Asset Performance Management: Conceptual Model to Apply OEE to a Continuous Process

Antoine Snyman

INTRODUCTION

Even though the demand for the platinum group metals (PGM) grew roughly 10 times over the last 40 years, the price remained the stable.  This forces organisations to focus on asset management with specific attention to the measurement of utilisation and performance of assets. 

In the article titled Asset Performance Management: Proposing a Conceptual Model to Apply OEE to a Continuous Process a conceptual model was presented.  This article follows on that and the objective of is to test the proposed model with actual results and prove the validity thereof.

Proposing a Conceptual Model to Apply OEE to a Continuous Process

Antoine Snyman

INTRODUCTION

Even though the demand for the platinum group metals (PGM) grew roughly 10 times over the last 40 years, the price remained the stable.  Due to this, organisations in the PGM sector are faced with the challenge to produce more with their existing resources and engineering assets.  Naturally these organisations respond with cost reduction; a focus which may have a severely negative impact on the organisation’s performance (Pretorius, 2004) and focus should rather be placed on asset management; however, very few organisations operating in the primary processing stages of the PGM sector pay attention to the measurement of utilisation and performance of assets. 

The objective of this article is to present a model based on the principles Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) to suggest how asset performance can be measured in a continuous process (specifically concentrators) in the PGM sector of a major mining house in South Africa.  The model can be applied to any continuous process.