FLEET MANAGEMENT_proof 26/04/2016 16:42 Page 1
FLEET MANAGEMENT
Cat MineStar Fleet data displayed in a control
room. Done right, FMS systems provide a
comprehensive overview of an entire operation,
across one mine site or multiple sites
Properly dispatched
The fleet management market continues to evolve, with a focus
both in areas such as fuel savings, but also better solutions for
smaller mines and for emerging markets, reports Paul Moore
ometimes it is worth redefining what is
meant by key technology topics. And
according to Caterpillar Global Mining,
the simplest way to define fleet management is
to look more closely at its three basic
components: equipment assignment and
optimisation, production monitoring, and
position and material monitoring.
“Equipment assignment and optimisation is
the primary reason many mining companies
choose to implement fleet management systems
in the first place. By enabling the scheduling
and assignment of all types of equipment from
multiple manufacturers – as well as shift change
management – from a central office location,
fleet management helps minimise unproductive
machine wait time and optimise equipment
usage on site.”
The second critical element, production
monitoring, is the ability to review information
on machine cycle time, payload, loading
performance and other key operational
parameters. Fleet management provides
visibility in real time to this kind of data – which
can be tracked by individual machine or
operator, groups of machines, specific sites or
an entire fleet – enabling miners to make timely
changes to improve loading performance and
increase payload predictability.
Position and material monitoring is the third
key component. “At its most basic level, fleet
management is about monitoring equipment
location for an entire fleet – but beyond that, it
also helps to ensure that machines are in the
right location and that the amount and type of
material they’re moving is accurate. This type of
data can be used to alert operators to misroutes
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28 International Mining | MAY 2016
before mistakes or safety hazards occur, as well
as to analyse performance factors such as dump
movement and haul road congestion to boost
overall site productivity.”
Better managing shifts
Shift changes may create the most predictable
delays in a mining operation, but that doesn’t
mean they can’t be better managed to reduce
their effect on operating costs. Craig Watkins,
Marketing Manager, Cat MineStar System,
Caterpillar Global Mining states: “Inefficient
shift changes leave machines sitting idle while
operators change, significantly reducing
productivity during the first and last hour of
every shift. One metric used to measure the
efficiency of your shift change process is firstand last-hour tonnes. There are a few variables
that can negatively impact your shift change
efficiency, such as tie-down locations that
require trucks to travel long distances at the end
of their shifts and unnecessarily long personnel
routes that keep opera tors out of the cab longer.
Having all trucks park in a single location also
results in poor spacing during the first few hauls
of the shift.”
This leads to shovel hang time and inefficient
loading, increasing costs. Forcing trucks to park
while empty can also reduce efficiency, as trucks
may not be able to carry another full load during
their shift.
“Solutions to these situations are not
complicated. For example, allowing all machines
to tie down near their current location maintains
appropriate spacing, and a single vehicle can
carry crew to each truck instead of having all
trucks carry their operators to a single tie-down
point. Allowing trucks to stop where they are
regardless of their load makes shift changes
faster and more efficient. Pre-shift safety
inspections can be moved to fueling times,
when you know that machines are empty and
immobile, unless local regulations prohibit it.”
At an iron ore mine in Australia, the mine’s
owners partnered with Caterpillar to solve a
common problem. Their first and last hour
tonnes were low and it was affecting the mine’s
profitability. By implementing the shift change
component of Fleet, the assignment and
scheduling component of Cat MineStar System,
the mine saw more than a 25% improvement in
first and last hour tonnes.
Another site, the KGHM Robinson mine in
Nevada, wanted to improve its shift change
efficiency, so the owners asked Caterpillar if it
was possible to do a trial of Fleet prior to
purchasing the technology. “In order to ensure
that all parties were aware of the goal, we
agreed to use a 5% improvement in prime
tonnes moved, and we began breaking down the
problem to decide where we should focus. After
settling on first and last hour tonnes and mean
time to complete shift changes as our target
areas, we began training and change management
to implement Fleet. The end result was a 26.2%
increase in first hour tonnes, a 9.4% increase in
last hour tonnes and a 24.2% improvement in
shift change delay. While we set our initial goal
at a 5% increase in prime tonnes, the change
resulted in a 9.2% increase. The customer is
now on its third generation of Fleet upgrades.”
Payload optimisation
Milton, Queensland headquartered MineWare
has payload monitoring systems running at
more than 120 dragline and shovel operations
globally. CEO Andrew Jessett believes payload
optimisation lies at the heart of good fleet
management due to its direct role in improving
haulage efficiency and production. He said
loader-based payload systems are an integral
and critical component of third party fleet
management systems, delivering significant
operational improvements and lowering costs as
a result.
Jessett says its all to do with ‘real-time’
management and monitoring of the payload at
the shovel instead of in the truck itself – the
latter more commonly used in today’s mining
operations. “Existing fleet management systems
don’t provide ‘real-time’ payload accuracy prior
to the load going into the truck. They simply
focus on truck load, which is strut based and
more often than not inaccurate. If a truck is