Improvement of overall equipment performance of underground mining machines- a case study

Abstract

Production and productivity of any industry mainly depends on effective utilization of men and machinery. Underground mine production for the last few decades in India is not in satisfactory level, due to less mechanization. The maximum amount is expended for introducing the large scale mechanized equipment. Hence, mechanization in loading system has made advantageous towards production. In spite of this Load Haul Dumper (LHD) is one and used as loading and hauling machine for intermediate of operation. During the operation of the equipment, possible major breakdowns are occurred in some aspects. Therefore, these lead to reduce the percentage availability and utilization of the machines. As a result of this, it is very essential to analyze the performance of LHD machines, to reduce the cost during the operations. The higher availability of machine gives an optimum utilization, which increase the production and productivity of these principal intensive items. Keeping this in view, this paper focuses on improvement of overall equipment performance (OEP) by calculating the percentage availability and capacity utilization of LHDs in underground mines. Further an attempt is also emphasized to identify the contributing factors of performance improvement. Copyright 2017 IIETA. All Rights Reserved.