William Adams

Supporting quarrying for the long haul

The William Adams story dates back to 1884 when William John Adams began a trading business marketing famous brands of railway equipment in the booming Melbourne economy. In 1926, William Adams became a distributor for Caterpillar, the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial turbines and diesel-electric locomotives.

Current owner, Dale Elphinstone, purchased the company in 1987 bringing a wealth of industry knowledge to the business.

More than 90 years on, William Adams remains one of the oldest Caterpillar dealers in the world. The company has 15 branches throughout Victoria and Tasmania, offering sales and product support to a broad range of mining, quarrying and building construction products.

Bruce Edwards, Marketing General Manager at Williams Adams explained that the company also invests significantly into customer service and experience. “We developed a Customer Solutions Group at our head office in Clayton which is deemed one of the best facilities of its kind amongst Caterpillar dealers in the world, so it really is best practice. We have technicians with an average of 35 years’ experience contracted to monitor approximately 1,200 machines in our territory, as well as some 3,600 connected Caterpillar assets,” he said.

By receiving machine diagnostics in real time, William Adams is able to help customers avoid costly repairs and associated downtime. “It could be something such as low engine oil pressure or coolant levels, but if left unchecked it would cause serious consequences for the equipment so by having access to this information in real time these incidents can be avoided,” Bruce said.

“We are also seeing a lot more on-board technology coming from the factory, particularly in the way of semi-autonomous controls. For example, it’s possible to pre-set excavator dig depth, depending on the location of underground services such as gas pipes or communications cables. This helps make the equipment easier and safer to operate, while also making the machines more efficient and productive.

Another feature that is of particular interest to CMPA members is the option to have on-board scales (payload measurement) so that operators can weigh as they go – saving time, improving accuracy and eliminating truck over loading or trucks leaving site under capacity,” he continued.

The recent release of the Caterpillar 982M Series Wheel Loader is a good example, featuring a 7.5m 3 bucket and on-board Payload Measurement as standard.

Bruce noted that customers have found that they’re saving two passes on typical truck and trailer combinations, so it’s taking almost one third out of the total truck loading time.  “To achieve a productivity increase of almost a third, and turn the truck around much more quickly is a significant saving for quarries,” he explained.

Over many years, William Adams has proudly made its mark on our significant roads and highways, metro and regional quarries, city skyscrapers and many more infrastructure landmarks. The company is also one of the founding members of the CMPA and continues to work closely with the organisation to support the quarrying industry in Victoria.

“The industry is facing a number of challenges in relation to supply volumes particularly as there are so many major infrastructure projects underway in Victoria at present. As a result of increasing regulations, the time and costs associated with establishing or accessing new resources is becoming more challenging. With quarries often being located close to housing estates, there is also a limited timeframe during the working week where the assets can be fully utilised. These challenges reinforce the importance of industry associations like the CMPA, which works with government and industry to help address these issues and promote the sustainability of the Victorian quarrying industry,” Bruce explained.

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