Festival of Maintenance
Description
“In 1533 a noblewoman in Calais presented a visiting grandee with a peculiar gift: her personal toothpick, which, she was eager to point out, she had used for seven years.” The visitor’s reaction was not recorded but this tale launched an unusual conference “dedicated to keeping things in good nick.” Held at the Museum of London, its observations were reported in the October 20th issue of the Economist.
“Events about making new things are ten-a-penny but less common are events about keeping things as good as new. Maintenance is often dismissed as mere drudgery but - - repair is often trickier than making them.”
“Maintenance lacks the glamour of innovation and it is mostly noticed by its absence -- the tear in a shirt, the mold on a ceiling, the sputtering of an engine.”
“It (wear and tear or ‘consumption of fixed capital’) is also more difficult to measure. Statisticians must estimate the lifespan of (assets) and make assumptions about how they deteriorate. Some are like light bulbs, which work well until they stop altogether while other assets were assumed to wear out in a straight line.”
These observations suggest that maintenance is a difficult to execute, measure or manage activity. But they also raise questions.
Why is maintenance improvement a perpetual mining industry goal?
Are enough of the right things being done to achieve necessary improvements?
Do decision-makers know what to do?
Is there acknowledgement that effective maintenance is the single most important guarantee of reliable equipment that can ensure a successful mining operation?
