R&D engineers awarded the 2014 Wilhelm Haglund Medal
Petri Liljaranta, Tapani Sormunen and Sami Hanski from Sandvik Construction are the Product developers of the Year and receivers of the Wilhelm Haglund Medal for their development of Sandvik DPi series. The award was presented at Sandvik's Annual General Meeting on 13 May in Sandviken.
Sandvik DPi series is a new generation of surface top hammer drill rigs, used in open-pit mining within the mining industry. This series of drill rigs represents a solid platform for future customer solutions.
The winning team is based in Tampere, Finland, and received the award at Sandvik's Annual General Meeting on 13 May in Sandviken.
The prize winners' work is pioneering and is significant for Sandvik's offering to mining customers. The development has led to a success in sales. This is a good example of a broad yet focused effort in engineering which is based on a deep understanding of the market requirements, says Olle Wijk, Head of Group R&D.
The Jury's motivation to the prize emphasizes on the fact that the latest techniques have been combined to an optimized complete solution in the development of the new generation drill rigs in the dimension area 89-140 millimeters. This means an atomized steering of the drill process at the same time as registering the condition of the machine in order to forecast the need for service.
Guiding principles in the development of the products have been usability, good work environment, reliability and productivity. Furthermore, there are predefined drill parameters based on the quality of the bedrock, as well as the possibility to store drilling data for adaptation to specific situations.
"We are very honored for this acknowledgment. Our customers' positive comments support our firm conviction in the product. However, this award means a lot for us and the entire project group. The investment in this technology has already proven to be profitable", says Tapani Sormunen from the project group.
About the Wilhelm Haglund Medal
The Wilhelm Haglund Medal for the Product Developer of the Year has been awarded since 1986 and is named after the legendary Managing Director Wilhelm Haglund, who laid the foundations for the Group's successes in the cemented-carbide area. The award is presented to an employee or a group of employees who have made the most significant development of a product that has led to a commercial success. The award consists of an 18-carat gold medal, a diploma and an educational trip.
Product specification for Sandvik DPi top hammer drill rig