From OEM Dependence to Data-driven Maintenance: A Maintenance Strategy and Integrated Logistics Support Framework for Poorly Supported Mining Drill Rigs

Abstract

Aims: To develop a transferable method for constructing a maintenance strategy framework and an integrated logistics support scheme for heavy mining equipment operated without a mature original equipment manufacturer (OEM) support ecosystem, and to translate that framework into executable enterprise resource planning (ERP) parameters. Study Design: Methodologically oriented industrial case study, building on a companion failure diagnosis. Place and Duration of Study: Down-the-hole drill fleet of a West African mining operation; operating data covering 2024–2025. Methodology: The method proceeds in five steps. Criticalities from failure mode, effects, and criticality analysis (FMECA) and fault tree analysis (FTA) are converted into differentiated maintenance policies through three explicit decision rules (fixed-interval, condition-based, controlled run-to-fail). Target service lives are derived through three documented rules distinguishing evidence-based recontextualisation, design reset after modification, and nominal retention under censored evidence; each value is coupled to a condition-monitoring guard and a revision trigger. Configuration control addresses failure mechanisms of design origin. The framework is made executable through enterprise resource planning types — consumption-driven (VM) and order-driven (PD) — with coverage-based stock bounds and is completed by the four integrated logistics support dimensions. Results: A consolidated framework covering twenty-three items across three critical subsystems was obtained. The engine target life was recontextualised from a nominal 15,000 h, transposed by analogy, to 6,000 h because no engine had exceeded 6,000 h (mean ≈ 2,700 h). The compressor coupling, whose observed lives ranged from 109 h to about 3,430 h, was redesigned and standardised, and a provisional 12,000 h planning horizon aligned with the compressor grouping interval was adopted. Three configuration modifications were specified, one of which — dual fuel separation — was subsequently incorporated by the manufacturer into a later machine. Conclusion: The framework is designed to shift heavy replacements from unplanned OPEX towards planned CAPEX and to secure critical-part availability. Life-cycle costing and before–after quantification remain to be performed.