FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
comprehensive historic data sets and know
processes in detail. This can only be done with big
data and state of the art analytics. Applying such
technologies can make decisions faster and better,
even when it comes to dispatch systems. The
future dispatch system will allocate the
operational resources of a mine by itself and
might only need input for prioritisation, when
machine-external information from operators or
strategic decisions by the management cannot be
sourced and processed automatically.”
Underground FMS – a technology
partnership
GroundHog Apps is one of a new breed of
companies offering what it calls connected miner
software to the mining industry. To illustrate its
type of solution, it cited to IM an unnamed
customer, one of the largest gold mining
companies in the world, whose leadership team
decided to launch a digital transformation
initiative. The overarching objective was to reduce
all-in sustaining costs (AISC) by giving team
members the enhanced in-shift decision-making
capabilities required to consistently meet
production goals and significantly reduce variance
to plan in every shift. The group decided to
implement a combination of a Short Interval
Control System, a Fleet Management System and
a Real-Time Location Tracking System.
The customer chose GroundHog as a
technology partner for its key operations.
GroundHog worked with the customer to build a
digital SIC system, which included configuration
and customisations of the system. Several years
before implementing GroundHog, the customer
had deployed a fleet management system that
was typically deployed in open pit operations to
help manage its underground operations. The
main challenges the customer faced according to
GroundHog included special purpose hardware
that could only be bought from the vendor plus
the system also relied on local compact flash
storage cards that were discontinued. Very poor
online/offline capabilities which resulted in data
loss that also led to unreliable reports. Data
needed to frequently be reviewed and updated by
dispatch and supervisors. Poor customer support
since the system was installed required a
technician to visit the site to perform any service
activity. Plus significant amounts of custom
development was needed to integrate with other
system to generate reports for management.
Reporting of shift tasks was paper-based and
required multiple manual steps, such as data
entry and aggregation in Excel. As a result, the
accuracy, completeness, and timeliness of the
data were often compromised. The old system
also required operators to be within network
range to update shift activities. However, because
of connectivity limitations in underground mines,
28 International Mining | MAY 2020
operators typically stayed outside of
the range for long periods. As a
result, some data entered was not
captured and required re-entry. “The
old system did not provide a holistic
view of mine operations, such as real-
time data related to personnel,
equipment, and material movements.
As a result, management was limited
in its ability to drive optimum
production, causing frequent and
significant deviations from operating
plans.”
To help the customer achieve its
goals of reducing AISC and improving operational
efficiency by at least 20% without adding staff or
equipment, GroundHog says it was chosen as the
key technology partner for two reasons. “First,
GroundHog is a cutting-edge mining production
control platform built from the ground up and
designed to be run on standard off-the-shelf iOS
and Android hardware, and it offered the critical
functionality that the customer sought. Second,
GroundHog had earned a reputation for extreme
speed, responsiveness, and exceptional customer
support in the industry.”
The solution met a number of customer-specific
requirements including the ability to display tasks
in a dynamic Gantt chart format by shift, activity,
and location. GroundHog works with existing
planning and scheduling software, which shows
task progress and expected completion times in a
Gantt chart that is updated in real-time. This
format provides a visual representation of
dependencies and their impact on production
timelines. “Real-time updates allow you to
visualise the downstream consequences of any
event at a granular level (individual operator and
location), enabling the customer to take
immediate corrective action.”
Its system also automatically assigns tasks to
equipment and operators. GroundHog’s
scheduling system imports long-range schedules
and “tunable parameters” from the customer’s
production plan or even a passdown sheet created
using Excel. A capability matrix identifies skill and
effectiveness index, matches operator to
equipment, and creates shift task lists for
supervisors to review and dispatch. Key
performance indicators (KPIs) and reports allow
supervisors, operations managers and
management to derive insights and facilitate
optimisation as required.
They also wanted to be able to communicate
detailed task information, including all updates, in
real-time to each operator. “GroundHog SIC
simplifies the user experience for every operator
type and optimises the clicks (or taps) required to
perform an action or reach a goal. After operators
log into groundHog SIC on their machine, they see
their schedule for the shift or the day. Operators
During a shift, GroundHog captures production
data from each individual operator working on a
piece of equipment at every location in the mine
use the app to follow the schedule and update
progress.”
GroundHog’s solutions also allows tracking of
locations of equipment and workers in real-time
via 3D maps and tracking production manually
and automatically by operator, equipment, and
location (heading) within the mine. During a shift,
GroundHog captures production data from each
individual operator working on a piece of
equipment at every location in the mine. As the
shift progresses, each operator uses a tablet to
manually update progress. “For activities that
require only time data and not counts, such as
buckets or truckloads, the tablets track progress
automatically. The system updates progress
instantly for all operators whose tablets are
connected to WiFi. For those who are not
connected, the tablet stores data onboard and
submits it automatically when wifi returns. For
mines that choose to deploy GroundHog Peer-to-
Peer (P2), the data can also be transferred through
the P2P network without requiring additional
hardware.”
The solutions also allows the user to open APIs
that enable GroundHog to connect with various
3rd party software such as SAP, OSI Pi, Data Lakes
on Amazon Web Services and Azure, and other
mining software. “GroundHog captures data on
mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets,
enabling quick operational assessments from the
command centre, while streamlining health and
safety inspections and maximising compliance
with environmental impact regulations. The
outputs produced from equipment and
infrastructure are integrated to deliver insights.”
GroundHog told IM that the customer achieved
an increase in 36% more tonnes to surface relative
to the original goal of 20%. Face utilisation,
equipment utilisation and personnel utilisation
also significantly increased. The customer also
uses a combination of GroundHog’s inbuilt reports
and PowerBI reports to monitor performance in
near real time. IM