Develop in-demand expertise in bulk materials handling reliability and failure prevention to enhance your engineering capabilities and support safer, more efficient plant operations. This short course will equip engineers and plant personnel with practical skills to troubleshoot failures and prevent downtime in bulk materials handling plants, improving reliability, performance, and maintenance decision‑making.
Course Benefits
After completing this course, you will be able to
Through a hands-on, failure-focused approach, the course covers key equipment including crushers, conveyors, transfer points, screening systems, and dust control systems, and examines how operational conditions and material properties influence performance.
Participants will learn how to identify root causes of failures, apply structured troubleshooting methods, and implement practical solutions to improve reliability. The course also explores the cost of downtime and the economic benefits of effective maintenance and failure prevention strategies.
This 12‑module course equips you with practical troubleshooting and failure‑prevention skills for bulk materials handling plants.
Module 1: Introduction to Bulk Materials Handling & Failure Behavior
Module 2: Reliability & Maintenance Principles in Bulk Handling Plants
Module 3: Operational Factors Affecting Plant Performance
Module 4: Crusher Systems: Performance & Failure Mechanisms
Module 5: Conveyor System Failures (Belts, Idlers & Drives)
Module 6: Transfer Points, Chutes & Storage Systems: Failure Mechanisms & Flow Problems
Module 7: Screening Systems: Failure Modes & Performance Loss
Module 8: Dust Control Systems: Failure Analysis & Performance Gaps
Module 9: Applied Reliability Engineering in Bulk Handling Plants
Module 10: Root Cause Analysis & Troubleshooting in Bulk Handling Systems
Module 11: Cost of Recurring Failures and Prevention Strategies
Module 12: Recap & Integrated System Thinking
This course is designed for engineers and plant personnel involved in the operation, maintenance, reliability, and optimisation of bulk materials handling systems, including:
To obtain a certificate of completion for EIT’s Professional Certificate of Competency, students must achieve a 65% attendance rate at live, online fortnightly webinars. Detailed summaries/notes can be submitted in lieu of attendance. In addition, students must obtain a mark of 60% in the set assignments which could take the form of written assignments and practical assignments. Students must also obtain a mark of 100% in quizzes. If a student does not achieve the required score, they will be given an opportunity to resubmit the assignment to obtain the required score.
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Learn more about payment methods, including payment terms & conditions and additional non-tuition fees.
Our courses are delivered by experienced engineers and technical experts from around the world. Many have tackled real-world engineering challenges and bring practical, applied knowledge directly into the classroom.
We draw from a global pool of instructors and lecturers across our organisation. Explore our full team of expert educators on the Instructors & Lecturers page here.
Please note: Not all lecturers and instructors listed on this page will teach every course. The team teaching your course will be confirmed as part of your course enrolment.
You are expected to spend approximately 5-8 hours per week learning the course content. This includes attending fortnightly webinars that run for about 90 minutes to facilitate class discussion and allow you to ask questions. This program has a 65% attendance requirement in the live webinars in order to graduate from the program. If you are unable to attend the live webinars, you have the option of watching the recording of completed webinars and sending a summary of what you have learnt from the webinar to the Learning Support officer. The summaries go towards your attendance requirement for the program.
This program is run online on a part-time basis and has been designed to fit around full-time work. It will take three months to complete.
We understand that sometimes work commitments and personal circumstances can get in the way of your studies, so if at any point you feel that you are struggling with the pace of the course or finding a particular module challenging, you are encouraged to contact your designated Learning Support Officer for assistance.
Please ensure you book your place at least one week before the course start date.
If the course is not currently scheduled, please contact us. We can let you know when it will be offered next, or explore the possibility of creating a special intake if there is a group.
