable rechargeable batteries. Continuous Chain Haulage Systems: The continuous chain haulage system provides a similar function as the FCT, transporting material from the continuous miner to the main mine belts on a continuous basis, versus the batch process used by shuttle cars and battery haulers, and it does so with different technology. The continuous chain haulage system is made up of a series of connected bridge structures that utilize chain conveyors that transport the coal from one bridge structure to the next bridge structure and to the main mine belts. Feeder Breakers: A feeder breaker is a form of crusher that uses rotating drums with carbide-tipped bits to break down the size of the mined material for loading onto conveyor systems or feeding into processing facilities. Road Headers: Crawler mounted road headers cut material using carbide-tipped