BHPs Iron Ore business identified a problem with the drivers for shutdown intervals, duration and scope. Many replacement requirements were being added to the shutdown scope at a late stage which impacted the planning and scheduling phase, particularly regarding labour, accommodation and supply chain.

This highlighted the need for good visibility of what critical path components need replacing in the future shutdown planning cycle. With the help of Verbrec Asset Management, BHP undertook an end-of-life analysis (EOL) for its Iron Ore Assets, to comprehensively define the equipment it has that are likely to be included in shutdown activities, and when they are next due to be replaced with an estimated cost. This is intended to serve as a key input to EOL Systemisation in order to create a long-term view of maintenance activities and provide build maturity.

The EOL information collated to date (with the help of Verbrec) is being used by Planners at Port to support decisions when developing the 2 year maintenance events calendar. Ultimately, the intent for this information is for it to be used as an input into a sophisticated digital tool, designed to mathematically and systematically identify an optimised maintenance plan which will ensure maximum throughput is achieved. The vision will be for maintenance across all sites of WAIO to be optimally aligned.