Mining Drill Rig Availability Improvement

The approach

ORBIZ facilitated the implementation of a preventative maintenance strategy to increase drill rig asset availability through improved MTBF across the operation’s entire drill fleet.

The strategy was branded ‘Operate for Reliability’.

The program began by engaging a project team from operations and maintenance to study current maintenance practices and asset failure modes comprehensively. This analysis enabled the team to identify weaknesses in the maintenance system and the most common asset failure modes.

The data sourced through the study was then used to develop a comprehensive strategy to increase overall asset performance.

The solutions

The improvement strategy was communicated to all drill rig operators, maintenance team members, and the leadership team to ensure a clear understanding and buy-in to the changes to operating practices.

The change program included a series of projects, and responsibility was defined across the stakeholder group to create clear accountability for delivering each initiative.

The strategy included:

• Training drill rig operators in basic maintenance skills to create ownership of essential daily maintenance activities.
• Establishing regular structured communication forums between maintenance and operations teams to promote collaboration and a “one team” culture.
• Enhancing routine maintenance activities across several control points, including operator pre-start inspections, OEM daily inspections and pre-release.

With the new operating system established, an audit process was introduced to ensure sustainability and ongoing improvement of the new working methods.