Comprehensive Audit Services
Belt weighing equipment installed at a mine or mineral processing plant represents a significant investment and its maintenance is often vital to the bottom line of the enterprise. The information which comes from the belt weigher is critical, both for correct process management and for financial management purposes. An effective maintenance strategy is therefore essential to maintaining the value of the information coming from this equipment as this can impact the viability of the entire project.
As sites age, good equipment can start to give unacceptable service. Often it is equipment that is no longer understood because trained people have moved on or retired. Eventually the operator of the plant may not be sure why the equipment is not meeting their need, they only know that they have a problem. CST specialise in all aspects of belt weighing. As a community of technical specialists we are genuinely interested in belt weighing technology and we have chosen to understand everything about belt weighers and we want to help find out what your site needs to maintain and if necessary re-establish effective belt weighing.
CST have the specialised expertise and the interest it takes to be your belt weighing maintenance partner. This is where the CST comprehensive belt weigher Audit service is the place to start. CST will come to your site and establish a plan to get the site back on track. The Audit covers:
- Site needs and expectations
- Fitness for purpose
- State of maintenance
- Maintenance procedures
- Replacement or Rectification analysis
- Renovation as required,
- Staff training
- Planning a regular maintenance schedule based on specific equipment and site needs.
Engaging CST for a site audit will involve the following steps:
- Identify and site examine all of the belt weighers at the site in question.
- Obtain briefings on the purpose and use of each belt weighing system. Evaluate the 'fit for purpose' status of all the units. For those which are fit for purpose, recommend any calibrations, repairs or upgrades necessary to bring them to optimal operating condition. For those, if any, which are not suitable, recommend replacement.
- Implement calibrations, repairs and replacements necessary to bring all of the equipment up to truly 'fit for purpose' status.
- Propose a scheduled maintenance system to keep the equipment in optimal condition. This maintenance scheme would be tailored to your site and integrated with existing maintenance systems such as SAP.
- Provide training in the proper use and proper maintenance of the equipment.
This belt weigher audit is a serious investment in the proper management of your site and will lead to enduring change in the availability and reliability of the belt weighing equipment on your site. We would think that a belt weigher audit could be warranted within 5 years of plant commissioning and may be required at regular possibly 5 year intervals after that time.
Note: If there is a need for constant adjustment to maintain consistent accuracy readings, STOP! You need to call CST for help. A well built and maintained belt weigher should not need adjustments between routine services.
If the equipment is truly fit for purpose it is unlikely to change calibration in the short to medium term. While we might agree that a 3 monthly calibration check is prudent for critical weighing equipment, there is no way that we would agree that three monthly adjustments could be justified under normal circumstances. There is an unfortunate culture of too much belt weigher maintenance promoted by some companies in the industry. Often technical resources are eaten up and plant availability is reduced by ineffective maintenance that does not address real issues. Not all activity is good activity.
Our long experience shows us that when properly designed (read application engineered) equipment is professionally installed and commissioned, regular maintenance is required only every 3,6, or 12 months, depending on the value of your bulk material. See our Trouble shooting and Problem Solving section for a guide to the common human and site problems which lead to unnecessary 'tinkering' with weighers.