MILL MAINTENANCE

Maintenance can be defined as the activity undertaken to allow continued use of buildings and
equipment over a desired life expectancy. Management wants full productivity from the
production facilities at the minimum cost necessary to ensure their safe use. The key for
efficient maintenance is good management of the resources invested in this activity.

The miller has always been concerned with maintenance. Historical mill pictures show the miller
sharpening and grooving the millstones. More dependable stone quality, better roll steel, or
durable sifting cloth gives the miller more time between maintenance activities and allows more
efficient scheduling of maintenance and production. In the modern mill, the effort of maintaining
the mill is not reduced but simply directed toward handling more sophisticated equipment.

The electronically controlled equipment and high-technology instrumentation used today is very
dependent on the operational condition of the machines. Inadequate maintenance results in lost
production time from breakdown failure, inefficient production, accelerated depreciation of plant
facilities, wasteful application of lubricants, and increased insurance premiums. In addition, the
miller must deal with the specific maintenance needed to guarantee product quality. The miller
should keep a shut-down report that records lost production and the causes, e.g., mechanical,
electrical, scheduling, or mill chokes.

Expenditures on maintenance cannot show direct returns, but they are very important for
guaranteeing the overall return from the operation. One of the first things to examine when a mill
is experiencing poor results is the maintenance. Roll corrugations and sieves gradually wear,
and this is sometimes not noticed by the operator, who sees them every day. A regular
maintenance schedule is necessary as well as an inspection program to evaluate maintained
equipment.

The issue of spare parts in the mill is directly related to mill maintenance and cost. Based on
management experience, mill location, logistics, and the cost of inventory, a decision should be
made about the kind and number of spare parts needed to secure a good maintenance
program. The inventory of spare parts should be watched closely by mill management, using
appropriate computer software to keep a record of all changes.

The size of a maintenance department is in direct relationship to the size of the plant and its
complexity. The cost of operating the department is directly related to the number of persons
who are assigned to it and their qualifications.
Long time ago, mills were giving a break for production at weekends and maintenance teams were
performing their duties until noon on Mondays to allow the mill to be back into action. Now most mills are
active 7 days and 24 hours. The downs for maintenance are now at least every 10 weeks. Maintenance
can be defined as all kinds of activities like repairs, replacements, inspections etc. in order to maintain
working of buildings and equipment during their desired life expectancy.

Maintenance, repair and technical service are significant since they affect lifetime of milling machines and
ensure them to work non-stop at desired levels. If regular and good maintenance is not performed,
machines cannot work for long years. Regular maintenance is one of the most important factors that
affect product quality. Regular maintenance prevents downtimes for machines because of unplanned
maintenance and it enables to decrease costly part replacements and dependency to third party
repairers.

INSUFFICIENT MAINTENANCE
Insufficient maintenance results in shutdowns for the mill and causes a decrease in capacity and
inadequate production. Accelerated amortizations for machines, increase in mineral oils and product
costs are also among results of insufficient maintenance. And the ultimate results may be loss of prestige
and bankruptcy because of poor quality products.
Expenditures on maintenance cannot show direct returns, but they are very important for guaranteeing
the overall return from the operation. Small amounts of costs for maintenance can prevent the mill from
far reaching breakdowns and a huge financial damage. Besides, regular maintenance on machines also
decrease spare part and service costs. We can diagnose many problems in the mill at early stages thanks
to maintenance. One of the first things to examine when a mill is experiencing poor results is the
maintenance.

MAINTENANCE METHODS
Adequate maintenance program can be achieved by the use of three different methods: Unscheduled
maintenance, preventive maintenance and predictive maintenance (Fig. 1). Management and inspectors,
can choose and arrange maintenance systems according to specific needs and local conditions by
making use of those methods.
1-UNSECHEDULED MAINTENANCE (CORRECTIVE MAINTENANCE)
It is also called emergency maintenance, breakdown maintenance or repair maintenance.
Maintenance and repair are performed when machine or equipment fails. As a result, loss of production
during repair is high. Defects also can harm other machines or tools.

When performing corrective maintenance; the mill or its equipment is returned to base or original
conditions and productivity by replacing parts or materials only after the breakdown.

Because of its disadvantages, unscheduled maintenance is currently not performed unless being
essential. Alternatively, scheduled maintenance methods are necessarily performed.

2-SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE
The aim of “Planned” or “Preventive” maintenance is to minimize the need for emergency maintenance. It
is performed by either one of the following sub-methods:
• Periodical Maintenance (Preventive Maintenance)
• Predictive Maintenance
A-Periodical Maintenance (Preventive Maintenance) The aim of this method is to prevent components of
machines or equipment from failures and to improve their strength before any breakdowns. All
components of machines or equipment are regularly monitored and failures or possible failure sources
are determined and eliminated.

This method enables to maintain and repair components of machines or equipment at a specific interval.
As a result, possibility of breakdown is decreased significantly.
ADVANTAGES OF PERIODICAL MAINTENANCE
• Expected life time of the equipment increases
• Shutdowns and breakdowns decrease
• Costly shutdowns and breakdowns decrease
But stopping machines and equipment frequently for maintenance causes loss of production and high
maintenance costs.

Maintenance periods for machines and equipment at mills can be classified as:
• Daily,
• Weekly,
• Long term.
Maintenance periods for machines and equipment are pre-planned according to the specifications given
by the company that installs them.

In order to perform the periodic maintenance, a maintenance schedule consisting of check lists is
prepared. The maintenance schedule is prepared and kept by the engineer responsible from the
maintenance. But it is performed by mainteFig 1. Maintenance Methods nance technicians.

Periodic maintenance includes four main group of activities for component of equipment:
• cleaning
• adjusting (e.g. belt tension),
• replacing (e.g. oil, filters etc. )
• inspection and examination.
(Please refer sources at the end of the article for further information about necessary factors to take into
consideration for periodic maintenance.)
b- Predictive Maintenance
This is a relatively new approach as a result of latest technological developments. This concept was first
introduced in Turkey in 1988 by R. Kubilay Köse at Middle East Technical University’s National Machine
Design and Manufacturing Congress. He chose to use the term “Kestirimci Bakım” for “Predictive
Maintenance”.
When performing predictive maintenance, some of the parameters are measured when machines and
equipment are still working. Some measuring devices are used for this. Results are recorded at a specific
time interval and results are evaluated according to some statistical methods and tendency analysis.
Results show some information about machines and equipment. Changes in those results are tracked
and possible defects at machines and equipment may be detected before they actually occur and
maintenance can be performed on those machines accurately and adequately. In short, predictive
maintenance is based on the performance of the machine.

This method enables to monitor machines or equipment in order to detect possible breakdowns. As a
result, unscheduled shutdown of machines and equipment, loss of production and unnecessary part
replacements are minimized.

Advantages of Predictive Maintenance

• Expected life time and productivity of equipment increases
• Enables corrective maintenance for critical components.
• Machines that are in good condition are not stopped unnecessarily and this saves time.
• Maintenance time and downtime for machine breakdowns decrease 25-30%. Work-load and labor costs
decrease.
• Maintenance costs decrease significantly.
• It is 8-12% more profitable than preventive maintenance.
• More energy saving.
• Prevents minor flaws to become source of bigger problems in time.
• Possibility of significant breakdowns on machines decrease to the lowest level.
• Production loss decreases considerably. Production levels go up by 20-25%
• Breakdowns decrease by 35-45%.
PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE PHASES
1. Measurement: Critical points to be analyzed and measured are identified. Necessary measurements
are performed during working conditions of the machine. Predictive maintenance usually involves non-
destructive tests like oil analysis, temperature analysis (infrared thermography measurement), ultrasonic
test, vibration measurement and visual inspection.
2. Analysis: Results of measurements are analyzed. The source of the failure is analyzed.
3. Repair: The detected fault is evaluated according to working schedule of the mill and necessary repair
works are done.
LABOR-FORCE FOR MAINTENANCE ACTIVITIES
Engineers in charge of production and maintenance have to be aware of all aspects of maintenance work.
Maintenance team is not only responsible for fixing and repairing breakdowns. They also have to
investigate root causes of the problem and prevent similar breakdown or problem from reoccurring.

Maintenance leader maybe a mechanical engineer or another qualified technician who studied
engineering or technical disciplines. Maintenance must be performed by well trained personnel who have
technical knowledge. This training will also include safety issues and detailed information about special
machines.

If we do not have enough personnel that have necessary and adequate technical experience or if we
need machines to work more efficient, we have to seek technical support from manufacturer of machine
or equipment to perform maintenance. This can be done with service contracts. So that, manufacturers
will replace failed parts with original and high quality ones and warrant coverage will continue.

Personnel at the production floor are at the first level of maintenance. Maintenance workers on the spot
are the second level of maintenance, and equipment engineers constitute the third level of maintenance.

Predictive maintenance is generally performed by a contracted or expert technician. Predictive

maintenance team must be qualified and well trained about cutting edge technology. They must have
measurement devices and know how to use them. And they must also know how to analyze data from
former measurements and report them properly.

ORGANIZING MAINTENANCE ACTIVITIES

In order to evaluate equipment which maintenance was performed on, maintenance schedule and an
inspection schedule are needed. Maintenance schedule has to be planned by maintenance leader in
cooperation with management and he/she should complete a number of arrangements before
maintenance program takes effect.
Detailed records have to be kept in order to ensure efficient control of materials and labor. Inadequate
records cause conflict among departments that are related with the breakdown.

Responsible technicians have to draft a form for each machine and equipment of the mill. The forms have
to include following information:
•Name of the machine
•Code of the machine
•Location
•Year of production
•Name of manufacturer
•Capacity
•Mechanical drawing
•Power of engines
•Serial number
•List of spare parts
•Supply source
Past maintenance activities and maintenance specifications from manufacturers must also be recorded
and loaded into maintenance programs. All catalogues, maintenance and repair manuals, spare part
catalogues etc. must be asked from manufacturers. This procedure must be performed for every machine
at the plant.

Production manager of the mill must keep records of inspection results and part replacement during repair
works. He/she must prepare timetables for preventive maintenance tasks. Maintenance leader must
continuously track equipment conditions as part of decision process. This enables to change maintenance
programs when it is feasible to do so.

CRITICAL SPARE PARTS MUST BE IN STOCKS

It is important for the mill to have critical spare parts available in stocks against possible failures. Giving
order for a spare part and stopping the whole shift will cause important losses for the plant. Millers should
not evaluate critical stocks as a financial burden for them.
Spare part inventory of the mill may change according to maintenance activities in the mill. The
management should decide on the components and their amount to stock. To do so they evaluate the
location of the mill and they compare logistics cost and stock cost. Spare parts inventory must be tracked
closely by management of the mill by means of a computer program.

COMPUTER ASSISTED MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

Records should be kept well for a reliable maintenance program. Newly developed software
(Computerized Maintenance Management System – CMMS) support record keeping, scheduling and cost
control tasks significantly. Many software packages involve various interactive modules that share a
common database. Each module is assigned to a specific maintenance task like preventive maintenance,
inventory control, work orders, procurement, equipment history, job scheduling, backup schedule, human
resources planning, budgeting, cost control etc. Maintenance software are designed to run on desktop or
laptop computers.
Some advantages of computer assisted software are:
• Decreasing costs
• Compiling data more efficiently
• Better planning
• Minimizing stoppage costs
• Having better controlling opportunities