Collaborative effort results in R9.6m in savings
The strategic intent of Kumba Iron ore to reduce production cost by $10 per tonne not only sparked collaboration and innovation that resulted in significant cost savings, but it also contributed meaningfully to safety, improved productivity and sustainable results.
“We set an objective of extending the service intervals of the fleet of six Komatsu 730-8 trucks from 250hrs to 500hrs at Kolomela mine. The collaborative efforts of our team of internal and external stakeholders, resulting in much more than we aimed for”, said Janus van Zyl, senior specialist engineer maintenance systems based at Head Office, who headed the project.
THE BENEFITS:
The project succeeded in doubling the service intervals. Because of the extended service intervals, the benefit resulted in 72 additional production shifts per year. The potential direct production benefit was an additional 400,000 tonnes of waste could be hauled, with a cost avoidance or saving, to the value of R9,6 million per annum, for the remainder of the fleet life.
This initiative also resulted in the following indirect benefits:
Reducing other Heavy Mobile Equipment (HME) downtime due to less congestion in the workshop
Reducing oil usage with approximately 160,000 litres per annum, contributing to less hazardous environmental waste
Reducing contractor labour cost due to 50% less services
Schedule alignment of all trucks to 500 hrs service assisting the Operating Model Process
Enhancing safety – less maintenance required, less man-machine interfacing
* Excerpt from article published in Insite magazine
