Newcrest’s Greg Romer accepted the Augustus H. Gill Award
from the International Council for Machinery Lubrication
at the recent Reliable Plant Conference & Exhibition.
Newcrest Mining’s Cadia Valley Operations in Australia has been selected as the recipient of the 2016 Augustus H. Gill Award by the International Council for Machinery Lubrication (ICML) for excellence in oil analysis.
Lubrication specialist Greg Romer accepted the award on behalf of Cadia at the Reliable Plant Conference & Exhibition in Columbus, Ohio. Romer credited Newcrest’s culture of providing opportunities to not only develop personally but also professionally as a big factor in the success of the program. Newcrest’s award-winning program has had significant benefits for the company and the site in terms of savings, both through maintenance practices and inventory management.
“The implementation of sound condition monitoring practices demonstrates time and again that precision-based maintenance is the future of business models,” Romer stated. “Without the support of key mentoring figures (within Cadia Valley Operations), identifying key individuals and making awards like this a reality, the opportunities to strive for continuous improvement are never appreciated.”
Cadia began its efforts toward improved lubrication practices in 2009. An onsite audit was performed, the results correlated, and a plan created. Changes were then made, including the appointment of an asset manager. The reliability department soon experienced growth with two lubrication specialists hired in 2011.
The lube specialists were tasked with mapping the entire lubrication program. This led to the development of work procedures, in-house training, inventory consolidation, identification of business risks and optimization of a preventive maintenance (PM) strategy. A working committee was also established with clear goals, key performance indicators (KPIs) and task allocations. Specialized training in lubrication and oil analysis was undertaken with accompanying certification. By 2012, a recruitment program had been initiated, targeting non-trade personnel. These new lubrication technicians were trained with industry best practices learned and tested by way of Noria training and ICML certification.
For the remainder of the site’s workforce, including the skilled tradespeople, supervisors, superintendents and contract labor, training in best practices was developed in-house. The role of the lubrication technicians was then more clearly defined with procedures created based on the required tasks.
“Our team has demonstrated professionalism, structure and sustainability,” Romer said. “Cadia is not unique in its approach or success. What allows this site to stand proud is the support from the management and leadership of the site.”
Gill Award Criteria
Designed to motivate companies to improve machine reliability and maintenance quality through the application of oil analysis, the Augustus H. Gill Award has specific criteria for potential recipients. These include:
- Commitment to education
- Maintenance culture and management support
- Performance measurements used
- Proactive/predictive maintenance
- Use of standardized procedures
- Technology integration
- Contamination control
- Lubrication management
- Oil analysis methods and strategies
- Use of information technology
- Continuous improvement
Both the Augustus H. Gill and John R. Battle awards are open to organizations worldwide independent of any involvement with ICML. To avoid bias, ICML has chosen a policy by which it does not nominate companies. Instead, nominations must come from the companies directly via an application. If you know of an organization that deserves to be recognized for its machinery lubrication or oil analysis program, encourage them to apply for an ICML award.
To submit a nomination for one of ICML’s recognition of excellence awards, visit www.lubecouncil.org.
