About WQMS

The way that inspections and crack repairs are made for heavy equipment and infrastructure in the mining industry has not appreciably changed in the last 50 years, but now equipment is pushed to do more for longer and there is a greater reliance on contractors for weld repair works. 

We have experienced first-hand the consequences of poor repairs in the form of recurrent cracking issues, which snowball over time resulting in increased repair costs, increased downtime, and reduced viable asset life. Much of this re-current cracking develops from poor quality or ineffective weld repairs, which will typically re-crack after a short period, or even cause additional or more severe cracking than what was originally repaired! 

There are a number of reasons why there has been very little change in how repairs are managed, such as; lack of welding technical expertise by staff, difficulties in applying existing Australian Standards for welding of crack repairs, inadequate welder skills, and lack of understanding about fatigue cracking. And this is just scratching the surface. It is easy to see why it all ends up in the “too hard” basket so the status quo has prevailed. 

WQMS was founded in 2018 by Eddy Constable and Simon Krismer with the objective of using their 30+ years of combined experience to develop a better way for crack and weld repair management in the mining industry.  The structural management tools and strategies that had been used in the past do not meet the standards for modern asset management, so we took it upon ourselves to rise to the challenge and develop solutions to the problems that industry faced. WQMS believe that the objective of a weld repair of cracking should be to restore, or even improve, the original fatigue life of the cracked component. Our aim is to empower the mining industry so that they can expect more out of their weld repairs, and have confidence that repairs are done right.

WQMS used a first-principles approach to the technical aspects and challenges, while also being aware of the needs of all stakeholders involved in crack repairs of heavy equipment in the mining industry.  WQMS worked with industry partners on pilot projects to implement the solution suite and validate it's effectiveness. The outcome is an innovative suite of solutions that are ready for broad uptake and implementation on any mining site or operations.