World Grain - November 2009 - 77

FEEDOPERATIONS

ment: when it was made, where and by
whom, who the current contact is for
spare parts for that machine, and how
much it has cost you in spare parts since
it was installed. You should also know
when it was last worked on, by whom,
and when it is planned for its next maintenance shutdown.
This information can be on a small
computer package, and there are many
out there that will do the job. Invariably,
your mill equipment supplier will advise
you of a suitable package and can let
you have one they recommend at very
little cost.
Alternatively, you can derive your
own system as many millers have
done. Invariably, once the wrinkles and
snags are sorted, these "do-it-yourself "
schemes get computerized and often end
up being run by the person who does the
spare parts purchasing. There is a temptation, however, to create a job out of
nothing in this situation. If you aren't
careful, the tail wags the dog rather than
driving your own maintenance scheme
in line with the need of the business and
your customer.
Whether you operate on a seasonal
"campaign" basis or you have a weekly
shutdown for maintenance, the same basic principles apply. You want to get the
longest life possible out of your machinery without encountering excessive cost
in the power department.
Knowing when to replace equipment
parts is critical to a mill's bottom line.
In mills where maintenance is only done
every few months, the temptation is to
change everything at shutdown time
because of the length to the next down
period. When replacement is not possible, it is surprising how much longer

equipment parts can be left to run, although the one item that should not be
"nursed" along is the pellet mill die.
When these start to lose output, change
them immediately. You might upset one

and you do not have or do not want
your own maintenance crews hanging around between shutdowns, then it
makes sense to bring in maintenance
crews when you need them. Doing this

By taking a walk around the mill when the compressors are running and the mill is stopped, you can quickly pinpoint where compressed air is leaking. By tracking them down and fixing them,
you will soon find your compressors running off load more often.

customer who wanted his feed that day,
but you will keep many more happy that
wouldn't have received their feed the
next day if you had kept trying to persevere with the old die.
Maintenance planning goes hand in
hand with budgeting, if done correctly,
and is a very good way to control costs.
Some of the maintenance programs that
can generate work sheets are also related
to tonnage throughput, which not only
ties your shutdowns to volume but also
means that your expense is volume related rather than time related.
If you are using campaign maintenance, then use machinery templates
where you limit your maximum expense
per machine. You should also spend time
shopping around for spare parts knowing that you have a budget to meet and
more time available than the volumerelated mill engineer.
While it's important not to use outside contractors when you can do the
work yourself, there is a role for the
contract maintenance crew in the campaign mill. When you know what you
want to do, have all the parts available,
or have them on a sale or return basis,

will peg your costs down and enable
you to predict your expenditure.
The other solution is to let your maintenance crew run the mill between shutdowns. By doing this, you not only optimize your labor, you ensure that the operatives look after your machinery, since
they will be the ones to fix anything they
break. Cost-effective on all counts, this
option works very successfully.
In smaller mills, the drivers also have
a role to play with maintenance and they
invariably service their own vehicles. The
same mindset applies - they drive their
vehicles with care knowing they will
have to look after them when the time
comes for a service. They also make sure
the service is done properly.
Jonathan Bradshaw is a consultant to the
agribusiness and food processing industries,
specializing in project management and bespoke
training programs through his company, J.B.
Bradshaw Ltd. He has extensive experience in
flour and feed milling in Africa, the Americas,
Europe and the Caribbean. He may be contacted
at jonathan.bradshaw2@btopenworld.com.
We want to hear from you - Send comments and
inquiries to worldgrain@sosland.com. For reprints of
WG articles, e-mail reprints@sosland.com.

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World Grain - November 2009

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