BIG DATA AND DIGITALISATION
Almost 200 Sandvik customers from around the
world recently gathered in Tampere, Finland, to
look at the emerging cutting-edge technologies
coming to the mining industry
chain. A strong value of our mining industry
solution is the addition of real-time production
accounting and inventory management, which
lets you actively optimise material movements
and increase productivity, said Doug Warren, Vice
President, Software, Industry Solutions. This
functionality provides miners with more visibility
and control over one of their biggest assets – the
inventory work-in-progress (WIP) – and closes
the loop between planning/scheduling and
actuals, in near real-t ime. This is a key construct
for Short Interval Control, prevalent in
manufacturing for many years and now available
for the mining industry.”
“Mining organisations implementing Ampla
Mining Operations Management as part of their
Schneider Electric solution can benefit from the
EcoStruxure™ architecture, resulting in better
process and data integration across their
organisation. What results is a better way to drive
innovation at every level, with vertical integration
from sensors to edge control to
software/analytics at the same time as end-to-
end integration across the value chain and help
break down data silos. This approach increases
efficiency, removes value leaks and results in
increased profitability.”
Select improvements of Schneider Electric
Software’s MOM solution for the mining industry
include:
n User selectable point in time feature for
‘inventory data reprocessing’
n Data reprocessing has improved performance
x 4
n New “Calculated Inventory” feature to define
custom calculations on captured inventory
data
n Ampla Planner, Gantt Chart usability and user
experience enhancements
n Client response times has improved
performance by x 2
n Wonderware Online InSight connectivity.
Schneider Electric has also announced
successes achieved at Roy Hill, the large new
independent iron ore operation in Western
Australia. Roy Hill implemented a Schneider
Electric mining industry software solution to
consolidate end-to-end operational visibility and
optimise their mining value chain.
Schneider Electric says it was selected as a
vendor for its compelling mining industry
offerings, industry experience and consultative
approach. Mine and port operations include
Schneider Electric’s electrical switchgear and
distribution, variable frequency drives, critical
power systems (UPS) and power monitoring
systems.
22 International Mining | NOVEMBER 2017
In addition, Roy Hill implemented Schneider
Electric’s industrial software offering tailored for
the mining industry, which included the following
specific solutions:
n Demand Chain Planning and Scheduling
(DCPS)
n Inventory Tracking and Quality Management
(ITQM)
n Delay Accounting (DA)
n Capacity Simulation Model (Pre-CAPEX
Analysis).
The DCPS solution allows for optimisation of
Roy Hill’s end-to-end demand chain from the pit
to the port across different time horizons, from
long term planning down to weekly scheduling.
This full visibility is then linked into real-time
inventory and quality information through its
ITQM solution to close the loop between actuals
and the schedule (conformance to schedule), and
between actuals and the plan (conformance to
plan).
DA provides key financial insights into
production slowdowns and outages. “While this
may seem rudimentary compared to a typical
manufacturing scenario, it is very rare in the
mining industry to see these results on a shift by
shift basis, as it is often only reconciled monthly.
Roy Hill is using this digital process to drive
better decisions on a timely basis – a vision that
was completely synchronised before the first
shovel went into the ground.”
All of these processes and technologies are
brought together in Roy Hill’s state-of-the-art
ROC in Perth. In one room, all aspects of Roy
Hill’s operations, from real-time execution to
scheduling to planning, and everything from the
mine to the processing plant to rail and port are
being monitored and controlled, at a location
that is 1,300 km away from the minesite. With all
of this expertise in the same room, Roy Hill can
dramatically improve opportunities to
collaborate, de-risk decisions and place greater
focus on business improvements, all with a view
of their entire business.
The time is now for digitalisation
Almost 200 Sandvik customers from around the
world recently gathered in Tampere, Finland, to
look at the emerging cutting-edge technologies
coming to the mining industry. “Smart and
connected industrial equipment is fast becoming
the norm, so the time for these conversations is
now,” said Patrick Murphy, President of the
product area Rock Drills and Technologies at
Sandvik, at the opening of the Sandvik Global
Mining Summit.
“The amount of data being collected by smart
devices is phenomenal,” said Murphy. “Such
sensor-based features and services will transform
the industry. The cost is plummeting, which has
sped up the widespread adoption of sensor
technologies over the last couple of years.”
In addition to hearing what fellow Sandvik
customers are up to in their own mines,
attendees were able to see at first-hand the
latest digital offerings from Sandvik at the
Tampere factory and test mine. Exhibits included
augmented reality tablet software and the new
Sandvik DS422i cable bolter.
“Gone are the days when mining companies
could do everything themselves as the scope of
these technologies is just too broad. That’s why
we’ve brought everyone together, to start the
conversation about where the industry is heading
and how Sandvik can help with that journey,”
said Murphy.
Key presentations from customers included
The Petra Digital Transformation Story by Petra
Diamonds, which opened with the apt subtitle:
Adapt or die, but don’t get caught up in the
hype. At Finsch, the company plans to take
production to around 2 Mct/y (ROM) by FY 2018.