IN the hustle and bustle of mining production and associated activities, the focus on the servicing of lifting equipment can unintentionally be sidelined, says Johan Naude, agreements specialist, South Africa and Africa, for Konecranes South Africa.
“The problem though, is that equipment performance and safety for technicians on site can be compromised as a result. This situation can easily be avoided with a customised Konecranes service agreement that offers a comprehensive and systematic approach to asset management”.
“We at Konecranes recently identified a servicing break on lifting equipment at a mining operation during our standard overview of customer operations. After a service visit to site and discussions with the customer, they believed that signing up for a two-year customised service agreement with Konecranes was the most cost efficient way forward. When the movement of heavy mining related equipment such as conveyors and crushers is key to sustained production, then regular and planned maintenance is essential.
“The service agreement was drawn up based on knowledge of the equipment, its usage, operating environment, service history and international and local safety regulations. It is for the servicing of not only their Konecranes CXT lifting equipment, but also other crane equipment of a differing brand. The Agreement forms part of our responsibility to our customer to ensure their lifting equipment operates in a reliable and sustainable manner, says Naude.
Benefits
The Konecranes service agreement is designed to deliver all historical and current operational data as well as flag up refurbishment, upgrades or new equipment data to both the customer and Konecranes technicians in real time via The Konecranes Portal. This assists with the long term spare parts and service needs for the entire lifespan of the equipment.
The Konecranes Portal also issues simultaneously alerts to both technician and customer in the event that any equipment unexpectedly develops a fault.
This ensures that corrective action can be implemented as soon as possible.
Naude says “The ability to monitor part performance ‘live’ eliminates unnecessary downtime. It provides guardrails that prevents any fault from becoming catastrophic. Proactive online service scheduling via the Konecranes Planner is based around the customer’s production cycle thereby allowing planned
stoppages that do not dramatically interfere with operations, which in the mining sector, as well as other industries, is a critical factor. This saves the customer valuable time and money.”
Service agreements will ensure that future Capex expenditure budgeting is streamlined and more accurately planned for, whilst also ensuring that all international and local safety regulations are adhered to.
Other benefits of the Konecranes customised service agreement include properly scheduled inspections which help to identify and address safety issues timeously reducing the impact on employees.
In addition, planned and scheduled maintenance work can assist in minimising excessive labour and parts replacement costs which also helps reduce the impact upon the environment.
A maintenance program can also help in assessing whether cranes are being used properly or as intended and identify opportunities for operator training.
Another benefit is that preventive maintenance conducted at regularly scheduled intervals is often the most effective way to maintain and potentially extend the lifespan of certain cranes.
Other components
To eliminate concerns about lifting components that fall outside of the Konecranes service agreement, the Konecranes technician conducts a post service review with the customer to highlight the findings from the service visit. They will also discuss and identify the components that need attention that are not covered by the service agreement and explain risk and opportunity factors.
