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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JUNE 2014 • E&MJ; 131 www.e-mj.com O P E R AT I N G S T R AT E G I E S and interdepartmental actions, the journey to world-class maintenance has a good chance of being successful. The active participation of plant managers is vital. Map the Journey with a Quality Maintenance Program The maintenance purpose is soon man- ifested in the development, documenta- tion, testing and implementation of a quality maintenance program. The pro- gram spells out how work is requested, identified, classified, planned, sched- uled, assigned, controlled, measured, and, subsequently, trends and perform- ance assessed to guide essential improvement. The details of what main- tenance does, who does what, how and why are prescribed by the program. No maintenance function can be carried out without the support and coopera- tion of other plant departments. The maintenance function of planning, for example, requires the support of ware- housing, purchasing, shops, engineer- ing, vendors and accounting. Yet, the outcome is exclusively a maintenance responsibility. But the most important aspect of the program is the education of the total plant population on its details. Supporting roles are clarified. Departmental interactions are con- firmed. The whole plant now moves for- ward in a mutually supporting, fully cooperative effort to ensure that main- tenance contributes to overall plant performance with consistently reliable equipment. Program details also guide the choice of the best organization to carry out the program and the best information system to support it. Remember: If help is needed, it begins by telling helpers how to help. No tell— no help (see Figure 2). Figure 2 – It can never be assumed that all maintenance personnel understand every aspect of their program, nor can it be assumed that every plant department understands how they can most effectively support the main- tenance effort. The only way to avoid the potential disaster of misunderstanding, guesswork, or sheer omission is to ensure that all aspects of maintenance are understood across the entire operation by educating the total plant population on the details of the maintenance program. EMJ_pg130-133_EMJ_pg130-133 6/2/14 3:20 PM Page 131