Engineering & Mining Journal

MAR 2016

Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr

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assures that the 'detection orientation' of the PM program finds problems far enough in advance of failure to allow most mainte- nance to be planned. The reliability engi- neer analyzes failures to determine why they occurred and develop solutions to reduce or eliminate them. The results of his efforts are combined with those of the maintenance engineer to enhance the overall mainte- nance effectiveness. Special attention should be given to including maintenance and reliability engineering in mining organi- zations (Figure 4). Organizational change—The biggest single problem in implementing a new organization or making any organizational change is dealing with resistance to change. Personnel affected must be con- vinced that the changes are beneficial, first to them as individuals, then to their imme- diate work groups (crews) and finally to the total operation. They are often aware of pending changes, even if not officially informed. Many may suspect an unfavor- able outcome and resist. However, if they are informed of the nature of the changes, they will be supportive. Potential resist- ance can become support for a potentially beneficial change because they know more about it. Resistance to change is always in proportion to the degree of knowledge about the changes. Therefore, the sooner the education process begins, the greater are the chances of overcoming resistance and getting on with beneficial changes. Let people know what the changes are and how they will be affected. The more personnel know about the changes being considered, the more that they will think about them in terms of their own situations. With an opportunity to think through the changes and offer alternate proposals, the positive aspects of the change will influ- ence those who are uncertain or opposed. Allow adequate time for a trial period to prove changes are positive and demon- strate that economic security remains intact. Their income, job security and future promotions must not be endangered. Measuring the Workload How many personnel, what crafts? This determination seems like a straightforward proposition, but methods for determining it have never been satisfactorily resolved. Ambivalence toward workload measurement must be converted into a logical method. Establish a policy requiring that the work- load be measured. Don't expect any mainte- nance department to do it voluntarily. Carefully identify and define the work required of maintenance and acknowledge the implications of how the work is controlled and performed. Measure the manpower required to perform each category of work, PM versus planned work, for example. Assemble a preliminary manpower distribution: What percent of our manpower will be necessary, for example, to perform all PM services or limit emergency work to 10% of manpower? Tie these considerations to labor utiliza- tion reports and watch labor control perform- ance trends. Establish productivity measure- ments to determine progress while checking backlog levels and PM schedule compliance. Labor utilization reports will confirm whether target percentages are being met. Mining operations require equipment with much greater productive capacity and improved reliability. But, it will also be much more complex to maintain. Mainten- ance must also provide the means of apply- ing the newest technology and quality information along with modern manage- ment techniques. But, who will ensure that the personnel who do the actual work are used productive- ly? Regrettably, maintenance departments that check productivity regularly are rare. Yet, productivity measurements remain the most effective way of verifying the quality of labor control. Regular productivity measurements, identification and correction of delays and active steps to constantly improve productiv- ity are part of successful maintenance. Should mines adopt team or business unit organizations, work control will be accomplished largely by craftsmen team members. With this new responsibility, the task of improving productivity passes to these newly empowered personnel. They must recognize the need and be guided in accomplishing it. In summary, a variety of possible main- tenance organizations are available to min- ing operations. While selection is guided by program definition and information needs, the care and consideration in developing these elements impacts selection. What key personnel do, along with how, when and why they do it, are aided by effective infor- mation utilization. But, the right organiza- tion, properly implemented, brings the pro- gram to life. Only then can the continuing evaluation process verify the compatibility, progress and achievement required to ensure effective mining maintenance. Next month: Step 6—The author summa- rizes the evaluation process and explains and illustrates useful evaluation techniques. Paul D. Tomlingson (pdtmtc@msn.com) is a Denver-based maintenance management con- sultant. These articles are based on his book: Maintenance in Transition-The Journey to World-class Maintenance . Readers can obtain information on the book from the author and may request an electronic copy of any one chapter or appendix as a professional courtesy . 60 E&MJ; • MARCH 2016 www.e-mj.com M A I N T E N A N C E Figure 4—Maintenance and reliability engineers oversee a range of maintainability and reliability activities while their technicians assist maintenance foremen in carrying out maintenance program elements and applying relia- bility technologies.

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