ASR Group (American Sugar Refining) prides itself on ‘making life a little sweeter’ as a producer of sugar, sweeteners and syrups. Recently the company received a sweet treat of its own with the introduction of new JCB machines to expedite its specialized operations.
Domino Sugar is one of ASR’s better-known brands. The iconic neon Domino Sugar sign has long been a backdrop to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor where barges laden with raw cane sugar from Africa, Southeast Asia and South America dock to supply the Domino Sugar refinery. Before the cargo can be unloaded, however, equipment must be lowered into the ships to work the sugar towards the giant shovels that empty the hold. In certain cases, compaction occurs during transport, requiring additional, dedicated machinery to break it down.
ASR Group needed a better way to work the sugar towards the shovel. Several compact track loader brands were tested and, ultimately, ASR operators chose the JCB 260T as the preferred solution. ASR cited the 260T’s wide tracks as better suited to working the cargo, its single boom as affording greater visibility, and its side entry as the safer design.
Never being content with just getting the job done, their Sales Representative from Valley JCB also recognized a solution for the compacted sugar challenge. The JCB 8045 mini excavator outperformed ASR’s existing machines, taking less time and effort to break down the material. In fact, the JCB 8045 took two days to perform a task slated to take a week with the existing equipment.
To date, the JCB performance and design has led the ASR Group to purchase 12 JCB machines…and counting!