Many plants have to evaluate whether to do major component replacements in-house or take advantage of OEM service teams to complement their site personnel’s efforts. Baden Parker, Senior Manager, Global Field Services with Metso Outotec, shares his thoughts on what needs to be considered when dealing with these major service events.
When it comes to replacing major components for gyratory, cone and jaw crushers, finding the right personnel who are trained for these specialised tasks can be a challenge. Bottom shells, mainshafts or gears eventually need replacement or even an upgrade to take advantage of product improvements. Large and heavy parts often require specialised handling and installation procedures, as well as specialised tools to ensure safety.
When replacing an eccentric, a pitman, a pinion or any other major crusher component, many questions can come up. Has the site planned this type of work before, and does it have all the right tools? Are all the service steps perfectly understood to do the work safely and efficiently? Are there experienced personnel available to execute the part change-out? Does the site service team know what to look for to make sure the parts come together properly? Are new parts to be used or are the existing parts that are going to be re-used in good condition?
Using in-house expertise, OEM support or both
Many mine sites and plants try to tackle these types of crusher component change-outs with their in-house capabilities. However, even with sites that have strong maintenance teams, there are many challenges that may not be considered. Some sites may have to deal with high turnover in key service positions, leading to uncertainty in how to perform these major and non-routine maintenance tasks. Other plants need to service many models and brands of equipment and may not have the specialised knowledge that comes from performing complicated parts’ change-outs on a regular basis. There is also the constant struggle between production and maintenance aims and goals. When the pressure is on to increase production, there can be the temptation to shortcut maintenance times, which can lead to equipment problems or safety concerns that outweigh the time saved doing the actual work.
Having served at mine sites for 10 years, holding roles such as Shift Mechanical Fitter, Leading Hand, Supervisor, Senior Supervisor & Maintenance Planner before joining Metso Outotec as a crusher maintenance expert, has given me a broad view when it comes to service operations. I gained considerable knowledge on the life cycle of a site’s crushing assets and the maintenance required to ensure equipment reliability and, in turn, plant availability. I can say with confidence that if the on-site crews are well trained, many routine tasks can be handled safely and competently. However, a typical maintenance mentality that I observed (and personally held for some time) is ‘We can fix anything ourselves’ and that calling in the OEM was not needed, as we could work out the best ways of working ourselves. For many routine component replacements, this was indeed true enough.
However, over time I changed my view and realised that, in many cases, OEM support complemented a site team’s strengths and led to a far better result in terms of efficiently maintaining a site’s crushing equipment. I would like to share just a couple of examples that I have seen first-hand, relating to gyratory crusher component replacement work, that display how not pulling in needed know-how can be detrimental and potentially costly.
