Examination of the viability of a common maintenance practice for transit mixers in ready mix concrete plants.

Abstract

Owing to the rapid growth in the construction industry, ready mix concrete (RMC) plants have flourished across various cities. The special trucks called transit mixers that operate in these RMC plants are complex machines whose maintenance schedules are governed by both the number of kilometres travelled and the number of hours of operation. This has led to complications in maintenance management. A further complication is the fact that the operations of such transit mixers are dependent on the location of the RMC plant. Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) of these transit mixers suggest a preventive maintenance program that is based on Scheduled Maintenance and is common to all transit mixer irrespective of their operations. This paper examines the role of the location of the RMC plant and the role of the brand of the Chassis manufacturer and the mixer manufacturer in such operations. The paper has been able to ascertain that operations of transit mixers are varied across plants and can lead to significantly different requirements in maintenance. It also sets the ground work for future work on the topic to access whether such operations affect the maintenance cost and downtime of transit mixers.