APPLYING ELEMENTS OF A TOTAL EQUIPMENT CARE STRATEGY TO ANALYZE THE OPERATION OF MINING MACHINERY

Abstract

The Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) strategy includes a group of actions and activities to keep machines up and running free of breakdowns by striving to limit the number of machine failures, unscheduled shutdowns, deficiencies and unscheduled maintenance. These actions are aimed at increasing the efficiency of using the company’s existing devices and machines. A very important element of this strategy is the connection of technical activities with changes in their perception by employees. While the fundamental goal of implementing this strategy is to increase the economic efficiency of the enterprise. Growing competition and the need to reduce production costs lead to the fact that mining enterprises are forced to implement this strategy. The article presents examples of using the OEE model to quantify selected mining devices. The OEE model is a quantitative tool for the TPM strategy and can be the basis for further work related to its implementation. OEE is the product of three components, including the availability and performance of the machine under study, and the quality of the resulting product. The results of a study on the effectiveness of utilizing a set of mining machinery within the longwall system, the primary component of coal mining operations, are detailed in the article. The machinery set under examination consists of a longwall miner, a reinforced face conveyor, and a crusher. In terms of reliability, the analyzed machinery set forms a system with a serial structure. The study relied on data collected by an industrial automation system implemented in mining operations, ensuring high reliability and full temporal synchronization of the data. The insights derived from the study are meant to be applied towards reducing breakdowns and failures, minimizing unplanned downtimes, enhancing productivity, and elevating the quality of products.