Tag Archives: maintenance

Schlam to provide specialised maintenance services through new Fixed Plant Maintenance division

Equipment maintenance, Mining maintenance, Mining services, , , , , ,

On the back of growing demand for specialised maintenance services, Schlam has launched its new Fixed Plant Maintenance division.

This expansion is being spearheaded by Kaze Richardson, an experienced fixed plant professional determined to drive operations in the Pilbara and the Goldfields regions to new heights, Schlam says. Having been involved in multiple fixed plant projects and shutdowns sector since 2010, Richardson developed his skillset from a Leading Hand to Site Manager.

Schlam says: “With a deep understanding of the unique challenges faced by industries in the regions, Kaze brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the table. His vision for the Fixed Plant Maintenance division is to provide exceptional services to Schlam’s valued partners, ensuring that their operations run seamlessly and efficiently.”

Richardson added: “Our goal is to become the go-to provider for all fixed plant maintenance needs in the Pilbara and Goldfields regions. We aim to do simple things well, with an ‘Adapt – Achieve – Repeat’ ethos.”

The establishment of the Fixed Plant Maintenance division reflects Schlam’s commitment to meeting the evolving needs of its clients, it says. By offering expert services, Schlam aims to provide its partners with a comprehensive end-to-end solution for all their fixed plant requirements. Whether it is routine inspections and repairs or complex refurbishments and upgrades, Schlam says its Fixed Plant Maintenance division has the capability to handle projects of any scale or complexity.

One of the key strengths of the new division lies in its team of highly skilled professionals. These individuals possess extensive knowledge and experience in working with a variety of materials, including steel, aluminium and various alloys. Their expertise allows them to fabricate custom components, structures and assemblies that meet the highest industry standards, Schlam says.

The Fixed Plant Maintenance division follows rigorous testing procedures to ensure every project meets the highest standards of precision, durability and compliance with industry regulations. This dedication to quality control reflects Schlam’s commitment to delivering exceptional results to its clients, it says.

Safety is of paramount importance to Schlam, and the Fixed Plant Maintenance division prioritises the implementation and adherence to robust safety protocols and best practices. By creating a secure working environment, Schlam says it ensures the wellbeing of its employees, clients and stakeholders, aligning its values with theirs.

The company concluded: “With the launch of the Fixed Plant Maintenance division, Schlam is poised to revolutionise the maintenance services industry in the Pilbara and Goldfields regions. Through exceptional expertise, unwavering commitment to quality, and a focus on safety, Schlam aims to become the trusted partner for all fixed plant maintenance needs.”

Contract miner Byrnecut to use Sandvik Remote Monitoring Service at 11 Australian sites

Automation, Communications in mining, Equipment maintenance, IoT, Mining equipment, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , , , ,

Contract miner Byrnecut will roll out Sandvik’s Remote Monitoring Service solution at nearly a dozen of its Australian mine sites, following the completion of a successful trial of the technology, the OEM says.

Under a 12-month deal, Sandvik specialists will monitor machine performance and operator behaviour on some 95 Sandvik underground dump trucks and LHDs at 11 Byrnecut-operated mines. Daily and weekly reports will help Byrnecut to identify crucial maintenance areas and to encourage best operating practices, with major potential savings and efficiency gains, Sandvik says.

“At Byrnecut, we’re serious about continuously increasing productivity, uptime and safety,” Byrnecut Australia Managing Director, Pat Boniwell, said. “Based on the results of the three-month trial of Sandvik’s Remote Monitoring Service solution, we are now deploying this technology across all our connected sites in Australia where Sandvik equipment is in use. We’re optimistic that this will yield measurable productivity gains and cost savings for the business.”

Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions’ Business Line Manager – Parts & Services, Graham Barrow, added: “Sandvik and Byrnecut have a long history of successful cooperation. We’re delighted to now be providing Remote Monitoring Service at these 11 sites and to be assisting Byrnecut to achieve an even more efficient operation.”

Sandvik’s Remote Monitoring Service solution uses existing technology fitted to the Sandvik equipment to collect telemetry data on a wide range of variables. The data collected is then analysed by Sandvik data scientists, providing insights into factors such as the health of the engine, transmission, hydraulics and other machine parts, and how operator behaviours are affecting fuel and parts consumption and efficiency, it says. Customers receive daily reports on so-called ‘operator violations’, where Sandvik analysts have detected counterproductive operator behaviour. This can include braking and accelerating simultaneously – a practice that prematurely wears out service brakes – running the engine overspeed and selecting inappropriate gears for the conditions at hand.

Weekly reports are delivered on identified maintenance opportunities, such as replacing a part that is rapidly wearing out before it fails and causes an unplanned stoppage to production.

Sandvik says: “While customers can potentially analyse such data in-house using their own dashboards, using the Sandvik solution means that the data is viewed by OEM experts who understand better than anyone the tolerances of the equipment and common causes for failures and premature wear. In addition to that, Sandvik harnesses large pools of telemetry data for mining equipment. This combination enables us to provide actionable insights in a concise and easy-to-digest form.”

The trial of the Sandvik Remote Monitoring Service at an underground gold and copper mine, where Byrnecut provides development and production services for the mine owner, began in July 2022. It ran over three months, during which time Sandvik experts monitored the performance, health and driver behaviour on 30 pieces of load-and-haul equipment, including Sandvik underground LH621i loaders and TH663i trucks, according to Barrow.

“Byrnecut is always looking to do things better and they identified the mine as a location where they were hoping to increase equipment reliability and maintenance intervals,” he says. “We were very happy to demonstrate how our solution is suited to exactly this task.”

Boniwell says the trial yielded concrete results.

“We were able to see a clear reduction in parts costs over the course of the trial, which, of course, is pleasing to us,” he says. “Another key outcome was a change in behaviour. As the operators received updates on their performance, they looked for ways to improve and become more efficient. It increased communication between the operators and the maintenance teams and this benefitted the whole operation.”

Operational efficiencies and resource efficiencies are anticipated to contribute to a drop in parts usage and waste, contributing sustainability benefits across the agreement sites.

While the initial contract between Sandvik and Byrnecut is for 12 months, Sandvik says it hopes the deal will be extended at the end of that period.

DEUTZ and Talpa develop FUSIONHub software platform for enhanced data visibility and use

IoT, Mining services, Mining software, , , ,

DEUTZ says it is expanding its digital services portfolio with the help of Talpa Solutions, a leading IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things), analytics and intelligence solution provider for heavy industry.

The engine company has been cooperating with the company to come up with its FUSIONHub software, a platform that can analyse engine data as well as the entire application, from tyres to each of the machine’s add-on components.

According to DEUTZ, users will benefit in many ways, gaining access to the maintenance schedules of the engines they are using and seeing how long their machines have been in operation. Highly detailed control system data helps to minimise machine and component downtime while increasing productivity, it added. The data also helps to improve business performance, optimise costs and minimise operating risk.

FUSIONHub works with companies in the heavy industry sector to use data that would otherwise be lost. The software has two key benefits: first, fleet operators can deploy their machines more efficiently. Second, because FUSIONHub allows OEMs and dealers to develop new service offerings, such as sophisticated diagnostics and repair solutions, companies are able to boost service life across their machines’ entire lifecycle.

Machine owners also benefit from solutions such as performance monitoring, which reminds them about maintenance cycles and provides prompts to optimise processes and machines.

SRG Global to fill out front-end service gap with ALS Asset Care

Mining equipment, Mining mergers and acquisitions, Mining services, , ,

SRG Global is looking to bolster its front-end asset integrity and reliability services with the planned acquisition of ALS Industrial Pty Ltd for A$80 million ($55.3 million).

The company has entered into a binding agreement with ALS Industrial Holdings Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of ALS Ltd, to acquire 100% of the issued shares in ALS Industrial Pty Ltd (ALS Asset Care).

ALS Asset Care has market leading technical expertise in front-end asset integrity and reliability services, which complements SRG’s existing back-end maintenance expertise, SRG says. It also has a long-term, blue-chip customer base across mining, oil & gas, energy, infrastructure and the utility sectors.

“The combined group brings together two highly complementary businesses that provide significant cross selling opportunities with existing and complementary customers,” SRG said. It also accelerates SRG’s transition to recurring, annuity earnings, with some 99% of Asset Care’s expected FY 2023 revenue being maintenance related and a significant proportion contracted.

Asset Care has been operating for more than 65 years and employs over 600 people, with sites located across Western Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, and a 70% east/30% west geographic split in Australia. It provides a broad range of services, including integrity & reliability engineering, inspection, testing, condition monitoring and certification.

Asset Care is expected to deliver FY23E revenue of A$135 million and EBITDA of A$15.4 million, prior to realising any revenue or cost synergies, SRG said.

Cat focuses on increased efficiency, production and uptime with new electric rope shovel tech

Communications in mining, Equipment maintenance, IoT, Mining equipment, Mining safety, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , ,

Caterpillar has announced two new optional technology solutions – Integrated Technology Package and Operator Assist Technology Package – for the Cat® 7495 and 7495 HF Electric Rope Shovels.

The new packages eliminate the need for one-off technology customisation, offer faster technology installation and provide seamless integration of future technologies into machine operation, according to the company. They provide improved health and productivity data tracking that help to reduce the number of unplanned machine outages, creating a more predictable maintenance schedule while extending component life.

The Integrated Technology Package fully integrates Cat Electronics into the machine’s design and provides the foundation to support future technology expansion, Cat says. The new package features six standard technologies – ranging from health monitoring to cycle segmentation – to support improved uptime reliability, improved operator efficiency and enhanced cyber security. This upgrade also provides seamless integration of Cat® MineStar™ Solutions’ suite of operational technologies that help track, monitor and manage the shovel.

Building on the Integrated Technology Package, the Operator Assist Technology Package provides machine self-protection and control enhancements that simplify 7495 and 7495 HF operation, Cat claims. Without sacrificing productivity, this upgrade minimises machine self-collisions and safeguards against operator practices that cause damage. It allows less experienced operators to efficiently load trucks, while reducing the effort required to avoid poor digging practices that can impact machine availability and overall productivity.

The new Operator Assist Technology Package upgrade simplifies how the shovel is operated through machine self-protection, the company says. It automatically detects and avoids collisions between the dipper, crawler, boom bumper and cable management systems.

The technology’s LiDAR vision system scans the front of the shovel and algorithms integrate with operator commands to provide the least intrusive avoidance path. If a collision is unavoidable, the system will arrest machine motion to prevent or mitigate the collision. In summary, it reduces unplanned downtime, extends component life and improves total cost of ownership, Cat says.

The package features the second generation of Enhanced Motion Control, encompassing all the improvements of the first generation. It also offers a new feature to protect the rotating undercarriage by alerting the operator when the turning angle exceeds 20°, so corrective action can be taken.

Other features within the new Operator Assist Technology Package include:

  • Anti-swing in bank – prevents damaging side-loading forces on the dipper when the operator attempts to swing the dipper through the bank;
  • Hoist stall prevention – monitors forces and optimises crowd/retract commands to avoid stalling the dipper and prevent detrimental forces on the hoist gear-case;
  • Hoist rope slack prevention – automatically adjusts crowd and hoist references to maintain rope tension when slack is detected;
  • Boom jack minimisation – automatically adjusts hoist and crowd to maintain proper rope tension and improves cycle times;
  • Rope crowd impact prevention – measures the force on the crowd rope and automatically adjusts motor output to avoid shock loading; and
  • Rope crowd overspeed prevention – eliminates unnecessary wear on the crowd brake by providing more braking power to avert overspeed situations.

By providing the foundation for support technology expansion and integration, the Integrated Technology Package helps to provide more robust and reliable reporting, Cat says. New Cycle Segmentation establishes operating key performance indicators and identifies dwell time when idle. It divides cycle time data into digging, swinging to the truck, dumping and swinging to the bank segments. This allows miners to track machine performance across different shifts and operators.

With this introduction, legacy reporting technologies change to new Machine Health, Vibration Monitoring, Payload Management and Bearing Temperature Monitor technologies.

Machine Health delivers improved reporting capabilities and provides remote real-time machine monitoring.

Using sensors to capture data from the crowd, hoist, swing motors and gearboxes, Vibration Monitoring examines vibration signals for changes, allowing for proactive maintenance to reduce unplanned outage downtime.

Payload Management provides real-time feedback on material moved to avoid truck over/underloading, while Bearing Temperature Monitor keeps track of hoist, swing and crowd bearing temperatures and alerts the operator if figures rise beyond established thresholds.

The optional Integrated Technology Package will be available in standard and premium subscription levels, Cat says. Standard subscriptions include all package technologies and push notifications for software updates. Premium subscriptions include all standard features, plus vibration data analysis, monthly report generation from a Caterpillar engineer and in-person consultation to review the report’s findings and conclusions.

New Cat 7495 and 7495 HF shovel purchases can be optionally equipped with the Integrated Technology Package and Operator Assist Technology Package starting in 2023, while availability of these technology packages as field retrofit kits is scheduled for mid-2023.

Metso Outotec Life Cycle Services contracts continue to build in 2021

Comminution of minerals, Equipment maintenance, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining services, Sustainable mining, , , ,

Metso Outotec says it has experienced substantial growth in its Life Cycle Services (LCS) business by capturing more than 100 new customer agreements during 2021.

The customer base for the new agreements covers global and regional mining companies and large as well as mid-size quarries and aggregates contractors.

An LCS agreement is typically signed for a 12-month period but can also cover multiple years of cooperation, according to the OEM.

The company explained: “Through its deep knowledge of the entire customer process and offering – from equipment to a broad range of services – and supported by digitalisation, Metso Outotec can help customers exceed their performance targets. The Life Cycle Services offering covers the entire aftermarket portfolio, including process support and optimisation, sustainable wears, spares and service solutions.”

Metso Outotec, which has been offering LCS for over 10 years, says it supports customers in ensuring safety and environmental performance, improving reliability and production performance to achieve higher production and resource efficiency, as well as optimising total cost of ownership.

Annami Toukoniitty, Head of Integrated Services Solutions, Metso Outotec, said: “Our customers are increasingly interested in getting the most out of their valuable assets. The agreements are customisable to meet each customer’s unique needs. We are continuously expanding the LCS offering to new technologies; the latest launch was four progressive LCS programs for filtration, and we will soon introduce new technology-specific packages for mining customers.”

The total value of the orders is not disclosed, yet about 90% of the orders are booked to the Minerals segment and 10% to the Aggregates segment. Some of the agreements are performance-based, in which Metso Outotec gets paid according to the output of the customer’s process.

Currently, Metso Outotec has more than 500 long-term service agreements for mining and aggregates customers globally.

Rexnord adds extra layer of condition monitoring to large gear drives

Equipment maintenance, IoT, Mining consumables, Mining services, , , , ,

Rexnord Process & Motion Control (PMC) has introduced the latest addition to its line of Smart Condition Monitoring Systems, the new 1030, to continuously monitor large gear drives for oil quality, temperature and vibration, and improve uptime, cost efficiency and safety.

The 1030 can be fitted to nearly any gear drive with an oil port ¾ in (19 mm) or greater – typically on equipment with a 100 hp or larger motor, commonly used in mining, paper, cement, power and forestry industries.

“It delivers simple, robust 24/7 remote monitoring of critical assets to optimise total operating costs,” the company says.

Dan Plach, Rexnord PMC Director of Digital Solutions, said: “This is a comprehensive solution for customers with multiple brands of large gear drives, and can be used throughout your facility.”

Key benefits include:

  • Proven maintenance savings, enabling demand-based oil changes, reducing the need for scheduled maintenance;
  • Increased safety, minimising hands-on equipment inspections in challenging locations;
  • Improved uptime, avoiding asset failures through cost effective preventive maintenance; and
  • Easy integration, with programmable logic controllers (PLCs), allowing end users to quickly initiate remote monitoring via EtherNet/IP®, Modbus® TCP/IP or PROFINET® standards.

The Smart Condition Monitoring System has been engineered with proprietary algorithms to allow continuous monitoring, enabling maintenance managers to easily compare sensor data against models of healthy gear drive operating conditions, Rexnord explained. Abnormal conditions trigger automated alerts to onsite Andon lights, the PLC control system, and the Rexnord Connect Portal, delivering early warnings to clients that significantly improve uptime.

“The system puts data in context, enabling customers to focus on outcomes; teams know what action to take when and why,” it added.

Plach said: “The 1030 is the only universal large gear drive solution with oil quality, temperature and vibration monitoring capabilities. It tracks the humidity level as well as oil quality over time.”

The company added: “Customers know when to change oil or carry out preventive maintenance, better manage personnel and budget while avoiding unplanned downtime. Having the 1030 system in place may also reduce the number of spare units facilities need to keep on hand in case of breakages, freeing up much-needed space and budget, allowing customers to be more agile.”

Rexnord says it offers scalable options to fit specific applications, with future enhancements to Model 1030 including the addition of auxiliary sensors.

Metso Outotec establishes new training program for field service technicians

Careers in mining, Equipment maintenance, Mining equipment, Mining maintenance, Mining services, , , ,

Metso Outotec has started an integrated competence development platform, the Services Certification Program, looking to standardise the competency of the company’s service employees working on site.

The OEM has an extensive footprint of over 3,000 field services professionals and additional support resources close to customer operations. The certification training program has been designed to validate and develop their employees’ knowledge and skills at servicing their respective products and technologies, it said.

Markku Teräsvasara, President, Services business area, Metso Outotec, said: “Our customers are already expressing strong confidence towards our service experts’ knowledge and technology competences. With the development program, the expertise is officially validated and standardised across the world.

“We have a unique opportunity from being able to combine strong maintenance support with process knowledge. To achieve our ambition of being the preferred services provider in our industry requires us to strive for unified development of industry leading competences based on high performance and safety standards, and resulting in exceptional customer experience.”

The Services Certification Program consists of three distinct and progressive training levels that allow personnel to develop their skills and apply them in on-the-job situations as well as validating existing work experience. All service personnel must achieve a “License to Service” certificate before starting the certification program to ensure a shared understanding of what service means within Metso Outotec and to clarify the standards including safety all are expected to hold themselves to in their work.

The Services Certification Program is designed and managed by the Metso Outotec Training Academy organisation which manages all technical and product trainings globally in the company.

RCT introduces new ‘smart’ solution for fleet service monitoring

Communications in mining, Equipment maintenance, IoT, Mining maintenance, Mining services, Mining software, , , , ,

RCT has brought a new product to its Muirhead® range of protection solutions designed to protect both machines and operators in mining.

Easily installed, the Smart Service Monitor takes the traditionally basic device, which previously only gave an estimate on when a machine requires a service, and delivers an all-round information system for up to eight inputs, RCT says.

RCT’s Mining and Resources Product Manager, Mick Tanner, said: “This allows the monitoring of up to eight measurable components. Having the information allows for companies to schedule servicing of different components of a machine when it’s due.”

He added: “Information is power and having accurate information, delivered in an easy and concise manner allows management to ensure machines and their individual components are serviced correctly, therefore significantly increasing machine availability and extending the lifespan of equipment.”

The Smart Service Monitor was developed by RCT in response to industry demand, according to Tanner.

“Clients wanted more specific information about their machines and components in order to streamline efficiencies,” he said. “Having all the machines operating at optimal performance ensures this is achieved.

“This solution is all about minimising the costs associated with machine running costs and maximising the utilisation of machines.”

For example, it is possible for the monitor to intelligently log engine run hours; by monitoring the RPM, the device can monitor the time in idle and the time in a work state off the same input. The counter has been designed to count, up or down, depending on what is required.

By logging such an integral piece of information, it is possible to ensure machine servicing is carried out regularly when required to ensure optimal performance, according to RCT. This is not only a legal obligation to reduce any risks because of unexpected failures, but it also prevents machines running at a lower efficiency.

The Smart Service Monitor is designed to monitor the work hours of equipment to alert the user if the equipment requires or is overdue for a service. In addition, it is also capable of sending out both visual and audio alarms to alert the operators.

“The most impressive aspect is that the system can monitor up to 10 different things at once, which allows the end user to have a great overall picture of a machine’s health and be assured operations are running optimally,” Tanner said.

All that is required to monitor a machine component via the Smart Service Monitor is either a frequency input, PWM input or just a straight digital or analogue voltage.

In addition, the Smart Service Monitor is complementary to RCT’s automation solutions. The Smart Service Monitor can record the operating hours of these solutions to ensure servicing can be carried out at appropriate times to maintain optimal efficiency.

RCT’s Smart Service Monitor can be positioned on any machine, with the device configured through an in-built programming tool. All that is needed is a smart device, PC, laptop or phone connected to Wi-Fi. For security reasons, connection is password-protected to prevent people from making changes that the supervisor might not want including re-setting counters.

Tronox’s Cooljarloo mine feels the benefits of Weir Minerals Total Asset Management Plan

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Weir Minerals says it has further strengthened its partnership with Tronox following the signing of an exclusive arrangement to take ownership of maintenance, asset management and optimisation of the mine’s key assets.

Weir Minerals’ Total Asset Management Plan is a “unique and innovative” service contract that is revolutionising mining operations, with improved performance and a reduction in unplanned maintenance time, the company says.

Such a plan was successfully implemented at the Tronox mine in Cooljarloo, Western Australia, with Weir Minerals managing 20 assets including slurry pumps on the plant, two floating dredges and a floating concentrator which processes over 3,000 t/h of heavy mineral concentrate.

Tronox produces more than 770,000 t/y of heavy mineral concentrate using a dredging operation and dry mining techniques at Cooljarloo, Tronox says. The dredging operation recovers heavy minerals from the sand and clay using a series of gravity spirals, with the dry mine using earthmoving equipment to extract ore located above the water table, feeding it to a land-based concentrator for separation using a hopper and conveyor system.

Daniel Fleckhammer, Weir Minerals Director, said: “The Weir Minerals team worked closely with Tronox to determine what their goals and vision for their mine were. The team then developed a tailored Total Asset Management Plan which aimed to look after the customer’s assets, improve their wear life and keep the mine running.”

Weir Minerals successfully helped Tronox reduce its maintenance costs by 10% and cut unplanned maintenance by 30%, according to the company. The miner is also now able to transition from a six-month shutdown cycle to an eight-month shutdown cycle, which will save the mine over A$1 million/y ($774,802/y) on maintenance costs. Weir estimates this increased reliability is potentially worth over A$1 million/y in additional productivity.

Dave Netherway, Tronox Maintenance Manager at Cooljarloo, said the Total Asset Management Plan the company has in place with Weir Minerals means it pays “on a cents per tonne” arrangement based on the throughput through the plant.

“Weir have skin in the game with the way we operate,” he said.

Being located on site, the Weir Minerals team is prepared for crucial maintenance and gains vital insights into the customer’s issues.

“By leveraging their worldwide expertise in pump technology, the team proactively evaluate each asset and provide outstanding service to Tronox,” the company says.

A clear set of key performance indicators developed in conjunction with Tronox enable Weir Minerals to increase savings and improve the reliability of assets, it says. Both companies work towards a common goal that is mutually beneficial to all.

Ian Rennie, Tronox Site Director at Cooljarloo, said: “If other companies around the world are looking at this type of agreement, I’d really encourage them to explore it. At Tronox, we’ve only been touching the surface for a year now and we really see some huge benefits already.”