Page 271 - TPM A Route to World-Class Performance

Casestudies 245

After the core team comes to the end of its work, they know each
other better and go on talking to each other and exchanging ideas.
Adds Peter:

We‘ve got to give the customer what he wants at the right price
- and that means a reliable supply of consistently good quality
coal.
Gone are the days when a coal prep plant was there just to
remove the dirt. We’re no different to Cadbury or Toyota whose
customers demand quality and we want Daw Mill’s name to be
synonymous with a good quahty product so that when it comes
to fighting in the market place, we make sure we win more than
we lose.

6.0 The TPM approach cuts costly delays

Trend-spotting heading men are reducing costly delays by up to 10 per cent.
The TPM approach has provided Daw Mill with vital information on machine
reliability which is building an accurate picture of the day-to-day running of
301’s tailgate.
A core team of five development men, a fitter and an eledrician dedicated
to bringing improvements in the high priority drivage that’s seen the barometer
- performance effectiveness - rise. Put another way, 5.2 x 3.7 metre wide
development using 29 bolts a metre for both roof and ribs and supported
with steel has opened out 120 per cent of plan since TPM was introduced.
Says Command Supervisor, Mark Gee: ’While major breakdowns are dealt
with immehately, the main aim is spotting trends which have the knock-on
effect of a few minutes lost regularly here and there.’
After a close study of the drill rigs on the bolter miner, the trend-spotting
team discovered, through analysis of production loss problems, that running
time was low. By monitoring delay times and causes, various problems were
pinpointed on the drill rigs, which were clocking delays the equivalent of
one shift every week. The heading often had to stop because of fhg hose
seals and burst hoses.
Among the recurring hold-ups the team spotted was the delay with fitters
getting spares for four different types of hose fittings. The problem was simply
solved and valuable time saved by standarhing the hoses.
Many ideas on problem solving have come from the men, who are playing
an important part in helping to record accurately what is going wrong.
The whole team is involved with decisions - more involvement means a
greater interest in getting hgs done. They now have pride in the district
and a sense of ownership.
For Mark Gee, the team’s facilitator, who has been a supervisor for Ween
years, the new business environment at Daw Mill has taken some getting
used to.