The Maintenance Manager from Minera Los Pelambres, who will chair the 11th International Meeting on Mining Plant Maintenance – Mapla 2014, highlighted that maintenance areas are strategic and contribute to strengthening the business.
What are the main challenges that maintenance areas face within the mining industry?
The mining industry is advancing by leaps and bounds, which means to generate synergies. These exchange stages related to good practices are much needed for maintenance areas and asset management.
It is a fact that the mining industry has been losing its competiveness and society is becoming more demanding, insisting on better performance from companies and institutions. This reality forces us to reconsider business models, our initiatives of change, search for better, more innovative ideas and comprehended solutions for everyone. All this in order to get back to being a competitive, and above all, sustainable industry, a concept that is here to stay. It depends on us to reach these ambitious goals.
Other aspects to work on are productivity and expense management using new technologies and a better use of resources and putting into practice results analysis as a basis for continuous improvement. Moreover, we can emphasize alliances with research centers at universities and technical colleges in order to prepare professionals to be able to propose new ideas for maintenance management. All these are relevant themes that must be on our agenda.
What is maintenance’s contribution to the mining business?
Without a doubt, maintenance areas are an essential contribution to the mining process and we should always be aware of what is happening in our environment. Nowadays, this area is strategic and helps to strengthen the business, especially if it is done through effective planning that meet the production requirements of the business. Maintenance must be reformulated to go from an area that manages expenses to one that generates productivity.
Innovation, along with executing quality work, has also become an ally providing added value to the industry. Exchanging best practices is fundamental to strengthen our area on a national level.
What was your motivation to accept the presidency of Mapla 2014 and what goals do you expect to reach?
First, I would like to say thank you for the opportunity that I was given to chair Mapla 2014. It is an honor for me.
This honor, along with the mission to network and exchange best practices related to maintenance, will be my main goals and challenges. And I have no doubt that Mapla 2014, thanks to all participants’ contribution, will meet these goals and challenges.
