Koch Solutions explores how strategic maintenance partnerships can help operators secure long-term equipment reliability.
Australia’s mining industry is known around the world for its high standards of production and efficiency.
Operators run complex logistics networks from mine to port to deliver the resources that drive Australia’s economy. At the same time, site teams must balance keeping production high with maintaining the equipment that enables it.
This challenge often leads to a hidden cost called the maintenance deficit. As heavy equipment ages, the wear from constant use requires more thorough servicing. However, the push to keep production going can make it hard to find enough time for this important work.
Koch Solutions chief executive officer Paul Jackson said this deficit is fundamentally the gap between planned maintenance and actual maintenance undertaken by site personnel.
“When you are working in a reactive maintenance environment, driven by production targets and allowable maintenance windows, and never getting on top of the root causes of the failure, then the gap grows,” Jackson said.
This issue can be compounded by maintenance windows that are not sufficient to meet all service requirements. As machines require more intensive maintenance over time, critical services or repairs are often delayed, putting pressure on critical infrastructure and increasing the risk of failure.
These challenges are more pronounced in the Australian market, where the vast geographical scale means operations are often isolated, adding severe logistical hurdles to an already complex situation. Jackson said these unique factors make the maintenance deficit more challenging to manage locally than in other global mining hubs.
“All of the critical production equipment in the pit-to-port evacuation systems is in remote locations, or at least has long and logistically challenging supply chains for critical spares and service personnel,” Jackson said.
This isolation means that when an unplanned breakdown occurs, the cost of downtime increases due to the time needed to source replacement parts and mobilise specialised service personnel to the site.
Addressing this growing deficit requires a holistic understanding of the machinery and a strategic approach to servicing that goes beyond simple reactive repairs. Koch Solutions approaches the shift from reactive to sustainable, predictive maintenance through the lens of an original equipment manufacturer (OEM).
“As the OEM, we understand the critical operational components of the machines, and we plan how to work on multiple fronts concurrently on machines during a shutdown window,” Jackson said.
“We develop and have work methods that have saved clients significant time during shutdowns, thus enabling additional work to be completed on the machine, which reduces the deficit immediately.”
It is not necessarily about putting more people on the job, according to Jackson, but using their knowledge as the equipment’s manufacturer to understand how each part works safely and efficiently.
This is crucial during major capital upgrades, where fragmented approaches often lead to operational delays and lingering inefficiencies. Mine operators often engage multiple different contractors for varying aspects of a machine’s upkeep, which can lead to disjointed results and wasted capital.
“We have seen clients come to us with multiple reports from various parties, each acting in isolation – one doing structural, another mechanical and another electrical,” Jackson said.
“Frustrated clients have paid for these works and are receiving unactionable and inconclusive actions on what to do next.
“As the OEM, we look holistically at solutions incorporating all the engineering disciplines in-house with actionable outcomes designed to maintain and keep clients’ machines performing for longer, safely.”
Beyond immediate repairs and structured upgrades, the goal for mining operators is ensuring a machine remains in optimal long-term condition. A vital part of this process is ensuring the operation avoids reverting to a reactive maintenance cycle once an upgrade is complete.
“It’s the partnership approach that brings us into the long-term commitment and solutions, rather than a single band-aid fix,” Jackson said.
“The long-term partnership opens cross-functional collaboration in an integrated team where actual failure modes are discovered and properly addressed and prevented going forward.”
Koch Solutions wants to maintain excellence in machine operation and firmly believes in not leaving clients to problem-solve in isolation or with limited knowledge of the equipment’s design. This focus on sustained uptime directly impacts the total cost of ownership (TCO) for Australian operators, a critical metric for mine profitability and investor confidence.
“We know production is key and every hour these critical machines are operating is more tonnes through our clients’ systems and EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation] to their business,” Jackson said.
“We have the ability to hand machines back to operations earlier through our service works methodologies, keeping up maintenance, thus enabling more uptime on ageing machines, which in turn reduces the TCO over a longer period.”
For operators considering big investments and future maintenance plans, deciding on major upgrades can be tough, especially with changing prices and economic pressures. Jackson gives clear advice for those facing these choices this year.
“Our message would be to be cautious, not hesitant, and to speak to someone who can offer a guaranteed holistic approach to their option analysis and drive a range of executable solutions into their capital approval process that could match their short- and long-term business needs,” he said.
“Whether it’s an upgrade or reliably maintaining the machine status quo for longer, Koch can show value to our clients by delivering executable solutions that are business-centric and operationally focused.”
This feature appeared in the autumn edition of the Mining Magazine.
