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32 E&MJ; • JANUARY 2016 www.e-mj.com M A I N T E N A N C E involved in the initial development of the program. Each element of the program should be discussed to determine how activities will be depicted. How will pre- ventive maintenance services be sched- uled or what criteria will determine which jobs are planned, for example? Education must include everyone in the mine from worker to manager. Mine managers should make a special effort to observe the discussion between departments as they commit to proce- dures necessary to carry out the pro- duction strategy. Questions should be answered promptly and correctly. Recommendations should be welcomed and encouraged. Program definition techniques—The most effective technique for document- ing the program is a schematic diagram accompanied by a legend to facilitate explanation and understanding. While tools such as flow charts, decision trees or narratives with diagrams might be used, none is as effective as the schematic diagram in showing the interaction of people. Mine personnel and their actions are pinpointed to help bind people to the program. First, identify the key personnel and lay out a rough diagram. If these per- sonnel were to include, for example, a maintenance supervisor, his crew, an operations supervisor and operators, position them logically. As the prelimi- nary diagram starts to take shape, indi- viduals are linked with various actions using arrows pointing to the person receiving information and simple cap- tions like "assign" or "inspect." The sequences of events are numbered in the order they take place and prelimi- nary explanations placed in the legend (Figure 1). The narrative in the legend should be brief and simple. During the expla- nation of the program, personnel will let you know whether the explanation needs to be expanded or clarified. Continue to diagram, focusing on each element of the program and the inter- actions necessary to carry it out. Consider preventive maintenance (Figure 2). Elements of the mine maintenance program are best developed individual- ly then linked together. Diagram PM and compose the legend, then diagram and compose the legend for planning. As the process continues, compare dia- grams and legends to ensure they are consistent and logical. Thus, if static PM services are to be included in the weekly schedule, they must be cross- referenced in the planning diagram showing them being added to the week- ly schedule. Keep in mind that multiple depart- ments are involved in many mainte- nance activities. Planning, for example, requires interaction with the ware- house, purchasing and shops. By dia- gramming these interrelationships, involved departments will have the opportunity to discuss the procedures and their validity. Consider the task of component rebuilding (Figure 3) Within Maintenance, it is important to include new supervisors and those transferred from other organizations. They will welcome the clarification that the program brings. Personnel from other departments will be made aware of what Maintenance does, how they do it, who does what and why. Collaborative working relationships will evolve to en- sure better understanding and improved cooperation. Maintenance is not a "stand-alone" activity; it requires the help of many other departments. Remember that if one needs help, the first step is to tell those who can help exactly how they can help. It follows that if they are not told, they will either guess at what is needed and deliver the wrong support or worse yet, do nothing. Figure 4—The maintenance work order (1) is a control document used to isolate the cost and performance of a single major, planned job. Each maintenance work order is assigned a unique work order number to relate it to the specific job as well as to the equipment type, number and component. At (2), the work order is opened making it an official accounting document ready to receive data input. The planner establishes a link with purchasing to obtain direct charge materials by placing the work order number on the (3) purchase order(s). Next, stock materi- als are ordered and the work order number is placed on all stock issue documents (4). As work is completed, labor data are recorded on the time card (5) and labor use is associated with the work order number. Most systems pro- vide work requests (6) and labor and material data flow into the data base. Similarly, verbal orders may be used (7). Standing work orders (8) identifying routine, repetitive tasks like shop clean-up are opened in the data base to accumulate costs for an entire year. Should maintenance perform non-maintenance work, like equipment instal- lation, an engineering work order (9) is established. Actual project work may be carried out by either Maintenance or a contractor. Project work performed by Maintenance is controlled by the work order but, the work order number must be associated with the engineering work order number. Direct charge materials are associated with the proj- ect by linking the engineering work order number with the (10) purchase order number. The engineering work order (11) is opened in the data base to control the project. Production statistics (12) are added to allow comparisons such as the cost per operating hour. Finally, all elements are brought together in the data base to produce infor- mation like (13) cost, repair history, job status, etc. "The most effective technique for documenting the program is a schematic diagram."