Reducing Maintenance Costs in a Tough Economic Climate

The global climate crisis has brought the harmful practices of different industries into the spotlight, and one sector that’s received its fair share of scrutiny is mining. While the mining industry is essential for so many different aspects of modern life, it’s also responsible for some pretty significant environmental damage due to issues including mine waste. 

A plant shutdown and turnaround is defined as a major plant maintenance shutdown, typically involving the entire plant or multiple areas and lasts for several days (or if not properly planned and scheduled can last longer than expected). Some organizations have both Major (more than 24 hours) and minor (24 hours or less). In many cases, minor shutdowns can have a bigger impact on lost production.  

Asset and maintenance managers are key decision makers in companies, yet the previously used tools for deciding on the right asset and maintenance strategy are inadequate. Rather than changing the way decisions are made, it is advisable to upgrade the tools that are used to make those decisions. Developments in asset management and maintenance show that the data necessary for such prognoses already exists in most companies.

If you are managing a large facility using blueprint floor plans and spreadsheets to track assets, this article is for you. If, the last time you had a water leak during off hours and it took the emergency repair tech a half hour to get to it after wading thru paper maps, this is for you. If your HVAC repair technician got lost on the roof while looking for unit #34 that required maintenance, this might be useful. If your employees have your facilities management team on speed dial, then this was written for you.

Another trite phrase has the answer: The weakest link in a chain is the strongest because it can break it. Preventative and routine maintenance models help alleviate downtime and boost overall production. The most popular method is Total Productive Maintenance (TPM). TPM assigns the responsibility for preventative and routine maintenance to the same people who operate that individual equipment. This puts the people most familiar with the machine in charge of its care.

Big changes are happening in today’s workforce. These changes have nothing to do with downsizing, global competition, or stress; it is the problem of a distinct generation gap. Young people entering the workforce are of diversified background and have much different attitudes about work. They want a life‐work balance. They want to be led, not managed — and certainly not micro‐managed. The new mode is flexibility and informality. A large proportion of our managers of the veteran era have been trained in relatively autocratic and directive methods that don’t sit well with today’s employees. Are we preparing our workforce to meet tomorrow’s need?