Fixing Equipment Failures Before They Occur
Chris Clem is a predictive diagnostic technician who helps assess the expected life of equipment components so preventive repairs can be made before there is a breakdown .
The motor on the conveyor belt carrying crushed material to the Metcalf mill in Morenci seemed a bit noisier than usual to Arturo Escobar during a routine plant inspection . There was no other outward sign of a problem .
Data monitors showed the temperature and vibration in the motor seemed normal . It was the kind of thing that might have been dismissed in the past until the motor burned out and had to be replaced . Not anymore .
Under the company ’ s maintenance and reliability initiative being implemented across North and South America , Escobar , Mill Operator 1 , immediately reported his concerns . The motor was inspected by an electrician and flagged for both in-person and electronic monitoring . After performing a field inspection and reviewing data from the Remote Asset Monitoring Program ( RAMP ), Chris Clem , Senior Vibration Technician , determined the motor needed to be replaced within 30 days . That was done during the next planned routine maintenance shutdown .
Ricardo Orta , Senior Supervisor-Mill , inspects the screens at the Metcalf concentrator in Morenci . He is a part of a team of mechanics , electricians and technicians working to ensure needed equipment repairs are done in a planned manner .
Had the motor failed and required an emergency repair , it could have brought the entire Metcalf milling operation to a standstill for 36 hours or more . By ensuring the motor was replaced in a planned manner before it failed , the right people and equipment were in place and the job took less than 12 hours . More importantly , the work was done simultaneously with other repairs while the concentrator was shut down for planned maintenance . So , the motor swap itself did not disrupt production .
Such intense equipment monitoring , proactive analytics and integration of needed repairs into planned maintenance schedules make up the crux of the maintenance and reliability component of the company ’ s supporting pillars for 2023 . The idea is to anticipate equipment breakdowns before they occur and make the necessary repairs in a planned manner , thereby avoiding unexpected failures that can bring the production line to a standstill .
Sunil Nannepaga , Maintenance Manager-Morenci , is helping create a “ reliability culture ” in Morenci in which needed equipment repairs are planned and coordinated to avoid unplanned shutdowns .
CONCENTRATING ON SAFETY
The most important benefit of being more proactive about maintenance and reliability is safety , said Toby Dunn , General Manager Maintenance , Freeport-McMoRan Americas .
Emergency repairs inherently come with more risk and tend to take longer than planned maintenance .
When repairs are anticipated and done in a planned manner , it gives crews the opportunity to help ensure all appropriate safety measures are in place before the work begins , the people with the right skills and experience are assigned to the job , and all the correct parts and tools are at hand .
“ We know that when our work is planned and it ’ s not a surprise , it ’ s safer and our equipment operates in a way that allows us to safely deliver on our operational plans ,” Dunn said . “ Unplanned maintenance has a lot more potential for issues to come up that were not anticipated than planned maintenance . When it ’ s unplanned , we scramble to find the resources and people , and the chances that details are overlooked in terms of safety and execution of the work increase significantly .”
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