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m a i n t e n a n c e c o n t i n u e d January 2016 www.coalage.com 35 conditions are not corrected, im- proved or eliminated: • Could the most dedicated and willing maintenance department do a good job if they are referred to as a "neces- sary evil," a "cost-reduction challenge" and a "seat-of-the-pants" activity? • What maintenance manager could car- ry out his responsibilities effectively if they are influenced by the actions or omissions (even if unintended) of oth- er departments? • How motivated would such a mainten- ance manager be if a mine manager acknowledged that maintenance re- quired the help of all other depart- ments but did nothing about it? • What maintenance department could control internal procedures or influ- ence interdepartmental actions if they had been furnished an overly complex in-formation system intended primari- ly for accounting that totally neglected the vital maintenance activity of work control? • How many mine managers whose maintenance activities consume more than 40% of operating costs neglect to verify the quality and effectiveness of maintenance services? • How many mine managers know that the control of maintenance labor is a vital function to its success, yet resist measuring workforce productivity? But, what maintenance organization could succeed if they knew that their success depended on the help of all other depart- ments but they failed to tell these depart- ments how they could help? Would they be surprised when no help arrives, or whatever assistance provided is not helpful because it was based on guesswork by departments otherwise willing to assist? Thus, the need for a quality maintenance program involves an entire mining operation. The Production Strategy as a Solution Mining corporations expect efficient oper- ation and profitability from subordinate operations. Guidelines in the form of mis- sions, objectives or policies are transmit- ted to individual operations for conversion into actions that will achieve the desired results. A production strategy can be the mine manager's plan for achieving corpo- rate objectives. The production strategy assigns objectives (responsibilities) to all departments, to include how they will car- ry out or support maintenance. The strate- gy would also include policies for carrying out internal activities like planning or interdepartmental actions such as ware- housing or purchasing providing needed materials for maintenance. Based on the manager's objectives and policies, individ- ual departments could devise or align pro- cedures for internal departmental actions like maintenance planning and interde- partmental actions like the conduct of operations/maintenance scheduling. In turn, these collective procedures would constitute departmental programs in which interdepartmental actions overlap. The maintenance program, for example, would explain how maintenance planners order or reserve warehouse parts and materials. The warehouse program, in turn, would explain how to alert planners that the requested parts are available and the procedures for pickup or job site deliv- ery (see Figure 2-2). Outlining Clear Objectives All departments require clear objectives so that their actions are aligned with the intent of the mine manager's production strategy. Maintenance objective — (1) Keep production equipment in a safe, effective, as designed, operating condition so that production tar- gets can be met on time and at least cost. (2) Perform approved, proper- ly engineered and correctly funded nonmaintenance work (such as construction and equipment instal- lation) only when work does not reduce the capability for carrying out maintenance. (3) Operate sup- port facilities (such as power gener- ation) if necessary resources are allocated within the authorized workforce and are properly budget- ed. (4) Monitor performance of contractor support when utilized to perform maintenance or capital work. The objective clarifies maintenance responsibilities and precedence. Wording is important. "As designed" means that equipment modification is not mainte- nance. Project work is nonmaintenance work requiring management-level approval, proper engineering and capital Figure 2-1 — Corporate guidelines encourage a meaningful response from subordinate mining operations. The response could be a production strategy based on proven techniques, principles and solid objectives necessary to achieve an effective mine operation. To bring about this outcome, objectives are assigned to confirm depart- ment responsibilities. Then, policies are added to clarify departmental interactions. From these objectives and policies, departments develop day-to-day procedures and incorporate them into departmental programs for implementation. Testing confirms their validity and, if required, modification of the production strategy. These steps help ensure that maintenance is working in a supportive environment necessary to continue on to world- class objectives.