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MECHANISED COAL
smoother journeys being taken by the
operations’ teams along the drifts.
The background to CM automation was that
Sandvik Mining’s Autocut on the machines
largely represents floor and roof horizon control.
Autocut was installed on some machines with the
aims of reducing safety hazards, improving roof
and floor horizons and reducing diesel fleet
operating costs. The key initiatives were:
n Enhance current Autocut
n Implement automation on remaining
machines
n Work with OEMs to develop product
n Investigate automation of roof and rib bolting
equipment.
Two years previously, Centennial was
operating at 9,000 t per man year and by August
2015 it was 11,300 t per man year. By February
2016 that was up to 12,500 t. The previous two
years had also seen Centennial achieve a 26%
unit cost reduction – significant savings.
Communications and tracking
Moranbah North is another Australian longwall
that has achieved great advances in productivity
and efficiency in the past couple of years. Glen
Britton, Head of Underground operations Anglo
American Australia, says “a successful longwall
mine is not just about operating and maintaining
efficient longwall operating standards; it’s about
working in unanimity with all aspects that live,
breath and support the whole operation in order
to create a positive working environment.”
He stresses the importance of:
n Strong leadership
n Effective communication
n Accountability
n Forecasting and planning
n Execution and implementation
n Measure and control.
Similar to the Centennial initiatives, Moranbah
puts a lot of effort into training and upskilling
with the training activities aligned to the
operating system, monthly reporting of skills,
monitoring and compliance and statutory
development programs in place to provide the
next generation of front line leaders (FLLs).
Crew performance is measured by operator
proficiency and supervisory scorecards. Crews
are measured individually across key KPIs on
safety, performance and people. The information
is driven down to crew level. Supervisor
scorecards are reported monthly on all FLLs.
“Communication,” stresses Britton, drives a
‘can–do’ culture.”
Mine Site Technologies (MST) and mainstay®
have been key communication tools contributing
to Moranbah’s productivity progress. mainstay is
a suite of asset management tools that allow
users to control tasks, people and equipment at a
shift-by-shift, task-by-task level.
Fewzion forms part of the Management
Operating System (MOS) which has four key
elements that create effective and continuous
improvement – Plan, Do, Check, Adapt
The mine uses Fewzion as its electronic
planning tool, making it quick for planners to
build a well thought out plan, simple for
supervisors and crew to get the plan done and
easy for managers to understand and improve
performance.
improvement – process teams and management
need to know how the operation is tracking
1. Cross functional shift planning – all
performance improvement work starts with a
good plan. Fewzion helps by making it easy to
develop a resource balanced and cross functional
plan that schedules work to achieve targets within
the constraints of the roster and equipment plan.
2. Adapting plans for change – with everything
that goes on in operations, weekly plans can
become out of date very quickly. To address this,
plans need to be adapted for current conditions
before the shift starts. This is made possible with
dynamic drag and drop screens that show whether
the plan is possible and help fix it if it isn’t.
3. Make shift performance visible – making the
progress of the team visible helps to improve
accountability on site and helps planners stay on
top of the work that is getting done. Fewzion’s
‘actuals’ touch screen and tablet app makes it
easy for FLLs to close out their shift and for
managers to see who to follow up with.
4. Variance reporting for continuous
against plan to identify problems and develop
solutions. Fewzion’s daily and weekly reports
make this easy.
Speaking of another Anglo Coal operation in
Australia, Britton said, “the implem entation of
Fewzion in September 2014, its integration with
other systems (SAP, CITECT, Compliance)
throughout the year and enhancements to
encourage tighter planning control that have
been rolled out during and post the Working
Groups, have assisted Grasstree to achieve this
fantastic result.
“Of course other factors have played a large
part in this achievement however Fewzion has
played its part by ensuring one structured plan
on site and as such one version of the truth.”
To be accomplished efficiently, longwall
relocations must be strictly planned and
controlled. MST assisted Moranbah North in
realising significant benefits by improving
compliance and visibility of operations.
Each PRS is individually tracked
SEPTEMBER 2016 | International Mining 135