HARVEST MANAGEMENT MEETING BRIEF
Collectives attended harvest management meeting on Thursday 29th August. Notes from meeting included:
Factory Performance
Invicta Mill
• Feeding station conveyor belt repairs
• Diffuser chain derailed off sprocket twice – major stops – corrective measures applied, monitoring increased.
• Scraper plate flipped.
• Opportunistic cleaning carried out during major stops.
Pioneer Mill
• Intake water spray pond pump failure impacted crush rates recently – repaired and back in service.
Kalamia Mill
• Stack repairs complete on Tuesday’s scheduled stop.
• Concerns for cracking in mill cheeks – visual investigations undertaken – no evidence found – monitoring vibration
• Ash sluice pipe repairs undertaken – establishing understanding of failure mechanism and prevention
• Slat conveyor side plate damage/fouling, damaged slats that required repairs, skirting has been damaged as well.
Inkerman Mill
• B2 Mill feeding issues identified – foreign object jammed in mill.
• Extended stop to repair bagasse conveyor tracking mechanism
• Exposed to Ergon faults blacking out factory
Incidents / near hits / derailments
Inkerman – Farm tractor drove out on Osborne Junction line and hit the Koolkuna loco
Crush Finish Dates
There are no official finish dates at present but at this stage end of crush will be approximately mid-November. This is subject to weather and factory stops.
Rail Corridor
Concerns were raised about harvesting contractors and farm vehicles often entering and driving out in front of locos while both parties are working in the same corridor. There are some concerns from harvesting contractors about where loco crews walk. Haulouts and farm vehicles can be travelling at a reasonable speed which is a concern for Wilmar employees that are working in this corridor. All parties need to be aware and take care when working in these areas.
Early Suppliers
Logistics/Traffic Officers often ask early supplier contractors on mill maintenance/clean days to start harvesting operations later than normal. Most contractors are continuing to cut early which negatively impacts on increase in cut to crush times.
Dirt Levels
Kalamia mill has been experiencing some high dirt levels. High dirt levels are from silt in areas where floods affected cane earlier this year. High dirt readings have impacted the mill’s processing.
Over Burning
Wilmar has restated that contractors who deliberately over-burn prior to going off roster will not always receive the additional bins sought.
Siding Reviews
Wilmar is currently recovering line around the district to use in building a new siding in the Inkerman area.
Airdale 1 siding which was last used in 2016 is currently being recovered, along with the line beyond Dalbeg 3.
Airdale Loop may also be removed in the future. Siding usage across the district is currently under review.
Les Elphinstone
Manager KCGO