Mining and minerals
The mining industry is challenging and complex, with many maintenance challenges that must be addressed to ensure safe, reliable and cost-effective operations. From the onset, asset management is central to equipment availability and reliability when planning a new mine and getting plant equipment maintenance ready, right through commissioning (when several assets are already in operation) to operating the mine.
While several external factors impact mining operations, mining managers can exert some control over the condition and availability of mining equipment to support operations.
Changing technology and the digitalisation of processes allow for much better forecasting, control and reporting. Predictive maintenance and reliability engineering focus has a significant role in reducing downtime and extending the life of critical equipment.
Unfortunately, many mining operations still struggle with frequent equipment breakdowns that hamper operations, incidents causing severe damage to the environment or loss of life, and low staff morale.
With our extensive mining experience, we can help you improve the reliability and availability of your equipment and plant.
Maintenance budgets
One of mining companies’ most significant challenges is managing costs within ever-decreasing maintenance budgets. With less money available, maintenance is often the first to be neglected. Mining equipment is often subjected to harsh working conditions, leading to frequent breakdowns and failures, resulting in lost productivity and revenue. Additionally, neglecting maintenance can lead to safety hazards for workers and potential environmental incidents. There are several ways to manage budgets better, and we touch on a few below.
First, prioritise maintenance on critical equipment while postponing or cutting back on less essential maintenance tasks. A criticality analysis and risk assessment support this approach, and using appropriate tactics can ensure even more optimal budget spending.
Secondly, consider implementing cost-saving measures, like predictive maintenance techniques or extending equipment life through repair and refurbishment rather than replacement. Using condition monitoring and IoT technologies will give you more visibility of potential failures and help you plan your budget better.
Life cycle costing and equipment replacement programmes will help to budget more accurately, while standardising types of equipment, spare parts, and tactics can drive costs down and reduce the skills required.
With an asset management strategy as the basis, we use structured business processes and asset care plans that are firmly integrated and managed through an EAM system to accomplish cost savings and ensure that every cent counts.
Compliance saves lives
Compliance is another major challenge. The mining industry is subject to a wide range of legal compliance requirements. It is known for its high risk of accidents and incidents, which can lead to loss of life and environmental damage. The engineering manager must ensure that all required maintenance is being carried out in a structured and systematic way without missing any steps or actions. This is important for building up data for analysis and proving that everything has been done to maintain safety and comply with regulations.
Maintenance has a major role in this regard, as well-maintained equipment is safer to use and reduces unnecessary emissions and waste. While mining houses rely on L3 contractors to perform work on their behalf, the responsibility still lies with the mine to ensure that work performed by these contractors is compliant and that equipment is safe for us.
While ISO standards and electronic systems can help with compliance governance, mobile work applications, for example, Pragma’s Field Engineering app, can be used to manage workflow and inspections to ensure compliance.
Technical skills save time and costs
Mining companies need more competent technical staff. Poorly skilled resources can lead to project delays and increased company costs and risks. There are several technical skills shortages in the mining industry, including a need for qualified engineers and maintenance technicians such as planners, schedulers and artisans. Using automation and technology in mining operations also creates a need for workers with specific technical skills, such as programming and data analysis. Attracting and retaining workers with these skills can be challenging for mining companies.
Partnering with Pragma holds several resourcing benefits, as clients can gain access to skilled and knowledgeable resources for short-term advisory projects or long-term asset care service contracts. Our services also extend into the full scope of contractor management, where we manage L3 contractors on behalf of our clients.
Furthermore, Pragma’s Academy trains over 2500 learners per annum, equipping them with practical and relevant skills in asset management. We have developed several learning pathways to provide a recommended sequence of courses for a specific role, creating a self-directed approach to learning which encourages learners to take ownership of their learning and progressively build knowledge and proficiency in their jobs. It is also of great value to our clients for succession planning.
Standardise maintenance processes for more efficiency
Standardising maintenance work processes in the mining industry can help ensure that equipment and facilities are properly maintained, improve safety, and increase efficiency. There are several ways that companies can standardise maintenance work processes, including:
- Developing a preventive maintenance program: This involves scheduling regular maintenance tasks for equipment and facilities, such as inspections and routine servicing, to identify and address potential issues before they become major problems.
- Implementing a computerised maintenance management system (EAMS or CMMS): This is a software that allows companies to track and manage maintenance work orders, inventory, and other data in one central location, which can improve efficiency and reduce errors.
- Establishing standard operating procedures (SOPs) for maintenance tasks: This involves creating written procedures for each type of maintenance task, which can help ensure that work is performed consistently and correctly, and also help in training new employees.
- Creating a culture of continuous improvement: This involves regularly reviewing and evaluating maintenance processes and procedures, and making changes as needed to improve overall performance and safety.
- Standardising maintenance work processes can help companies to better control costs, improve equipment reliability, and ensure compliance with safety and environmental regulations.
Reliability engineering
Mining houses struggling with failing equipment should invest in a proper reliability engineering programme. Whereas maintenance management generally focuses on repairing broken equipment, reliability engineering focuses on critical equipment and optimising the performance of these assets. In essence, it helps identify the cause of a failure quickly and provides a proactive analysis to prevent future failures. Reliability engineering also helps reduce downtime and maintenance costs.
Reliability engineering in mining includes:
- Identifying and analysing potential failure modes of equipment and systems.
- Developing preventive maintenance plans to detect and correct potential issues before they become major problems.
- Implementing reliability-centred maintenance (RCM) to focus on the most critical equipment and systems.
- Using condition monitoring techniques such as vibration analysis, oil analysis, and thermography to detect and diagnose issues with equipment.
- Establishing performance metrics to track and measure equipment reliability over time.
- Root cause analysis of equipment failures to identify the underlying cause of problems and prevent similar failures from occurring.
- Implementing predictive maintenance techniques such as machine learning, real-time data analysis, and IoT sensor networks.
Reliability engineers form part of the scarce resources within mining. Pragma’s reliability engineering solutions range from providing full-time reliability engineers to execute a mine’s reliability engineering programme to consultation and coaching. A comprehensive reliability engineering learning pathway is also on offer to ensure that mines can enable their team members to manage and execute their reliability engineering programmes.
Master data management
The lack of master data management is the cause of many a problem in mining. The engineering manager is in no position to trend any information or take informed decisions without accurate data that has been built up over time. Master data management is the process of collecting, consolidating, and maintaining accurate and consistent data about an organisation’s critical assets, such as equipment, facilities, and resources. In the mining industry, MDM is essential for maintaining and managing the large amounts of data generated by mining operations and maintenance activities.
Managing master data includes:
- Identifying and classifying the critical data required for maintenance and operations.
- Collecting, consolidating and validating data from various sources.
- Storing and managing data in a central repository.
- Ensuring the data is accurate, consistent and up-to-date.
- Implementing data governance to ensure data is controlled and access is restricted to authorised personnel.
- Utilising data analytics to extract insights and make data-driven decisions.
- An effective MDM system in mining maintenance can help companies to:
- Improve the efficiency and accuracy of maintenance activities by providing access to accurate, up-to-date data about equipment and facilities.
- Enhance the performance and reliability of equipment by providing real-time data for predictive maintenance.
- Improve compliance with safety and environmental regulations by providing accurate data for reporting.
- Reduce costs by reducing the need for multiple data sources and manual data entry.
- Overall, an MDM system is an essential tool for mining companies to effectively manage and utilise the large amounts of data generated by mining operations and maintenance activities.
Collaboration between maintenance, engineering and supply chain
Maintenance, engineering, and supply chain (stores) integration and communication are essential for ensuring that mining operations are running smoothly and efficiently. In terms of maintenance and engineering, effective communication and integration is necessary to ensure that maintenance and engineering teams have access to the parts, tools, and equipment they need to complete their work. This can be achieved through:
- Developing an inventory management system that allows maintenance and engineering teams to quickly and easily access the parts they need
- Implementing a computerised maintenance management system (CMMS) which allows maintenance and engineering teams to track inventory levels and request parts as needed
- Establishing a regular communication and collaboration process between maintenance, engineering, and supply chain teams to ensure that parts and equipment are readily available and that any issues are quickly identified and addressed
In terms of supply chain, integration and communication with the store department is important to optimize the flow of materials and equipment and to ensure that necessary items are readily available. This can be achieved through:
- Implementing an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to manage and track inventory levels, orders, and deliveries
- Establishing a regular communication and collaboration process between maintenance, engineering, and supply chain teams to ensure that parts and equipment are readily available and that any issues are quickly identified and addressed
- Developing a supplier management program to ensure that suppliers are meeting delivery and quality expectations.
Overall, effective maintenance, engineering, and supply chain (stores) integration and communication can help mining companies to improve equipment uptime, reduce maintenance costs, and improve safety by ensuring that parts, tools, and equipment are readily available and that any issues are quickly identified and addressed.
