Several indicators of a Mining Dashihe Iron Ore magnetic separation project hit a record high in March. The processing capacity of the production line exceeded that of the plan by 2.89%; the production capacity of building materials exceeded that of the plan by 3.55%; the unit cost was 1.09 yuan per ton lower than that of the plan and the monthly labor productivity was 13.9% higher. The profitability of the production line has seen a constant increase.

Optimizing the production organization of the stope. Due to a change in the stope, tramcars would previously run on the original emergency road for nearly 1 km without any load, and they were disrupted when trains transporting building materials passed through. Comprehensively considering all factors, Erma Workshop decided to build a new winding mountain road so that tramcars could go directly from the parking lot to the stope and the operation of tramcars wouldn’t be disrupted. The transportation distance would be shortened by 0.8 km, reducing fuel consumption. Also, starting from the mining plan, the workshop gave priority to stripping the space on the stope and increasing the selection of fine-grained materials to facilitate production in the rainy season. The balancing of the supply of raw materials in the stope brought 50.1% of No. 3 belt block materials for the whole month, realizing the uniform and stable selection of block materials.

Organizing fine feeding. As the workshop adjusted the setting of the crushing discharge outlet, the belt materials are organized according to different proportions at the beginning, middle and later stages of the crusher liner, reducing wear on the crusher liner. “We abandoned the previous extensive production organization mode. At the beginning, materials with more blocks are selected; with the increase of liner loss, materials with fewer blocks are selected to prolong the service life of the liner and maximize the crushing capacity,” explained Huo Kaiwei, workshop deputy director.

Constantly seek to ‘work smart’. Recently, Erma Workshop has carried out more than 10 transformations, such as belt material flow stability control and wet screening material plate optimization, further improving the technological process. “In a discussion around how to build an efficient and high-quality production line this year, we gathered more than 30 suggestions and good ideas through extensive consultation with employees, and together we worked out ways and tricks to ‘work smarter’,” said Liu Zhiqiang, director of Erma Workshop, Dashihe Iron Ore.

As the Erma production line gradually becomes more stable, Dashihe Iron Ore has upgraded management, actively seeking transformations to reduce labor costs, optimize labor allocation with skill improvement, and improve labor efficiency.

Improving the maintenance strength of all employees with skills training. “To break down the boundaries between different types of work during production, post personnel and repair personnel helped and learned from each other during the secondary skill training we carried out,” said Ren Hailin, deputy secretary of the branch. Guided by the principle of ‘learning through doing’ as the way to train personnel, the workshop has organized for internal combustion repair and production line teams to participate in process maintenance. During two full process overhauls carried out in March, 87 non-production line repairmen participated in the overhauls, accounting for more than 50% of the number of total participants. The overall repair force was able to switch freely between their usual state of being highly dispersed, to maintenance, where they all came together to collaborate.

Improving independent maintenance through an innovative mode. Production line teams adopting a “1 + 1 + 2” mode were formed, whereby  repair personnel were assigned to each team. A team with 1 electrician, 1 welder and 2 crushers can work on maintenance and repair independently, expanding the scope of maintenance and repair that production line staff are able to carry out independently, improving teams’ ability to deal with potential ‘hidden dangers’ in production line equipment, whilst reducing repair costs generated by outsourcing repairs to repair staff.

“Previously, when production line equipment failed, post personnel had to stop working until repair personnel fixed it, which reduced the efficiency of the production line. Now post personnel are capable enough to deal with minor faults promptly during their shift. The employees have greatly improved their level of skills. Previously they could only remove screws but now they can replace coarse and medium sieve and wet sieve plates, crusher liners and other projects that were previously outsourced to repair staff. This would have been unimaginable before,” explained Jin Hui, chief operator.

Meanwhile, the workshop cut 10 people through the transformation of auto control of remote discharging in automobile warehouse and post integration. Although there are fewer employees, with the continuous improvement of skill level, staff are now more motivated to learn new things and work more proactively.

To mobilize the enthusiasm of the employees in operation and production, the workshop has guided staff to improve efficiency, reduce costs and other tasks through mechanism improvement and labor competitions.

Target breakdowns to drive employees forward. 23 main targets including output and diesel consumption are included in management and control standards, and are tailored to the specific nature of different teams, cultivating a sense of individual responsibility in every employee. The more productive and resource-saving an individual employee is, the more he is paid. This has been put into practice through mutual learning and healthy competition between employees. An increase of 0.05 in wage coefficient will go towards employees obtaining secondary skill certificates and applying those skills in daily production. This further encourages employees to study and strive towards self-improvement. “The target breakdown has led to employees from different teams and posts sharing good practices with each other, and wasting less working time on idle chat. Some employees have even developed standardized operation methods for conserving energy and reducing consumption by themselves,” noted Huang Yunlong, operation monitor.

Since July 2019, the workshop has launched labor competitions among employees, developing a sound climate for study and upskilling. Originally a miner driver, Sun Xiaohui committed himself to continuous learning and accumulation of knowledge, becoming an and rising to the position of chief operator of Team D. Under his leadership, his team won first prize in handling capacity in March and the title of “advanced team” for the first time.

In the face of the ongoing epidemic, it is important to remain calm and steady. The stronger pressure we face, the braver we become. With the new situation and challenges brought by 2020, our employees strive to strengthen production line management step by step and meet operation and production goals for the year.