Agriculture Column Eng Tapuwa Justice Mashangwa
One of the most underdeveloped sectors/industries in most third world countries is maintenance and reparation industry. Most installations, be they hardware/infrastructural or software installations the maintenance and reparation schedules are poorly adhered to and most times non-existent. Ignorance, an unwillingness to learn and lack of appreciation of the value of maintenance and reparation among other factors and theories are the main contributory factors of this unprofessional scenario.

One fact people are oblivious about is that global reputable mechanic manufacturing companies make most of their money from maintenance and reparation. The total amount of money invested in maintenance and reparation during the useful years of a product (mechanical part or set) is usually higher than the cost of the product and even higher when there are no Maintenance, Repair Operations (MRO) being effectively and efficiently applied.

MRO or maintenance, repair and overhaul involve fixing any sort of mechanical, plumbing or electrical device should it become out of order or broken (known as repair, unscheduled or casualty maintenance). It also includes performing routine actions which keep the device in working order (known as scheduled maintenance) or to prevent trouble from arising (preventive maintenance).

MRO may be defined as, “All actions which have the objective of retaining or restoring an item in or to a state in which it can perform its required function. The actions include the combination of all technical and corresponding administrative, managerial, and supervision actions.”

In agriculture MRO can be applied in: Electrical installations; Irrigation equipment; Transport (vehicles: tractors and lorries etc.), agricultural equipment and waste management systems.

Scientific proper maintenance and repairs operations planned with the universal new methods can be known as a reduction process of direct and indirect production costs that directly effect on productivity, quality, reliability, implementation and profitability.

MRO are necessary and long-term cost cutting procedures with advantages that include: 50 percent reduction in maintenance costs; 55 percent reduction in unforeseen accidents and problems; 60 percent reduction in repair and time; 30 percent increase in the average time between two failures, that although these figures may seem high, but if a few of these advantages are achieved the maintenance and repairs program will have a significant impact for the farmer or company applying them.

To effectively improve their maintenance and repairs system the farmer and agribusiness participants should consider: Creating technical information system improvement for staff of maintenance and repairs and for operators as possible; Standardising repair works; Applying time study and method study of maintenance and repair activities; Maximising the use of equipment and devices and reduce their latency; Reducing the cost of energy, repetitive and sequence repairs, the amount of materials wastage and spare parts; Providing guidelines in performing maintenance and repairs; Evaluating and making a technical-economic analysis or performed maintenance and repairs; Assessing the work of existing equipment and devices to set their future policies of purchase; Providing and set short-term and long-term programs and applications in implementation of maintenance and repair systems; Using the report of maintenance and repairs costs for next years budgeting.

The purpose of maintenance and repairs should be to reduce the total direct and indirect costs of maintenance and repairs bearing in mind that the long term impact of any maintenance and repairs decision is on the useful life or the lifetime of equipment leading to economic savings and increasing the duration of utilisation from the system, henceforth eventually attaining optimum utilisation.

Eng Tapuwa Justice Mashangwa, a young entrepreneur based in Bulawayo Founder and CEO of Emerald Agribusiness Consultancy. He can be contacted on +263739096418 and email [email protected]