Dingo using Condition-Based Asset Management at Willow Lake coal mine

Dingo has been engaged by Willow Lake Mine, an underground operation in southern Illinois operated by Black Beauty Coal, to implement an effective maintenance plan for its heavy assets using Dingo's Condition Intelligence™ and breakdown avoidance programs.

Willow Lake, which employs nearly 400 people and operates year-round, is the largest coal producer in the Illinois Basin. Charlie Stephens, Willow Lake's maintenance manager, realized the importance focusing his time on managing his people versus asset failures and processes. After an exhaustive review, he and Mark Cavender, Willow Lake's general manager, selected Dingo Maintenance Systems to meet their needs.

"By using Dingo's Condition Intelligence™, coupled with our breakdown avoidance program," said Eric Martin, Dingo general manager for its new Eastern Division, "we'll help them reduce asset downtime while increasing their planned maintenance programs. We'll provide them with intelligence on what's happening with their equipment, as well as ways to find, and fix, the problem in the shortest time possible using our trouble-shooting guides. That's Dingo's specialty. I like to say that we give maintenance managers the right information to make the right decisions by tracking the right KPIs (key performance indicators)."

Dingo takes a hands-on approach to working with the miners. Steve Martin, Dingo's program manager for Willow Lake, and an experienced underground maintenance manager, is spending time underground with greasers to show them the correct technique for taking oil samples. "It's easy to contaminate oil samples with underground dirt," said Martin. "We can show them how to change oil without contamination, then help develop an effective preventive maintenance schedule based on the results. In the end, the GM gets the intelligence he needs to make the right maintenance decisions."

Having a division office in Kentucky is key to mining operations like Willow Lake. "Our new Eastern Division office means we can have a team focused on the mine operations in this region," said Dingo GM Eric Martin. "We can keep our price point down and help these companies become both more efficient and more effective."