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
Issue link: https://emj.epubxp.com/i/665536
MAINTENANCE APRIL 2016 • E&MJ; 41 www.e-mj.com Questionnaire–A questionnaire gives a cross-section of randomly selected per- sonnel an opportunity to compare main- tenance performance against specifi c standards. This cross-section might in- clude personnel from management, staff departments (such as purchasing), opera- tions and maintenance. Although a questionnaire is subjec- tive, the results are, nevertheless, an ex- pression of the views of plant personnel. Therefore, participants will have commit- ted themselves to identifying improve- ments they see as necessary. To most of them, this constitutes potential support for the improvement effort that follows. When administering a questionnaire, be careful to ensure that personnel are qualifi ed to respond. For example, par- ticipants outside of maintenance should respond only to those standards on which they have personal knowledge. The eval- uation must be administered so that questions on evaluation points can be answered completely. When carried out properly, the questionnaire can produce reliable results quickly while minimizing disruption to the operation. The questionnaire has the advantage of being administered often so that pro- gress against the previous results can be measured. For example, one plant was able to establish areas in which improve- ment was still needed while setting aside areas in which good progress had been demonstrated by previous evaluations. The questionnaire is the best choice when a quick, non-disruptive evaluation can serve as a reasonable guide in devel- oping an improvement plan. It must be carefully crafted so that it embraces all of the elements of the maintenance pro- gram, like planning, as well as activities that affect the program, such as purchas- ing. Participants should have personal knowledge of maintenance performance for the standards against which they are comparing maintenance. There should be selectivity in who responds to what. For example, the accounting manager could evaluate the quality of labor data reported but, could not evaluate work quality. Questionnaires are rarely of value if they are not administered in a controlled Promoting Preventive Maintenance (PM) Standards The Preventive Maintenance (PM) program should success- fully avoid premature failures through timely inspection, con- dition-monitoring and testing. It should help extend equipment life with lubrication, cleaning, adjustment and minor com- ponent replacements like belts and fi lters. By avoiding prema- ture failures, there will be fewer emergency repairs and more work can be planned because equipment defi ciencies will be found long before failure, creating opportunities to plan the work. Because the resulting planned work is jointly scheduled with operations, it will be performed more productively and carefully by maintenance personnel, whose work will be of high- er quality. Higher quality work increases the time before the work must be repeated. As a result, components will have a longer operating life and additional cost savings will be realized by reducing the rate of material consumption. PM success is accomplished by ensuring that: • There is a well-defi ned overall PM program that has been explained to all maintenance and operating personnel. • Management understands and strongly supports PM. They require a report of PM compliance and have made opera- tions accountable when equipment is not made available for scheduled PM services. • The PM program is "detection-oriented" to uncover equip- ment defi ciencies well in advance of potential equipment failures. • The PM program emphasizes the careful inspection and testing of safety equipment and conditions to result in min- imum safety hazards and injuries. • The PM program emphasizes preserving the functions of equipment and avoiding the consequences of failure. • The PM program has successfully reduced the amount and severity of emergency repairs. • The PM program has resulted in a signifi cant increase in the amount of work this is planned. • The manpower, by craft, required for the conduct of each PM service, and for the entire program has been deter- mined and confi rmed. • Completion of PM services is verifi ed including a report of PM schedule compliance to management. • When new equipment is added or existing equipment mod- ifi ed, changes are made to the PM program promptly. • The overall PM program is reviewed periodically to deter- mine its adequacy. • PM services carried out by maintenance personnel and, as required, by equipment operators are performed with care and diligence. • Supervisors and team leaders follow up promptly to ensure that PM services are done on time. • Operating personnel cooperate fully with the PM program especially in making equipment available for the approved schedule. • Where appropriate, equipment operators perform PM-relat- ed tasks completely, effi ciently and correctly. • Condition-monitoring, using predictive techniques such as vibration analysis are properly integrated into the PM pro- gram and skillfully used. Where specialized condition-mon- itoring devices, like onboard computers, are in use, main- tenance personnel can effectively download data, analyze it and utilize the resulting information effectively. • Each PM service has a standardized checklist describing exactly how the service is to be carried out. • PM services are identifi ed by an appropriate work order el- ement to help schedule and control the work. • Extensive repairs are not carried out until the PM service is completed and the nature of needed repairs established. • PM services are scheduled at the correct intervals. • PM services for fi xed equipment are linked together in routes to avoid unnecessary travel in plants. Or, PM ser- vices for mobile equipment are scheduled to avoid unnec- essary interruption of operations and the best use of main- tenance resources. • Operators and craftsmen recognize the importance of PM and collaborate to ensure the program is successful. • The overall PM program has contributed to better overall maintenance performance as a result of, for example, few- er emergencies, more planning, less downtime and cost reduction.