Mining equipment maintenance costs range from around 30 to 50 percent of overall mine operating costs — and are increasing steadily. When a single cost category carries so much weight, it deserves attention. And that attention begins with monitoring and awareness. In our experience working with mining companies, we’ve identified seven meaningful metrics surrounding mining equipment and maintenance costs.
1. Lifetime equipment cost
A self-explanatory metric, but one to continually monitor.
2. Equipment downtime
This is a measure of how often an equipment asset is unavailable to do its job. Frequent or lengthy downtime is an indicator that the equipment may be nearing the end of its useful life.
3. Average repair time
Analyzing the average repair time, or mean time to repair (MTTR) gives you a measure of an item’s “maintainability.” The goal is to reduce this figure. Equipment with unusually long repair times may be due for replacement.
4. Time between failures
Another metric that helps determine whether it could be time to retire the equipment.
5. Unscheduled maintenance percentage
Or the flip side, planned maintenance percentage (PMP). This metric measures the time and money spent on unplanned maintenance versus planned, preventative maintenance.
6. Preventative maintenance compliance
This PMC metric compares the scheduled maintenance for a given time to the maintenance that was actually completed. It’s an indicator of your maintenance team’s efficiency, but even more importantly, some equipment warranties are only valid if scheduled maintenance is performed as indicated.
7. Maintenance costs compared to RAV
Comparing the replacement asset value, or RAV to the asset’s lifetime maintenance cost is an indicator of how cost-effectively your maintenance program operates.
There are many more maintenance metrics worth measuring, some will be more applicable to your company than others. Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) are designed to help mining companies track, manage, analyze, and even reduce the costs associated with maintaining their equipment. Mine maintenance software is effective in large part because of the deep visibility it provides into equipment maintenance costs. We’re happy to answer your questions. Contact us at 877-560-5063 or info@caronbusiness.com.
