FLEET MANAGEMENT
instantaneous direction, predicted path, and other factors. Commercial release is expected later this year. The MasterLink ® Wireless Network“ delivers the fastest high-quality, low-maintenance communications possible for open-pit mining operations.” Released in April 2015, the latest iteration of Modular’ s wireless network solution, MasterLink Enterprise,“ delivers maximum network capacity, seamless worksite mobility, enterprise level security, and high network availability.” In November 2015, Modular announced that its MasterLink Enterprise solution will be implemented at Vale’ s Carajás open-pit, iron ore mine in Brazil.
The MineCare ® Maintenance Management solution helps mines increase fleet uptime and availability, and reduce mobile equipment lifecycle costs. Through the pro-active, real-time monitoring of asset health and maintenance processes, the MineCare solution“ has proven to save mines $ 100,000 per equipment unit, per year.” The latest version of Modular’ s maintenance management product, MineCare 3, represents the company’ s initial foray into the cloud-based, Software as a Service( SaaS) arena. The MineCare 3 solution gives customers an alternative to the traditional on-premise software installation model, which eliminates the need for upfront capital expenses including costly servers. Minimised IT infrastructure and support staff requirements make the MineCare solution an especially attractive option for smaller-sized mines with potentially severe budgetary restriction. In addition to the overall lower cost of entry, the MineCare 3 solution offers mines of all sizes: streamlined deployment, upgrades, and support; ease of scalability, from a single equipment unit to 1,000s; enhanced event handling, data monitoring, and equipment tracking capabilities; and real-time, conditional and raw / aggregate data collection options, in support of specific maintenance management goals. The MineCare 3 solution was launched at the end of 2015.
Mine reporting for the majority
The use of apps is slowly helping companies and individuals reduce their reliance on paper. Despite what large mining companies often potray, paper based data capture is still ubiquitous in the majority of mines around the world, especially in small to mid-sized operations which are often neglected by major suppliers of technology due to economies of scale.
For example, the mine fleet movement data is collected on paper and then handed to the shift boss at the end of a shift – the shift boss makes a quick tally of loads – then hands the paper sheets to site administration the following morning. Site administrators then decipher the handwriting and input the on-paper data into a database, making amendments as required.
Once loaded, the geologists check the data and make amendments and then the engineers make final adjustments as necessary and send out the daily report 24 hours later. If you only require historic data for head office reporting, then paper-based data collection will probably suffice. But with commodity prices in decline and reducing margins, mines need to become smarter about how they do business. This is where app technology comes into play.
Over the years Australia-headquartered Singularity ONE says it has investigated the market for mine reporting systems and found several major players that supply comprehensive systems with both original equipment manufacturer( OEM) integrated software and hardware.“ Once you choose a comprehensive system, however, you need to make sure you have supplied sufficient staff with ample training including maintenance and back up, which can be an issue with high turnover and diminishing mine technical departments. Due to cost factors, these systems usually price the small to medium mines out of the market and they opt instead for an in-house access database built specifically for the individual operation, which still requires paper data collection and subsequent data entry. Because most geologists and engineers are not C ++ programmers, the database can become a black box, and un-validated data can start to creep in. At this point the geologists and engineers often spend more time in the office trying to fix the operations database than out in the field running the operation.”
The One Fleet solution
The development of the One Fleet app by Singularity ONE, used widely by Evolution Mining, now the second largest ASX-listed gold miner as well as at a range of other sites, has been created by achieving an accurate scope of exactly what is needed by all parties accessing and using the application.“ What needs to be understood is that the app is but one part of the overall puzzle. Firstly, we took standard paper based templates and converted that to a data input application. What this means is we not only confirmed what data was needed but also matched this to the process of what a driver was doing in the cab. Many hours were spent by our mobility specialist driving in the truck with drivers ensuring that the interface matched the linear process of the activities the driver was going through. We also had to ensure the application buttons were easy to see in any light
Singularity ONE through ONE Fleet offers miners“ a simple and very cost effective solution that is easy to integrate into site process, isn’ t filled with features you never use” and that can be up and running within weeks
conditions and could be pressed by any finger type. Once the application was matched correctly to the data needs and interface of our mining client’ s process and driver, we developed the back end database. This database had to capture all the data entered and store it in a logical fashion. We then had to apply our own commercial cost algorithms to the time and throughput data entered to create the correct level of reporting needed.”
Creating a web front end accessible via the mining teams was then the next step in completing the puzzle. Mining personnel can securely login into the front end and enter all the master data needed to drive the application. Mine locations, truck types, personnel data, ancillary vehicles, ore types, wait and stop types plus much more are all entered into the system to ensure data is available to be used in the application.
“ Finally we created a smartphone application that taps directly into the created reporting system allowing operations and management teams to review and see reporting in real-time on their smartphone anywhere in the world.”
Tablets are deployed inside each truck and as the driver works through their shift, he or she enters information through simple button presses. This information is captured via a tablet application( app) and is sent wirelessly to the Sentinel ONE platform. Inside this platform, commercial costings are applied to the information received allowing real time reporting on mine throughput with approximate costings. This reporting can be accessed via an online interface or via a smartphone app.
Remote solar powered Wi-Fi stations are set up at multiple points around the mine to ensure WiFi connectivity is achieved across the site.“ We also included 4G sim cards in the tablets to use as a fall-back connectivity method. Singularity ONE has developed the application to sync data( make an internet connection) every seven seconds. This data is then streamed directly into the database to have commercial and logistical
32 International Mining | MAY 2016