Proactive maintenance solutions boost productivity for mining industry

A new suite of service offerings designed to simplify maintenance and improve the operational health of crucial mining assets has been launched.

A recent study undertaken by ABB to assess mine hoist maintenance showed that, on average, customers with proactive maintenance strategies had 15% higher availability of hoists than those primarily using reactive maintenance.

The company has extended its Care programme to mining automation and hoisting, offering proactive and preventive services designed to ensure operations run smoothly and efficiently. The programme offers a standardised service framework built around the company’s services and digital technologies and is designed to give users the benefits of optimised performance, maximised availability, reduced unplanned maintenance and downtime, improved safety and overall savings on maintenance costs.

The Care for Mining Automation offering gives customers access to a customisable set of services ranging from alarm management and cybersecurity to lifecycle management and loop performance.

“We know that every mine is different and that’s why we’ve created ABB Care for Mining Automation, so that our customers can choose the right service solutions for them,” said ABB Process Industries global business line manager Max Luedtke.

The Care for Hoisting program offers tiered service plans designed to address challenges across all elements of the hoist system from the powertrain to the brake systems and includes remote support, guaranteed response times, annual inspections and a maintenance time bank.

“Mine hoist systems are at the very of heart of many mining operations around the world,” said ABB Process Industries global business line manager for hoisting Björn Jonsson. “They offer the most efficient way to transport heavy loads of ore from the depths and must therefore operate at the highest possible levels of reliability and productivity. ABB Care for hoisting provides customers with a solution to swiftly adopt a predictive maintenance approach, enabling them to reach world class maintenance standards established by ABB, and keep these crucial components operating with minimal availability loss.”