MAINTENANCE
Maintenance planning
Brian Parsons of Foresight Solutions says to have a first rate planning system makes all the
difference in the world
H
e who every morning plans the
transaction of the day and follows out
that plan, carries a thread that will
guide him through the maze of the most busy
life. But where no plans are laid, where the
disposal of time is surrendered merely to
chance of incidence, chaos will soon reign:
Victor Hugo (1802 1885). Many who work in
mine maintenance will probably tell you that
chaos not only reigns but has moved in and
set up shop. This is not because no planning
goes into mine maintenance; in fact many
mining operations have entire departments
dedicated to maintenance planning. The
problem in many instances is that the effort
that goes into creating those plans is not
matched by the support required to make
them effective. Take for example a hypothetical
Monday morning when all the parts, people
and resources are ready to service a slurry
pump which was planned at least a week ago.
Just when the crew are about to lock out the
system someone informs them that
Operations has decided that they need that
pump and Maintenance cannot have it for
service. It is about this time the maintenance
planner gets the call about the change in
plan. As this is not an uncommon occurrence.
The planner looks at what is on the backlog
list and then tries to put together some type of
plan to try and salvage the rest of the day, if
not the rest of the week. Meanwhile later that
same week the pump fails late at night and
has to remain out of service until those same
people, parts and resources can be
reassembled in the same way they were on
Monday morning.
At first glance this situation would seem to
be not much more than an inconvenience or
perhaps a loss of common sense, but not the
symptom of a problem that plagues many
mining operations around the world. As a rule,
a mine with a viable cost structure will most
likely have a fairly well run maintenance
planning department. However, it would not
be uncommon to have a manager say that we
have a first rate planning department yet our
cost structure leaves a great deal to be desired.
Upon closer inspection you will find that what
this manager has in reality is a department that
has an 85% compliance to plan, while it has a
breakdown rate of 35% or more. More than
34 International Mining MARCH 2010
Photo courtesy of www.ormarc.com.au
just a bit odd, in fact it just cant be or at least
that is what you would think until you delve
into what is really happing at this planning
department. What you will discover is a system
that has most of the tools, personnel and
wherewithall to do the job the way it should
be done the way it must be done if it is to
be the major contributing factor in an
operations viability.
The difficulty lies in two particular truths;
the first is for the majority of mines,
Operations are the king of the hill, the
masters of destiny as it were, when it comes to
how the maintenance department actually
functions. In some cases Maintenance is the
black sheep of the organisation its opinions
discounted or even ignored and yet they are
blamed when things are not running as
expected. The second is that planning is
anything but and planners are the catch all for
most of the tasks that take place in
Maintenance. For example they end up chasing
parts for the planned and unplanned work;
they are usually the contact person for many
of the vendors that supply the operations with
services related to maintenance; are expected
to implement any new standards or programs
that come down the line and must be
responsible for implementing improvements or
special projects. Of course at sometime they
need to plan the work that is required to not
only keep the place running but also moving
forward.
Lets go back to our 85% compliance to
plan and 35% breakdown scenario to see
what is going on, assuming that such a result
is even possible. Managers for the most part
like to look at and make decisions based on
numbers and as the planners have little or no
control, to say nothing of the required support,
to make their plans work, they devise ways to
make the compliance to plan number appear
high. Why? because that is the standard
that management has decreed as the
measurement for the effectiveness of the
maintenance program. There is nothing to
suggest anyone is being deliberately deceitful,
it is just due to such a lack of control and
support that to be held accountable for the
level of compliance to plan under such
circumstances is much more than the stress
level is worth. As many mines continuously
discover; such a scenario often leads to the
mine coming dangerously close to being
unviable.
Is there a way to get away from such a
path? Fortunately there is and the wheel need
not be reinvented to get it done.
The first step is to put in place the required
support system that will make the planning
department a truly functioning entity. Such
support would include a parts manager/chaser.
The role of this individual is not only to ensure
that the parts for planned work are ordered
and on site as required but also to be the go
to person for parts required for the unplanned
or unforeseen. That role would also provide
part kits for standard jobs, to reduce delays in
part availability. One more thing as it relates to
parts; as the planning and implementation of
maintenance improves, the parts for the NWL
(Now What List) will be greatly reduced as
breakdowns and unforeseen problems
diminish.
A standard work program should be
developed to have the steps, parts and
resources required for each job laid out in such
a manner that each job can be better planned,
 MAINTENANCE

understood and the quality of the work
measured and not left to depend on the
individual doing the work, to say nothing of
ensuring that it is done safely.
One of the key components to any plan is
information about what actually needs to be
done and when. The inclusion of a PM
inspector in the planning support system is as
important, if not more so, than any other
element required to make maintenance work
as it should. This individual need not be the
most senior or even the most experienced
person available but should have the ability to
use his or her experience to make decisions on
what work needs to be done and in what
order as they inspect equipment in the
assigned area so that the planner has eyes;
ears and legs on the floor. It is also important
that the PM inspector works with the planner
and no one else certainly not used to make
up shortfalls in manpower. This may mean that
a particular crew or department may have to
take a hit; but as the overall condition of the
maintenance system improves, the benefits will
far outweigh any temporary inconvenience.
Continuous improvement is more than just a
phrase, it is the cornerstone to human
evolution. When it comes to mining,
continuous improvement is the key factor that
separates those who weather hard times and
prosper when times are good from those who
may not make it through those same hard
times and hope for the best when times are
better. Maintenance planners are well versed
in the improvements needed to systems and
equipment as they constantly have to do what
they can to make them function as reliably as
possible. Any ideas for improvements are
necessarily mixed in with all the planners
other obligations. Some will do what they can
to make the improvements happen while
others simply give up in the face of
overwhelming demands on their time. A
person or office in place to support the
planning department in moving continuous
improvement projects forward would pay for
itself many times over as these projects start
to deliver benefits of reduced and unplanned
downtime.
It is said that if you cant beat them, join
them. In the case of a well run and supported
planning office it is a case of have them join,
the them being Operations. This is done by
having an operations planner as part of the
maintenance planning office. Operations
personnel have certain responsibilities when it
comes to some maintenance jobs and it would
be the task of the operations planner to ensure
that these responsibilities are co-ordinated with
the maintenance needs of the plan. They
would also act as liaison to Operations in an
effort to ensure that both Operations and
Maintenance are playing on the same team.
Last, but certainly not least, upper
management is the key required to tie all this
together. It must engage the planners and
everyone who has a stake in the establishment
of a first class planning department, to listen
to their concerns and to require that the
information the planning department passes
along to management is based on facts not
misguided standards. Upper management
must commit to putting the support system in
place so that the planners can do what they
need to do, above all else Plan and have
those plans become effective. The alternative is
what you will find in so many mines, where
front line maintenance manages to run
somewhat in spite of itself.
Of course, questions of how much this will
all cost in time and money will not take long
to arise. As many of us that have been in the
mine maintenance business for any length of
time know only too well, when it comes right
down to it quite often there is never enough
time or money to do it right, but there always
seems to be plenty to do it over and over
again. The bottom line is that to have a first
rate planning system makes all the difference
in the world. IM

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MARCH 2010 International Mining 35