International Journal of Industrial

Engineering OF
Research
and Development ENGINEERING
(IJIERD), ISSN 0976
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
INDUSTRIAL
6979(Print), ISSN 0976 6987(Online), Volume 6, Issue 1, January- April (2015), pp. 14-18 IAEME
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (IJIERD)

ISSN 0976 6979 (Print)

ISSN 0976 6987 (Online)
Volume 6, Issue 1, January April (2015), pp. 14-18
IAEME: www.iaeme.com/ IJIERD.asp
Journal Impact Factor (2015): 5.9956 (Calculated by GISI)
www.jifactor.com

IJIERD
IAEME

IDLE TIME ANALYSIS OF MINING EQUIPMENT

USING PARETO PRINCIPLE A CASE STUDY
M.E.Michael Arputharaj
Deputy Chief Engineer / Mining, Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, Tamilnadu

ABSTRACT
Loss of operation time due to idleness of machine is no longer affordable to mine
management in recent years. So it is required to maximize the return on investment of
equipment by optimizing its utilization. It is generally found that there is a wide gap between
availability of a equipment for operation and utilization. So analysis of idle time of
equipment may serve as basis of information that can be used by mine management to make
effective decision to improve machine operation time.
In this paper, the cause of gap betwneen availability and utilization of equipment
have been studied. Operational behavior and possible causes of idle time are analyzed cause
wise by Pareto diagram and appropriate conclusion has been drawn on the basis of the
outcome of the analysis.
Keywords: Performance, Pareto Principle, Utilisation, Idle State.
1. INTRODUCTION
Pareto technique helps to identify the major causes that need to be identified to
resolve the majority of problems. In simple terms, Pareto priciple states that 20 % of the
causes are responsible for 80 % of the problems. So it is necessary to identify those 20 % of
the root causes to solve major problems.
With this principle, the root causes of the equpment idle time are analysed to reduce
the machine idle hours to a major extent.

14

International Journal of Industrial Engineering Research and Development (IJIERD), ISSN 0976
6979(Print), ISSN 0976 6987(Online), Volume 6, Issue 1, January- April (2015), pp. 14-18 IAEME

2. IDLE STATE ANALYSIS

Cause of machine idle time have been categorized as

Managerial
Inlcudes blasting time and daily machine inspection time.
Operators causes
Inlcudes idle time due to want of operator
Machine marching
Includes time spent in moving the machine from workshop to mine and from mine to
workshop and also shifting the machine with in the mine.
Non availability of matching equipement
Includes time lost due to want of shovel or shovel under repair
Miscellaneous
Inlcude leveling work at haul roads, safety week celebration and taking photograph for
website etc.

Pareto principle, applied to machine behaviour, suggests that significant few causes are
responsible for majority of idle time of machine and trivial many problems play only a small
part in the overall machine idleness. The equipment are stopped for about 15 minutes for
blasting and for 30 minutes for tiffin/ tea break. Shift start, ends and moving machinery from
workshop to mine and from time to workshop take about one hour in a shift. The stoppage of
dumpers for want of shovel and shovel under breakdown has been considered. The
contribution of various causes towards machine idle state has been given in table 1.

S.no
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Table1. Idle State Analysis

Cause of idle state
Shovel (%)
Machine check
14.14
Moving machine from workshop to
30.04
mine
Blasting
18.52
Tiffin / tea break
26.24
Want of operator
1.24
Machine shifting
3.21
Moving machine from mine to
15.90
workshop
Want to shovel
Shovel under repair
Miscellaneous
4.85

Dumper (%)
-

Dozer (%)
11.79

13.48

18.02

16.91
19.52
-

22.36
26.64
1.42
0.28

13.48

18.02

28.97
3.82
3.82

20.7

The percentage contribution of various idle state causes towards total idle time in case
of shovel, dumper and dozer has been shown using histogram in fig 1, fig 2 and fig 3
respectively.

15

Percentage Contribution

International Journal of Industrial Engineering Research and Development (IJIERD), ISSN 0976
6979(Print), ISSN 0976 6987(Online), Volume 6, Issue 1, January- April (2015), pp. 14-18 IAEME

50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

45.94

26.24
18.52
14.14
4.85

3.21

Causes of Idle State

Fig 1. Idle State Analysis of Shovel

Percentage Contribution

35
30

28.97
26.96

25
19.52
20

16.91

15
10
3.82

5
0

Causes of Idle State

Fig 2. Idle State Analysis of Dumpers

16

3.82

1.24

International Journal of Industrial Engineering Research and Development (IJIERD), ISSN 0976
6979(Print), ISSN 0976 6987(Online), Volume 6, Issue 1, January- April (2015), pp. 14-18 IAEME

Percentage Contribution

40

36.04

35
30
25

26.64
22.36

20
15

11.79

10
5

2.07

1.42

0.28

Causes of Idle State

Fig 3. Idle State Analysis of Dozer

3. SUGGESTIONS TO MINIMIZE IDLE HOURS

The following steps can be taken to reduce the idle hours of equipment


Purchasing on more shovel will reduce the dumper idle hours to a greater extent
(around 30% ) but this decision has to be made after giving due considerations to the
production requirements and doing cost benefit analysis.


The idea of leaving the machine in the mine itself after the work is over can be
thought of, if necessary


The blasting operation can be done once in a day, instead of each shift to reduce the
work stoppage due to blasting.


Concentrating the work places in the mine instead of having scattered working will
help to reduce the time lost in marching the equipment.


The workshop personnel can check the machine before the shift starts. Thus the time
spent by the machine operator in machine checking can be reduced.


Locating the workshop very near to the mine will reduce the time spent lost in moving
the machine from workshop to mine and from mine to workshop
4.CONCLUSION
Idle state analysis using Pareto principle is an effective tool to reduce equipment
down time, that too in the era of globalisation with cut throat competition.
The views expressed in this paper are of the author and not necessarily of the
organisation, he belongs to.

17

International Journal of Industrial Engineering Research and Development (IJIERD), ISSN 0976
6979(Print), ISSN 0976 6987(Online), Volume 6, Issue 1, January- April (2015), pp. 14-18 IAEME

5.REFERENCES
1.

2.
3.
4.
5.

6.

7.

Samanta B., Banerjee J., and Sarkar B., 1999, Improvement in Utilisation of a
Dragline in a Mine Using Idle Sate Analysis, The Indian Mining & Engineering
Journal,February,1999.
Gillett, B.E., 1987, Operation Research , S.Chand and Company, New Delhi.
Bhattacharya M., 1972, Application of Industrial Engineering Techniques To Mining,
Journal of Mines, Metals & Fuels,June, 1992.
Levin , R.I., 1989, Statistics for Management-Fourth Edition, Prentice Hall of India
Private Limited, New Delhi.
Sanjay Patel, Nitin Raval and Dr. K. Kotecha, A Novel Approach For Frequent
Pattern Mining International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering &
Technology (IJARET), Volume 5, Issue 2, 2014, pp. 52 - 60, ISSN Print: 0976-6480,
ISSN Online: 0976-6499.
Inje Bhushan V. and Prof. Mrs. Ujwalapatil, A Comparative Study on Different
Types of Effective Methods In Text Mining: A Survey International journal of
Computer Engineering & Technology (IJCET), Volume 4, Issue 2, 2013, pp. 535 542, ISSN Print: 0976 6367, ISSN Online: 0976 6375.
Rajesh V. Argiddi and Sulabha S. Apte, A Study of Association Rule Mining In
Fragmented Item-Sets For Prediction of Transactions Outcome In Stock Trading
Systems International journal of Computer Engineering & Technology (IJCET),
Volume 3, Issue 2, 2012, pp. 478 - 486, ISSN Print: 0976 6367, ISSN Online: 0976
6375.

18