1. Digital Re-print - March | April 2013 Managing mill maintenance- Maintenance options and challengesGrain & Feed Milling Technology is published six times a year by Perendale Publishers Ltd of the United Kingdom.All data is published in good faith, based on information received, and while every care is taken to prevent inaccuracies,the publishers accept no liability for any errors or omissions or for the consequences of action taken on the basis ofinformation published.Copyright 2013 Perendale Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any formor by any means without prior permission of the copyright owner. Printed by Perendale Publishers Ltd. ISSN: 1466-3872www.gfmt.co.uk

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Replace your steel buckets with Tapco the buckets with the memory. ELEVATOR BUCKETS - ELEVATOR BOLTS225 Rock Industrial Park Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63044 U.S.A. Tel.: +1 314 739 9191 Fax: +1 314 739 5880 Email: info@tapcoinc.com www.tapcoinc.comThe color blue, when used in connection with elevator buckets, is a U.S. registered trademark owned by Tapco Inc. 2011 Tapco Inc. All rights reserved. 3. FEATUREManaging mill maintenanceMaintenance options and challenges by Alice Neal, associate editor, Grain and Feed MillingTechnology, United KingdomLets be honest: maintenance is not thepresident, Feed Services, National Grain andgreater emphasis on the importance of perform-most glamorous topic in milling. It isFeed Association, United States.ing and documenting maintenance activities.rarely something that gets people excited One of the biggest difficulties in maintenanceHowever, its not necessarily all about puttingor attracts a great deal of new inventionsis cost. The grain and feed industry is a highly pen to paper and logging maintenance manually.and technologies. However, I hear time andcompetitive, low-margin business. Making theThere is a variety of computer software on thetime again that well looked after equipment maintenance programme perform in the most market which has been specifically designed tois just as important as raw materials incost-effective manner possible is an on-going track and monitor the maintenance process.producing a top quality end product.challenge that every facility faces, says Fairfield. These programs can be part of automa-tion systems designed for the whole mill orThere are various types of maintenance andMaintenance benefitspurchased as stand alone packages specificallythe type used will depend on the needs andBroadly speaking the benefits of an effective to monitor maintenance.resources of each individual mill. Regardless ofmaintenance programme can be broken downA package will typically include systems forthe maintenance options used, a comprehen-into three categories: avoiding breakdowns; efficient equipment data and repair history, parts inven-sive maintenance programme is integral to the equipment; a safe working environment. Preventing tory, maintenance schedules, maintenance worksmooth running of a mill. breakdowns helps avoid costly downtime and bigscheduling and report generation. Frequently, The success of all aspects of grain and repair bills. Equipment that is not looked after will,each area within the program is interactive byfeed facility operations, such as quality, safety,over time, stop working efficiently and will producedesign; for example when parts are used, thehousekeeping and customer service, is affectedan inferior product. And as an employer, you have spare parts inventory levels are reduced andby the effectiveness of a facilitys preventive a duty to ensure that the mill is a safe place to work. equipment repair history updated.maintenance programme making an appro-This reduces the time required to manu-priate programme a priority in todays highly Changing maintenanceally update separate records and helps improvecompetitive market, says David Fairfield, viceIncreased regulatory requirements have put record keeping accuracy, says Fairfield.Approaches to maintenance scheduled basis. A possible disadvantage of be too expensive when evaluated against the David Fairfield, vice president, Feedthis type of system is that the right mainte- frequency, cost, and consequences of equip-Services, National Grain and Feed Association,nance mix is not achieved. When this occurs,ment failure.United States explains the key maintenancea facility may in some instances experienceoptions.equipment failures due to inadequate inspec-Reliability centred maintenancetion and servicing. In other instances, it may be A reliability centred maintenance pro-Reactive maintenancewasting maintenance dollars by spending too gramme establishes a program framework This approach follows the if it aint broke,much time servicing and inspecting properly that helps ensure that the proper main-dont fix it or run-to-failure principle. Reactive functioning equipment.tenance activity is performed at the rightmaintenance is a form of maintenance in time, and that the equipment is operatedwhich equipment and facilities are repaired Predictive maintenancein a way that maximizes its opportunity toonly in response to a breakdown or a fault. Predictive maintenance - often referred achieve a reliability level that is consistent This type of system has a minimal pro- to as condition monitoring - may be defined with the safety, environmental, operational,gramme cost structure, but that can be offset as the use of maintenance techniques to and profit goals of the facility. This is achievedby very significant costs associated with equip-help determine the condition of in-serviceby addressing the basic causes of equipmentment repair and lost production.equipment and systems in order to predict and system failures and ensuring that therewhen maintenance should be performed. The are facility plans in place to prevent or lessenPreventive maintenanceultimate goal of predictive maintenance is to the business impact of such failures whenA preventive maintenance programmeperform maintenance at a scheduled point in they occur.includes procedures for inspecting, testing, andtime when the activity may be accomplishedEstablishing a reliability centred mainte-reconditioning equipment and other systemsin the most cost-effective manner and beforenance program typically involves a consider-at regular intervals according to specific instruc- the equipment or system loses optimum able investment in time to identify the appro-tions. The goals in performing such proceduresperformance.priate maintenance regime for the facility. Thisare to prevent failures in service and to Predictive maintenance techniques can betype of programme may be best suited forprolong the life of the equipment or system.especially valuable for sophisticated equip-large, complex operations, but once imple-This type of system typically provides thement that is critical to a facilitys operation.mented can be cost-effective because targetedadvantage of a defined framework in which However, predictive maintenance may require and appropriate activities are applied acrossmaintenance activities can take place on aspecialised equipment and training, which may the entire facility.34 | march - april 2013 Grain&feed millinG technoloGy 4. FEATURE Maintenance case study What specific areas do you consider What are the consequences of not Name: Tom Smolen when thing about maintenance? planning maintenance work? Job title: Plant Manager All are critical to an operation. How can A dirty operation and one that cannot stay Company: Kent Nutrition Groupwe do better, whether by new equipmentoperational. Country: USA or by changing how we utilize the existingequipment to perform better? Can we How do you balance schedulechange something to improve our opera-planned repairs and up-grades with Can you give a short overview of whattion? Sanitation is critical since our endemergencies? you do?user is the consumer and they are buyingEmergencies take priority but we plan our I manage the overall operations of a live- the animals we manufacture for, so we maintenance to avoid having the emergen- stock feed mill. We produce all types of need to consider the overall nature of ourcies. Doing the inspections and lubrications animal feeds in meal and pelleted forms. product and follow GMPs and HACCPkeep us ahead of emergencies. We are a one-shift operation, producingfundamentals. product five days a week.What are the biggest problems youMost companies are concerned abouthave related to maintenance? How do How do you manage different types of keeping costs down. How can goodyou deal with them? maintenance? maintenance play a part in this?Budgets. We plan our maintenance so Maintenance is a wide variety of forms,It is always easier and cheaper to plan we can follow our budget. As we follow preventative, inspection, emergency, downtime on a piece of equipment, thanour schedule we adjust our priorities and training. When managing an oper- have the equipment go down and now youand may have to put off some items ation you need to be sure all aspectsneed to spend excess time to either get ituntil we can better afford to do it. That are covered. As new pieces of equip- running and come back later to fix it, or does not mean we disregard mainte- ment are introduced, you need to overtime to fix it right. A well maintained nance on items, we just delay some ensure your maintenance staff are up-plant runs smoother and stays cleaner.upgrades. to-date on looking after it. Downtime needs to be scheduled and planned forHow important is it to have a How much of an issue is downtime due within the parameters of production. maintenance schedule? to maintenance? Everything revolves around customerIt is critical. When costs are tight, mainte- Almost non-existent. service and quality. A mill needs thenance always seems to be the first thing to equipment functioning properly tocut back on. But if one has a schedule to What advice would you give to millers deliver a quality product when the follow, then you can also plan your costs to ensure effective maintenance? customer needs it. and control your budget better. Just do it. THE BEST WAY TO PREDICT THE FUTURE IS TO CREATE IT. Peter F. Drucker Why retire a workhorse thats still doing the job? Simply put, your old dryer may be costing you a bundle. In fact, todays Wenger dryer could save you enough in operating efficiency alone to cover the replacement of your old dryer. Additionally, our new advanced dryer designs give you less potential for cross-contamination and bacteria build-up; feature new direct drive spreaders for level product bed and uniformity of final prod- uct moisture; and afford quicker, easier inspection and cleaning. Contact us now. With new concepts and fresh initiatives, were ready to help you develop the product possibilities of the future. Turning ideas into opportunities. PROGRESSIVE FEED PROCESSINGWhat will tomorrow bringwenger.comBElGIUm TAIWAN BRASIl CHINA TURkEY INDIAWenger12_Feed_210x147mm.indd 1 6/21/12 3:47 PM Grain&feed millinG technoloGy march - april 2013 | 35 5. This digital Re-print is part of the March | April 2013 edition of Grain & Feed Milling Technology magazine. 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March - April 2013first published in 1891 See the full issueIn this issue: Additives for flourstandardisationPart I: Enzymes Measures forincreasingthe energy Visit the GFMT websiteefficiency ofUFA feedmills inSwitzerland Contact the GFMT TeamFine grinding andBS3 Xylanase Importanceimprove of traceproductivity in mineralsweaners for nutrientstability infeed SuperManaging mill Subscribe to GFMTchilled maintenancegrains- Maintenanceoptions andchallenges INCORPORATING PORTS, DISTRIBUTION AND FORMULATIONA subscription magazine for the global flour & feed milling industries - first published in 1891 To purchase a paper copy of the magazine, or to subscribe to the paper edi- tion please contact our Circulation and Subscriptions Manager on the link adove.INFORMATION FOR ADVERTISERS - CLICK HERE Article reprints All Grain & Feed Milling Tecchnology feature articles can be re-printed as a 4 or 8 page booklets (these have been used as point of sale materials, promotional materials for shows and exhibitions etc). 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