African Mining February 2022 | Page 27

TECHNOLOGY •

Understanding improved dollar / ton possibilities According to Goode , the great benefit of integrating Pitcrew with TOMS is that TOMS holds or will hold the tyre event history of 150 on-site service contracts internationally . Prior to TOMS , all the information Kal Tire collected was at site level , and in individual databases , meaning tyre descriptions , truck descriptions , damage descriptions , all might have been slightly different on each site .

“ Now , with TOMS , we have a consistent language across all of our operations . So , when we ' re talking about tyre performance at site A , we can directly compare and benchmark it against performance of site B . We can roll up the data all the way to the global level . So , when we integrate it with sensor data , such as Pitcrew , or TPMS , we ' ve got a common data set that now includes sensors . We can benchmark in a way we never could before . To put it bluntly , we can measure how well we ' re doing or where there is room for improvement . And by integrating the sensor data , we will in the future be able to say okay , what real impact may this be having on productivity ? Not anecdotal , but actual factual numbers due to being connected to customer downtime , customer tonnage , customer kilometers , so that we can actually determine any differences .”

Continuous , transparent , real-time reporting Goode says , “ Reporting from TOMS is available to Kal Tire and our customers via Power BI continuously , and is updated every 12 hours , so that the output of TOMS and how Kal Tire is doing from a service point of view , is transparently available to customers . So , there ' s no more end of month reporting . It ' s continuous reporting . And as we bring sensor data in , the speed of that data just accelerates . It becomes less about how we did last month , and more about how we ' re doing today . And what are we doing tomorrow ?”

Potential for real-time inspection technology in underground mining applications Goode points out that the goal is to get 5 to 10 systems in the field by March / May 2022 , making it clear that , “ We ' re actively looking for an underground mine or two to add into the mix .”

Goode warns that in the context of Mining 4.0 , this technology must be connected to work effectively . He says , “ The system needs continuous power . It needs continuous connectivity to the internet , and it needs connectivity to the site vehicles in real time too .”

There are three ways the system can be connected to the trucks being monitored . “ We can geofence the truck and we can get that geofence data from the dispatch system itself , or we can get it from the TPMS , or one can use RFID ( radio-frequency identification ) chips placed onto the trucks .

“ With underground mining becoming more autonomous , and more systems underground that allow for fulltime connectivity , Pitcrew becomes possible underground ,” says Goode .

“ This will be a completely new arena of functionality for the system ,” Goode states , in considering specific underground challenges such as identifying oil contamination , for instance . “ We ' re going to have to see how we can we train the AI to spot particular damage types that we see underground . The first port of call , however , would be to identify the first underground site to add to the development programme in order to start teaching the AI elements particular

Pitcrew . ai thermal image .

to underground tyre damage , which may differ from the current opencast experience already drawn from .”

Value-based proposition for operations Kal Tire is investing resources heavily in this solution which involves TPMS and external telematics from Pitcrew . ai integrated with TOMS . When it comes to the cost of this new extended solution to the mine of the future , Goode says , “ We ' re looking for the cost of the system to be comparable on a cost per truck basis to that of a TPMS system .” Even though the value offering and the potential in terms of improved productivity , planning and safety is significantly higher to the end user according to Goode .

“ It is only when we start to measure the productivity gains we can drive , that we will understand the system ’ s true value . As much as we don ' t want to overprice this , we also don ' t want to undersell it by underpricing it either . Ultimately our customers will tell us the value of the product based on what it delivers to them in terms of increasing fleet productivity while also offering a safer work environment ,” concludes Goode .

African Mining intends to follow the progression of this journey in the coming months , particularly in Africa and the underground mining space . •

The first installation on the African continent will take place at a mine in Mozambique in the coming months , and the benefits experienced there will be shared as and when it is possible .