Results of a Study on the Quality of Conical Picks for Public Procurement Purposes

Abstract

Abstract The article presents the results of a study on the quality of conical picks for the purposes of tender procedures in accordance with the public procurement law in Poland. The pick studies presented here are one of the few that in practice allow the selection of an offer based on objectively determined numerical indicators defining the quality of the product and not only on the basis of price. Thanks to this, the contracting party can decide the relevance of price and quality in their evaluation of a pick. The geometrical and material parameters required in a tender, if not met, are the basis for rejecting a given offer of picks. The numerical parameter influencing the final evaluation of the offer is the picks’ rate of wear. Conical picks are tools for mining minerals, rocks, asphalt or concrete. They are used in many industries, especially in mining, construction and road engineering. In difficult working conditions, the durability of knives is limited to as little as several hours. Several dozen picks work on a cutting unit at the same time, and taking into account the price of a knife which oscillates around several dozen euros, significant operating costs are incurred. Therefore, the selection of tools with an optimum price-quality ratio is crucial. The article presents the results of studies on geometric parameters, material parameters and the rate of wear of 48 sets of picks conducted for a tender consisting of 14 tasks. The tender was conducted for 6 underground mines of a coal company. Five producers submitted their offers for selected tasks in the tender.