Capacity utilization of mining machinery and scope of

advanced asset management in CIL

Prof Khanindra Pathaki, Devendra Prasadii and Binay Dayaliii

1 Introduction
Mining is a major economic activity in India and the industry is the backbone of the manufacturing
and infrastructure sectors of the economy. It provides basic raw materials to several significant
industries, including thermal, iron and steel, petroleum and natural gas, electrical and electronics
equipment, among others.

India’s major coal mining company Coal India Limited produced 606.9 Mte of coal in 2018-19,
the highest in its history from its 394 number of operating mines. CIL owns 193 underground,
177 opencast and 24 mixed mines. Besides it operates 15 coal washeries, (12 coking
coal and 3 non-coking coal). There are also other establishments like workshops,
hospitals, and so on. Performance of the company and its profit depends on capacity
utilizationof these assets.

Out of the total production of 2018-19, 95% (576.40 Mte) was produced from the opencast mines.
The capacity the underground mines are not being realized due to number of factors. The higher
level of production was possible because of the mechanization of its surface mines. The mines are
planned with a certain target and investment is made in machinerty and in building a system of
operation. Considering the increasing trend of demands and the national target of annual coal
production of 1 Bte, it is now crucial to enhance capacity utilization.

For this purpose a systematic asset management approach will be necessary. This article highlights
this necessaity and brings out the current scenario of capacity utilization in CIL to emphaise the
need of intelligent technology management for enhanced productivity, safety and environmental
protection. Optimal capacity utilization of the deployed machinery and available resources would
require intelligent monitoring and indicator based decision making for maintenance and
replacement.

i
Professor, Mining Engineering Department, IIT Kharagpur, Kharagpur-721302
ii
GM (P&M), CIL, Kolkata
iii
Director (T), CIL, Kolkata

1
2 Assessment of Capacity Utilization
In the industrial world Capacity is the maximum volume of productive resources that can be used
by firms to produce goods.Capacity utilization is is a measure of how much of that available
capacity is actually being used to produce goods. A capacity index is a measurement of the
utilization rate of the available productive capacity and is used to evaluate performance of various
sectors. Such a measurement of capacity utilization provides valuable information to decide how
much more could be produced economically without adding additional capital investment in
structures, machinery, logisticsetc.

Capacity utilization is very sensisitive to the industrial ecosystem and immediate environment.
The mining sector and utility sector, however, tend to have a significantly higher capacity
utilization rate on average than the other manufacturing sectorsiv.

Capacity utilization in mining means how much of the production capacity of a mine is currently
being utilized. The key performance indicators (KPI) reveals how much of a mining operation's
potential output is being met. While assessing capacity utilization in a mine one needs to includes
everything from machinery capacity to available resource utilization.

The capacity utilization rate in a given industry is equal to an output index divided by a capacity
index. In the US, the Federal Reserve Board's capacity index uses the concept of sustainable
maximum output-the greatest level of output a plant can maintain within the framework of a
realistic work schedule, after factoring in normal downtime and assuming sufficient availability of
inputs to operate the capital in place.v

2.1 CIL and Capacity Utiliszation

Assesment of capacity utilization is of major concern in today’s mining industry as the capital
investment in terms of machinery is quite large. Any lacuna in capacity utilization of these
machinery and high capital assets could adversely affect the projected IRR and future plans of a
mining project. Mere maintenance planning can improve the availability but keeping the machine
available does not imrove productivity. For improving availability, tools like Total Productive
Maintenance (TPM) was developed in the 1980s (Nakajima 1988)vi. However, availability does
not indicate productivity or mine pwrformance. In Indian mining industry there are several
examples where availability of deployed equipment is very high but effective working hours are
quite low leading to poor utilization factor. An example is illustrated in Table 1. Table 2 shows
the summary of capacity utilization of the different subsidiaries of CIL. Figure 1 shows the
capacity utilization for opencast mines for last five hours.

iv
https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2019/01/capacity-
utilization/?utm_source=series_page&utm_medium=related_content&utm_term=related_resources&utm_campaign
=fredblog
v
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CAPUTLG21S
vi
Nakajima S., 1988 Introduction to TPM, Productivity Press, Cambridge, MA., 1988.

2
Table 1 Availability and Utilization of Mining Machinery in Central Coal Fields Limited in last
two years
Equipment Av. Av. % Utilization Utlilization % % use of
Availability Availability Variation 18-19 17-18 Variation available
18-19 17-18 hors18-
19

Shovel 75.2 79.9 -5.9 40.9 40.4 1.1 54.4

Dumper 72.9 77.2 -5.5 35.4 36.1 -1.9 48.6
Drill 83.3 83.7 -0.5 28.2 28.3 -0.6 33.8
Dozer 73.0 67.1 8.8 20.8 21.2 -2.0 28.5

Table 2 Subsidiary wise utilization of OB removal capacity of CIL

Sl No Name of Subsidiary Capacity Utilization% Capacity Utilization
16-17 %17-18
1 Eastern Coal Fields Ltd 65 61
2 Bharat Cocking Coal Limited 63 62
3 CCL 68 66
4 WCL 84 79
5 SECL 73 69
6 NCL 69 75
7 MCL 68 69
C APACITY UTILIZATION (%) FO R OPENCAST MINES O F CIL
DURING LAS T FIVE YEARS

2013-14 2013-15 2013-16 2013-17 2013-18

102

100
95
92
88

84
83

80
79

76
76

76
75
73

73

73

73
72
71

70

70
69

69

69
68
68

68
67
66

66
65
63

63
62
60

59
58

55
52
50

ECL BCCL CCL WCL SECL NCL MCL CIL

Figure 1 The capacity utilization for opencast mines OF cil for the last five hours.
Subsidiary wise OB removal in Mm3 is shown in Table 3. The equipment population is shown in
Table 4.
Table 3 CIL’s OB production

3
Table 4 Population of Equipment in CIL and its subsidiaries

Figure 2 Yearly Coal Production (Mte) Trend of CIL during the last 10 years

Figure 1 and 2 shows that though CIL has been growing in its coal production to achieve 607.9
Mte of coal in 2018-19, most of the mines have produced less that their production capapcity. The
capacity utilization is directly related to the population of equipment and system utilization. The
scenario of equipment population and its utilization in one of the subsidiaries, MCL is shown in
Table 5 and 6. Table 7 gives the scenario of underground miningmachinery in this subsidiary.

Table 5 Population of machinery in opencast mines of MCL (2017)

Sl. No. Equipment Number
1 Dragline 2

4
 Shovel 85
4 Dumper 321
5 Dozer 116
6 Drill 91
Crane 70
Tyre Handler 21
Table 6 Capacity utilization (open cast projects) of MCL
DESCRIPTION CAPACITY (based CAPACITY GROWTH
on 1st April of 2016- (based on 1st OVER LAST
17 April of 2015- YEAR
16
Departmental 111.24 108.52 2.51% 2
Capacity (M.Cum)
System Capacity 290.20 291.36 -0.40% 3
(M.cum.)
Departmental 51.395 58.59 -12.28% 4
Production (M.Cum)
Total Production 207.202 180.52 14.78% 5
(M.Cum)
Departmental 46 % 54% -14.82% 6
Capacity Utilization
System Capacity 71.39% 61.96% 15.22%
Utilization
Table 7 Utilization of underground mining machinery at MCL during 2015-2017
Sl Name of the No. on roll 2015-2016 2016-17
No equipment
2015- 6 2016- % %Utility %Availabi %Utility
2016 17 Availability lity
1 Winder 6 6 66.66 85.51 66.61 101.46
2 Haulage 32 32 93.75 83.51 100 101.46
(main)
3 SDL 19 17 59.61 24.53 52.93 25.31
LHD 27 27 74.94 46.37 75.39 25.31
Main Pump 54 54 85.18 85.51 87.03 101.03
Vent Fan 13 11 76.92 85.51 87.03 101.46
Belt 71 71 77.46 85.51 90.91 101.46
Conveyor
Transformer 90 90 87.77 85.51 91.11 101.46
(Power)
Locomotive 5 4 100 85.51 50.00 101.46
Coal Drill 102 102 78.43 85.51 69.6 101.46
Mine car 50 65 100 85.51 69.23 101.46
UDM 13 13 100 85.51 100/00 101.46

5
It is observed from these examples that there is agrowing need of critical data analysis and to adopt
a method for measuring capacity utilization of machinery and system in the mines. Absence of
proper logistic support also leads to poor utilization of machinery and loss of capacity utilization.
For example, number of underground coal mines did not have man riding system until recently. In
MCL, man-riding systems are in operation at Hirakhand-Bundia Mine, Orient Mine no-2 of Orient
Area and Nandira UG mine of Talcher Area. During the year 2016-17, second man-riding system
has been installed at Orient Mine no-2. Another man riding system is also being installed at Orient
Mine no-2. The impact of this initiative was enhancement of utilization factor of the production
machinery.

Capacity utilization of coal mining in the US also is reported to be in a declining stage as can be
seen from the Figure 3

Figure 3 Trend ofcapacity utilization of coal mines in the US (source:

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CAPUTLN2121S)

For improving capacity utilization it is essential to determine Overall Equipment Effectiveness

(OEE) of the deployed machinery and to provide necessary logistic supports through proper
system design and development.

The importance of advanced maintenance in CIL can be realized from the figures of capital
invested in machines. For example the planned investement for coming 3 years is shown in Table
8…

Table 8 Approximate value of the proposed machinery addition in CIL

Machine Quantity Expected Costs (Million INR)
Dragline 6 11760
Shovel 77 23440
Dumper 342 42130
Dozer 119 4190
Drill 33 500

6
3 Measurements for Machinery Management
3.1 Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)
OEE is an indicator that reveals the combined effects of availability, performance and quality, for
the evaluation of equipment effectiveness industrial machinery. Sermin Elevli and Birol Elevli
(2010)vii reported how this approach can be applied to mining equipments such as shovel, truck,
drilling machine etc. Their application was based on increasing OEE by accounting for loss of
effective working hours and through a procure of recording time losses claimed improving the
OEE to contribute to better capacity utilization.

OEE is expressed as the multiplication of availability, performance and quality. Jeong and Phillips
(2001)viii discussed the measurement of operational efficiency and its effectiveness in assessing
performances of assets in the production system. Ljungberg (2001)ix.analysed TPM Activities
through measurement of Overall Equipment Effectiveness. Dal et al (2000)x reported improvement
of operational effectiveness by use of OEE approach.

OEE is measured as :

OEE = Availability × Performance × Quality……………….....(1)

3.2 OEE and Capacity Utilization

In a surface mining operation the productivity loss comes through failure of equipment, setting up
the equipment system by preparing the face and arranging for materials transfer, stoppages for
minor adjutments in operation or waiting for dependent operation or machines, increase of cycle
times due to geomining conditions or climatic conditions or unattended or unexpected situations,
reduction in yield due to reduced cutting speed of shovel or reduced penetration rate of drill or
reduced bucket fill factor due to poor bucket evacuation etc. The loss of revenue from the product
may arise due to occurrence of poor quality of coal or presence of dirt band in coal seam. All such
losses can be classified as downtime loss, speed loss or quality loss. These losses are assessed in
determining OEE by three factors called Aailability (A), Performance (P) and Quality (Q). These
factors are calculated based on how the total available time is used and the calculation procedure
is shown in the Figure 1(Elveli and Elveli, 2010).

vii
Performance Measurement of Mining Equipments by Utilizing OEE,Acta
Sermin Elevli and Birol Elevli, 2010,
Montanistica Slovaca Ročník 15 (2010), číslo 2, 95-101
viii
Jeong K. and Phillips D.T., Operational Efficiency and Effectiveness Measurement, International Journal of
Operations & Production Management, vol.21 no.11, p.g.1404, 2001.
ix Ljungberg O.m 2001, Measurement of Overall Equipment Effectiveness as a Basis for TPM Activities, International
Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol.21 no.11, p.g. 1404, 2001.
x
Dal B., Tugwell P. and Greatbanks R.: Overall Equipment Effectiveness as a Measure of Operational Improvement-
A Practical Analysis, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol.2 iss.12, p.g. 1488,
2000.

7
Figure 4 Calculation of Availability , Performance and Quality for OEE(after Elveli and Elveli,
2010)
In the mining system the operating time or calender hour is determined considering the scheduled
downtime. Normally 3 shifts operations per day, 7 days a week is followed with a scheduled
maintenanve time of fixed hours in the first shift. This gives the net available time for the machine.
During operations whenever the machine is stopped is recorded as downtime loss and the
availability is expressed in percentage as:
𝑂𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 − 𝐷𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
𝐴𝑣𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 % = × 100 %
𝑂𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
The Performance of the machine depends on its effective working hours. Out of the available time
i.e after taking into account the downtime, the net available time is often not utilized and the
machine suffers from performance loss. Considering the time losses that make the machine to
deliver less than its rated capacity as “speed loss” the performance is expressed as:
𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 × 100 𝑂𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 − 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑣𝑒 % = = × 100 %
𝐶𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑂𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
The Quality factor takes into account the loss of time in producing rejected or low quality products.
When the shovel is producing dirt bands it capacity to produce coal is reduced. Similarly, if the
shovel is loosing time in negotiating big boulders due to poor fragmentation, its capacity to produce
is reduced. Thus the Quality factor is calculated as:
𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 − 𝑈𝑛𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠
𝑄𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 % = × 100 %
𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠

Thus for determining capacity utilization by OEE approach using the Equation 1, it is essential to
record times as shown in Figure 4. This time recording can be automated by intelligent time
keeping in a machine control unit (MCU) installed at each machine in the surface mining system
by incorporatingin an advanced integrated asset management

3.3 Operating Time Accounting

For effective capacity utilization the loss time reduction is a critical issue. To identify the
chracteristics of loss time it is necessary to classified recording and accounting of operating
periods. The Taxonomy of Loss Classification will be different for different machinery. Based on

8
these taxonomy the automated recording system can be designed. Figure 5 gives the Taxonomy
for Loss Classification for mining shovels:

Figure 5 Taxonomy of loss classification for Shovel

The losses, once accounted, provide the Actual Available Time, Net Production Time and Valuable
Production Time for the determination of capacity utilization.

3.4 Measurement for Underground Mining Machinery

For equipments other than SDL & LHD for which no specific norm is available

𝐸𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑝𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐴𝑣𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒
% 𝐴𝑣𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 = × 100
𝐸𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑝𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑛 𝑅𝑜𝑙𝑙

𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝑈𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = × 100
𝑇𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

For SDL and LHD CIL norm is:

𝐻𝑤 + 𝐻𝑗
% 𝐴𝑣𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 =
𝐻𝑠

Where,

Hw = Actual working hours/year

Hj =Idle hours / year

9
Hs = Shift hours / year

3.5 Practice for Enhancing Availability & Utilization

Present practice for machinery management is mostly traditional maintenance management.
Advanced maintenance with condition monitoring has been introduced with number of high
capacity equipment. Recently procured high capacity machines are provided with mechatronics
based intelligent data acquisition system. Where the arrangements are to operate the machine by
the supplier, the condition monitoring and reliability based maintenance are being followed. The
general practices at most of the mines include:

a. Daily monitoring and reporting of production from HEMMs at Area level and at Headquarters
level.
b. Assesment of HEMM for surveying off and replacement through procurement proceedure.
c. Maintaining of sub-assemblies like Engines, Transmissions and other assemblies at Central
Workshops and provisions of inventories for excigencies.
d. Training of operating and maintaining crew by OEMs through number of programs.
e. Emphasising ergonomical design of the operators’ cabins and ensuring operator’s comfort.
f. Pre-monsoon Maintenance of haul roads.
g. Attending logistic and collateral issues like land acquisition, Law and Order problems and
labor relations to avoid unexpected downtimes of mining systems.
h. Planning provisions of power and fuel so that uninterrupted operatins are ensured.

In underground coal mining, where high end surveillance is not practicesd, accidental damage of
machines are high and therefore during the available period maximum utilization needs to be
derived. Some examples of surveying off of SDL is shown in Table 9.indicates that availabilityand
utilization of machines during the period of deployment does not clearly testify an expected OEE.
More attention is required towards the overall integrated technology management and machinery
maintenace.

Table 9 Example of premature survey off of underground mining machinery

Sl No Machine and incident Operational life at Normal Operational
premature survey off Life in 5 years
1 A massive fatal roof fall occurred at 5106 hrs in 5 years 6 16500 hrsin 5 years
Sushil Incline on 11.11.2013. The months
SDL machine got buried at 16WL,
21D. Attempt for recovery of the SDL
machine was taken with due
precautions but it was not successful
due to bulk size of rocks covering the
gallery and SDL.
Under the circumstances the
recovery and salvaging of the

10
 machine is not viable economically
and from safety point of view.
2 An Eimco Elecon make SDL, model 6573 Hrs in 7 years 11 16500 hrsin 5 years
625, Manufacturer’s sl. No. 625-1219 months
in Muruldih 20/21 Pits colliery under
WJ Area of BCCL.
3 Premature Survey off of SDL 8416 hrs. in 6 years 5 16500 hrsin 5 years
Machine S.No. 625-1299 of Western months
Jharia Area.

4 premature survey-off of Eimco 3120 hrs in 5 years 10 16500 hrsin 5 years

Elecon make SDL machine Sl. No. months
625-1421 of Lodna Area as the
machine got trapped due to drowning
of mine on 23.09.2011 and could not
be made serviceable and repairing
was not viable and justifiable.

4 Capacity Utilization through Maintenance Measurement

The maintenance engineering today uses the advacements of edge computing, machine learning
and artificial intelligence and is setting new maintenance trends. Technology management for
mining also being benefitted through the advanced maintenance for enhanced safety, productivity
and environmental performance. There are number of options available for adoption based on the
company’s budget, size and objectives.

Reactive and corrective interventions as a philosophy of maintaining a machine is no longer

practiced in modern systems. It is taken over by predictive and even prescriptive trends. Scheduled
preventive plans are also is executed differently after taking aut omated instrumentation feedback.
For better capacity utilization 5 common maintenance approaches are often selelcted. They are
briefly discussed below:

4.1 The Corrective / Reactive Maintenance Approach

This approached is adopted to restore a failed equipment or system back to normal operable state.
Corrective maintenance is a post failure detection initiative, whilst reactive maintenance is Carried
out for restoration after breakdown. This approach is not preferred in high capital intensive and
critical machines as lot of uncertainities are involved in such mainteancne policy.

This type of maintenance involves low short-term costs and the minimal planning. However, there
could be unplanned additional costs, production delay and lowering of the lifetime of the machine
being maintained. Therefore, this type of maintenance strategy is not recommended for HEMM
and critical systems. For equipment with less importance that does not adversely affect other

11
mining operations can adopt such maintenance. Normally where an equipment requires a higher
investment for preventive maintenance compared to the costs for repair, then corrective
maintenance is preferred. In surface mining equipment for auxiliary operations are sometimes
subjected to such type of maintenance.

4.2 Preventive Maintenance

This maintenance strategy involves periodic check-ups to prevent failures before they occur. Its
objective is to keep machine efficiently operating for a longer period without unexpected
breakdowns. Its benefit is fully realized when the gain through increased production by preventing
breakdown is more than the investment in preventiv maintenance. However, there could be more
than necessary maintenance attention to certin machinery components. This should be carefully
handled by properly adopting the maintenance schedule by due attention to the maintenance and
performance history of the equipment bening maintained. In mining for safety critical machinery
like winder, preventive maintenance and inspection is made mandatory by the mine regulations.
Sometimes insurance policy also make preventive maintenance strategy compulsory.

The purpose of preventive maintenance of mining machinery is to maximize their useful life and
munumize the life cycle costs. The cost reduction is realized through eliminating reactive
maintenance actions, This is done by carrying out regular inspections, lubrication, cleaning, oil
changes, adjustments, repairs, and partial or complete replacement of periodically scheduled parts.
The preventive maintenance becomes more effective when it can identify the faults with certainity.
Use of advanced mechatronics and machine learning can contribute to easy, quick and error free
fault detection. Once it is detected, mitigating measures are designed and executed.

4.3 Predictive Maintenance

Advances in machine condition monitoring has led to Predictive maintenance strategy. In this type
of maintenance based on the trends of the machine characteristics revealed by intermittently or
continuously monitored records, forecasting of equipment failure is made. The warning received
by the maintenance manager help him to take necessary actions to alleviate the causes and
improving the causes of such deteriraration. Surface mining machinery like dragline, BWE and
high capacity shovels, conveyor systems etc undergo routine condition monitoring of different
types. Few examples of condition monitoring tools are:

 Vibration analysis: vibrations can detect machine failures and determine equipment status
to schedule maintenance.
 Infrared thermography: infrared cameras can detect if a piece of equipment has an
unusually high temperature.
 Acoustic analysis: this analysis is performed using sonic or ultrasonic tests to detect liquid
or gas leaks.

12
  Analysis of the oil: by analyzing the oil condition, we can see the particle size and thus
know the state of the equipment.

4.4 Advanced condition monitoring system

In the context of digitalization and the Internet of Things (IoT), a lot has been said, done and
improved in the field of predictiuses a wide range of sensors. Recent trend of price reduction in
sensors have opened new opportunity for developing more condition monitoring system.
Condition based maintenance or predictive maintenance has several benefits like:

 Reduction in maintenance time

 Increased operating time in the life of the machine
 Reduction of loss time to increase OEE
 Avoiding unenecessary spare parts inventory consts

As 3rd party developer provides the condition monitoring services, it is often very costly. Indian
mining industry have not developed much indigenous monitoring technology and more attention
is necessary in this area.

4.5 Reliability-Centered Maintenance

To reduce the corporate level risks of non performing assets, reliability-centered maintenance
approach is adopted as a corporate-level maintenance strategy, Its objective is to optimize the
maintenance program by maintaining the function of the mining system and recognizing the failure
that affects the functions. To implement RCM it is necessary to identify the critical mining
operations. Maintenance operations are planned to improve the reliability of the critical systems
and machines. This approach contributes to increase in availability and reducesthe maintenance
and downtime costs.

4.6 Prescriptive Maintenance

The latest maintenance approach is presecriptive mainteancne. This is based on prescriptive
analytics. In this approach instead of predicting a failure, a prescription is prepared giving outcome
focused behavior for operations and maintenance. The information acquired through selected
sensor technology and by application of deep learning, prescriptive analytics reveal what will be
the outcome under forthcoming operational condition. This is used by the operation cum
maintenance experts to undertake necessary steps to enhance quality of the output, reduce loss
time and to increase operating speed. Thus presecriptive maintenance ensures improved OEE.
However, dependency of high end computing, analytic experts etc may render prescripting
maintenance as economically non viable.

Out of the above strategies a mine will have to selelct the most suitable option for it. Such selelction
criteria can be developed through proper investigation of the specifc mine. However, a general
guideline is shown in Figure 6

13
Figure 6 Basic guideline for selelcting machinery maintenance strategy for effective capacity
utilization
In Coal India Limited Condition based maintenance is practiced at few mines, but in general
preventive mainteancne is widely practiced because of the following reasons:

1. Reduced Production Downtime

2. Reduced Breakdowns
3. Cost Savings
4. Improved Productivity
5. Eliminate Ambiguity in Maintenance Tasks
6. Extended Equipment Life
7. Improved Customer Service and Reputation
8. Reduced Energy Waste
9. Improved Facility Security

4.7 Adopting multiple strategy through RCM

For enhancement of reliability and OEE, a multi-pronged approach is considered better. While
implementing RCM , it is also necessary to engage people of different backgrounds, such as
electricians, mechanics, controls specialists etc. can certainly help in listing down the possible
failure root causes and then come up with ideas for mitigation and prevention. Mining involves
deployment of different types of assets. All assets may not be suitable for a single strategy of
maintenance. Certain machines and assets could show very good OEE with a simple preventive
maintenance plan. When one adppts RCM, it helps in deciding multiple strategy in maintaining
the assets cost effectively and reliably.

Though RCM may not be applicable for all assets, undoubtedly it offers valuable insight into
preventing or fixing faults before they ever become a problem. By adopting RCM strategy a large
scale surface mine can identify the opportunities and methods to increase operational uptime and
can avoid root causes that lead to reduction in capacity utilization.

14
Number of issues need be addressed in planning such maintenance strategy. Few of these include
(after Bryan Christiansen:, 2019)xi

4.7.1 Training for employees

The maintenance crew must be adequately trained to understand the power of RCM before
involving them in the process of implementing RCM. The job profiles of the existing staff may
need to be changed with the transformation of the maintenance approach. Adequate training only
can ensure smooth transition to get achieve OEE. It must be emphasized that training program
must be planned with discussion with employees and ask the training provider to design the
training schedules accordingly. By selecting some employees and sending to a training program
designed by an external agency does not serve much.

4.7.2 Allowing time to asses impact on maintenance costs

By implementing a RCM strategy one shouldnot expect a reduction in maintenance costs
immediately. It may take 12-18 months of RCM implementation to notice considerable cost
benefits. It is essential that tracking the maintenance expenses to notice any savings. For this the
condition monitoring results are to be recorded and the baseline data must also be collected to
compare the operating performance variables before and after RCM. Plotting such data graphically
can assit in judging the trends better to take meaniful strategic decision.

4.7.3 Alignement with higher management

Maintenance work are carried out at the grass root level in the mines. The maintenance managers
carrying out day to day services may not have access to the higher management. There should be
system that the issues that slowly build up at the mines level, must be appropriately discussed at
higher level in presence of the line managers so that the decision makers can realize the critical
expectations and requirements at site for the benefits of RCM. Avoiding over promiose and under
deliver regading the requirements for maintenance strategy implementation is of paramount
importance for enhancing capacity utilization of machinery.

4.7.4 Improper data aquisition

Effective RCM implementation require right data for analyzing which of your assets and
equipment will require RCM. The maintenance logs, breakdown reports and the original
manufacturer’s recommendations from the manual are the sources which can enable to decide if
the logging system is adequate. Accuracy in data aquistion is very imp[ortant in correctly assessing
if the maintenance strategy is yielding reduced operational costs over time. The maintenance
manager must have good skill of data analysis and computer application in maintenance
manangement. It is essential that the maintenance personnel are adequately trained with the current
trend of data analytics.

xi
Briyan Christiansen, 2019, Implementing RCM? 5 Mistakes You Need to Avoid,
https://www.maintworld.com/Cmms/Implementing-RCM-5-Mistakes-You-Need-to-Avoid

15
5 Capacity Utilization dispelling misconceptios
Mining industry has evolved from slave dominated mineral production systems. Mechanization
and technology introduction in mining was rather slow. There are numerous miscontceptions
prevailing in mainteancne management in mines that everybody accepts. Some of these
misconceptions often lead to poor maintenance and reduced utilization and low OEE. Some such
misconceptions are listed below (after Torbjörn Idhammar, 2004xii):

1: Maintenance cost must be reduced quickly

Mines consider maintenance operations as cost centres. Expenditure in maintenance is not

considered as an investment for productivity. Drive for reduction of maintenance cost should not affect
initiatives to improve equipment reliability. Reduction of maintenance cost can invite problems of
frequent downtime and low production rate. Maintenance cost cannot be reduced quickly because it
takes time to improve equipment reliability. Improved reliability will reduce cost, but the reduced cost
will not improve reliability.

2: People don't like change

It is often said that any change will be opposed by workers as they they don’t want change. It may be
quite opposite, the workers will bereceptive to change when they are part of the process.

Instead of telling people don like changes, it is necessary to undertake open discussions and develop
new plan and work schedule keeping the workers into confidence. Involvement and acceptance of
changed system by worker can improve OEE.

3: People are our biggest asset

It is a misconcept to say people are company's biggest asset. Only the right people are a company's
biggest asset, and the wrong people are liabilities. The poor capacity utilization of CIL’s asset requires
investigation if right people are at right jobs. Because of this misconcept, underperforming people keep
growing in a company. To make people performing, system should help them to perform. For
improving capacity utilization, the amount of wasted time and energy must be compensated by
implementing good maintenance and reliability processes

4: Having more maintenance people on shift reduces downtime

Only by getting more mainteancne personnel will not improve maintenance performance. A
through checking is necessary if any additional menoiwer is required. Few questions that must be
answered are:

1. Do operators perform detailed equipment inspections? If not, make sure operators know
how to inspect a bearing, motor, coupling, hydraulic motor, fluid coupling, etc.
2. Do your maintenance people have detailed inspection lists, take readings, and analyze
trends in order to identify symptoms on equipment?

xii
Torbjörn Idhammar, 2004, Maintenance management legends,
https://www.plantengineering.com/articles/maintenance-management-legends/

16
 3. Do you use your craftspeople by having well-planned jobs for them?
4. Do you schedule maintenance jobs in coordination with operations?

Instead of increasing menpower for inspection and maintenance, high-quality inspections must be
carried out by well trained experts to reveal machinery problems

5: We can't motivate maintenance craftspeople to improve reliability because they make more
money when things break down
Maintenance people typically do make more money when things break down. Therefore the
maineance crews can't be motivated to improve reliability and maintenance because higher
equipment reliability will reduce the amount of overtime. However, it is not always true, people
solve problems to get name fame and pride. However, incentive system should be there to the
maintenance worker.

6: New computer software (CMMS) will improve reliability and maintenance performance
It is a misconcept that a computer software will improve maintenance and OEE. Maintenance crew
and their operational skill are the most important , computer assist to enhance the capability of the
workers.

7: Equipment criticality decides inspection frequency

People think inspection should be for the critical components only. But only failure records should
not decide criticality. The reliability of the components may be dependednt on other non critical
component. Therefore, the criticality based decision of inspection frequency may be out of
misconception.

6 Capacity Utilization and Advanced Technology

6.1 Gearless Drives
The growing demand for raw materials means that its extraction, transportation, and processing
requires higher throughput resulting in larger machines and higher drive powers. The requirements
relating to reliability, efficiency and availability of the drive solutions are also on the rise. Gearless
drives with low-speed synchronous motors are a well-proven solution when more megawatts of drive
power are required for mining applications

6.1.1 Belt conveyors with gearless drives

Gearless drives have been becoming an ever more relevant solution for conveyor belts the past few
years. Where several megawatts of power are required at a drive pulley, gearless drives are a real
alternative to conventional drive solutions with gearboxes. In Germany a conveyor belt is already in
operation since 1985, in which the driving pulley uses a gearless system with two synchronous
motors, each with 3.1 MW of rated power. According to the operating company RAG, this belt conveyor
running in Prosper Haniel offers high availability without any significant interruptions or failures
attributable to the drive system (synchronous motor, converter).

17
At the end of 2012, two drives were commissioned, each with a nominal power of 3.8 MW, at the
conveyor system in Antapaccay, Peru (operating company: XSTRATA; construction of the belt
conveyor by ThyssenKrupp). Up to 5,260 tons of copper ore are transported per hour from the mine
to a processing plant over a length of 6.5km on a 1,370 mm wide belt. In 2013, nine additional gearless
drives (4x 4.4 MW and 5x 5.056 MW) were supplied – and are installed and commissioned in mines
in Peru and Chile.
6.2 Advanced Measurement Technique and Mainteannce Software
6.2.1 Digital ultrasonic testing
Ultrasound specialist SONOTEC has launched a new modular software platform SONAPHONE
DataSuite for the digital ultrasonic testing device called SONAPHONE to save energy, prevent
production losses and increase the availability of their machines and systems using ultrasonic testing technology.
This is being used in air compressor plant for Leak detection and evaluation, Detection of partial
discharges, Condition monitoring, Steam trap testing.

6.2.2 On line fault detection instruments

For the large number of induction motors used in heavy machines in mining, it is possible that an online motor
fault detection and elimination technology will contribute to higher capacity utilization of machinery.

7 Improving Effective Life Asset

It is essential to determine the gaps that is leading to poor capacity utilization. A life cycle cost
approach of Asset Management following ISO 55000 and application of terotechnology has good
potential for enhancing CIL’s asset performance. Depreciation of property, plant and equipment,
except freehold land, is provided as per cost model on straight line basis over the estimated useful
lives of the asset. The norms followed as given below need to be reassessed.

Other Land (incl. Leasehold Land) : Life of the project or lease term whichever is lower
Building : 3-60 years
Roads : 3-10 years
Telecommunication : 3-9 years
Railway Sidings : 15 years
Plant and Equipment : 5-15 years
Computers and Laptops : 3 Years
Office equipment : 3-6 years
Furniture and Fixtures : 10 years
Vehicles : 8-10 years
The present management through outsourcing is also to be reevaluated particularly relook is
needed for developing the norms for contracting. Lack of in-house workshops and maintenance
personnel normally ends up in poor OEE. For advanced asset management is essential to introduce
proper maintenance programs and thus investments in maintenance.

Insistance on L1 in procuring spareparts is also affect adversely as sub-standard parts are given
priority due to the cost factor. Asset management procedure will have to highlight the data keeping,
load capacity, equipment conditions, field conditions etc that get ignored in procurement

18
management. Systematic scientific asset management need to be incorporated into the mi9ne
management system.

8 Conclusion
Considering the large scale investment being made in enhancing the production capacity of Indian
coal mines, it is now very important to plan for ensuring capacity utilization of these machines and
assets. Advanced technology and data analytics for mining will have to address bigger uissues for
improvement of OEE. For this the most essential is selection of right type of equipment and their
maintenance strategy. Creating positive ecosystem for result oriented maintenance management
of the mining assets and scientific implementation of ISO 55000 for mining asset management
could improve CIL’s capacity utilization to reach the tartget of 1 Bte annual capacity cost
effectively.

19