Live up to Youth, Chase Dreams in Latin America

The crushing and screening equipment of NMS was sold to South America many years ago for the construction of hydropower stations in many countries and some small & medium-sized iron mines of this region. For the mining powers Chile and Peru, NMS has also been seeking greater breakthroughs.

In the middle of August, 2021, invited by large-scale mine customer M, my colleague Benson and I set off for mine L in Peru. Before that, customer M conducted several rounds of investigation on many domestic peers, and finally selected NMS as the representative of the domestic manufacturer of the equipment to compete with several international well-known enterprises to participate in the technical transformation of a certain type of equipment. After many times of cross time zone online communication, the customer hopes that we can send someone to the project site for more in-depth face-to-face communication.

Compared with the domestic epidemic, it gradually stabilizes after effective prevention and control, but the foreign situation is not so optimistic. At present, several large-scale mines in Peru do not allow outsiders to enter, and many local employees work half of time at home in Lima, the capital of Per. External personnel need to be approved and isolated at all levels, and can enter the project site only after obtaining certificates such as nucleic acid test and site permit. In short, if there is no arrangement from the customer, there is almost no way to enter the project site by ourselves. In this case, the customer’s initiative invitation is relatively more valuable. We immediately decided to overcome the obstacles of the epidemic situation, family concerns, personnel selection and other difficulties, and set off for the project site in Peru as soon as possible.

Isolation and nucleic acid test in the hotel, Lima

After more than ten hours’ transfer and flight, Benson and I arrived in Lima, the capital of Peru, and were isolated systematically. The a few days isolation helped us adapt to the local climate and ease the jet lag. After the isolation, we immediately set off for the province where the project was located with the customer on the morning flight at 6 o’clock. After arriving at the capital of the province, we took a bus to continue our journey.

The average altitude of the province is more than 4300 meters, which belongs to the plateau area. Coupled with the bumpy 8-hour winding mountain highway, Benson and I felt dizzy because of carsickness and altitude sickness after arriving at the project, and had to go to hospital. Because it was the first time to the plateau, after the examination, the doctor didn’t let us take oxygen, but prescribed some medicine for daily use to reduce the symptoms of headache. For a period of time after putting into work, we had to walk up and down the project site every day because of the on-site investigation. We could say that we were really struggling. We had to breathe after two or three steps. We didn’t have much appetite for food. We didn’t have a good rest at night and our heads were dizzy and swollen.

It was most difficult if getting sick in a foreign country. Fortunately, we were taking care of each other together, and our customers also gave us the greatest support. Therefore, our work was not lagged behind and was still going very smoothly. After several days of research and technical communication with customer, we had completely understood the situation of the project site, kept communicating with the domestic project team in the evening, and made detailed adjustments and improvements to our equipment and scheme based on the actual needs of customer.

Onsite investigation

Another large-scale local mine was located at an altitude of about 5000 meters, and the mine was covered with snow all year round. It can be seen that in order to expand the market and do a good job in the project in Peru, the first thing to overcome is the impact of the plateau environment on people’s body and psychology. Of course, there are the corresponding requirements of the local environment for our equipment and parts. Many application projects of NMS equipment in China are also at high altitude, which makes NMS have quite rich experience in the application of its equipment in plateau environment. Therefore, we are more confident in technical communication with Peruvian mining project customer under similar environmental conditions.

Project site

During our stay in Peru, another problem we have to face every day is the 13-hour time difference. Benson and I get up early and go to bed late every day. We deal with local work during the day and communicate with company teams at night. It is hard but fulfilling. Simultaneously, we also deeply realize that a healthy body and a strong heart are really the capital of revolution!

During this trip, we also had communications with many other Chinese manufacturers. We all have a deep understanding of the difficulties of Chinese enterprises in expanding overseas business. However, this hardship is also a training for ourselves and enterprises, and it is a good opportunity for growth. When Chinese enterprises go overseas, more responsible enterprises need to shoulder the responsibility. “Professional leading, integrity first”. NMS will actively put its philosophy into practice, serve our customers with the strength of “forging iron needs its own power” and the responsibility of win-win cooperation, so as to achieve mutual benefit and development. NMS people will spare no effort to overcome all difficulties, help enterprise to its peak and Brave the winds and waves, and strive to be a model of “going global” of China’s mining machinery enterprises!

Postscript:

During my trip to South America, I saw that the backbone of some non-local Chinese enterprises, such as Huawei and ZTE, were young people born after 1990 even 1995. The prosperity of the motherland also needs more and more young talents to sweat and devote their youth!