Iron Ore Case Analysis
Iron Ore Company of Ontario “A3 Written Assignment”
December 12, 2011
Presented to: Dr. James Mason
Presented by: Ahmed Omar Afify Student ID: 200-305-478
------------------------------------------------- Issues * To minimize total waiting time and stockpile re-handling costs (Keep operations costs as low as possible). * To improve productivity process and decreasing idle time of machines and labor.
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Background * Iron Ore Company of Ontario is working in the business field of processing iron ore. * Production was scheduled on a …show more content…
| Truck 1 | Truck 2 | Truck 3 | Truck 4 | First load start | 0 | 4.5 | 9 | 13.5 | Load time for each truck = 4.5 min or 0.075 hrs | First load finish | 4.5 | 9 | 13.5 | 1 818 |
We used 4.5 min for load time and zero starting point for facilitation, so each truck waits 4.5 min (0.075 hrs) for its predecessor to finish loading.
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Root Cause Analysis 1. A concentrator was built with an input capacity of 1760 cubic meters of crude ore per hour.
Why? Because it was the policy of the mine to operate the concentrator at capacity at all times.
Why? To accommodate the yearly schedule of 24 hours per day basis production of over 46 million tonnes of crude ore per year, of which 21 million tonnes are of high grade concentrate.
2. Tractors were assigned to operating shovels.
Why? Because the tractor cleared loose rocks from the loading area while shovel was waiting for trucks.
Why? To smooth the loading area to reduce truck-tire wear.
3. There is a reduction in intake capacity of crushers from 9420 to 4710 tonnes per hour during the day shift.
Why? Because of the daily 8 hours shutdown of one crusher for repairs and maintenance during the day shift.
Why? Crushers are prone to bridging that occurs when a large rock jammed between the jaws of the jaw crusher, blocking the crusher completely; and once it is blocked, it