FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Modular Mining available APIs May 2021 API Name CORE Crusher Machine Guidance Heavy Mobile Equipment ( HME ) Aftermarket Payload System
But how do the APIs actually work ? Neil Ferreira , Associate Director Product Strategy , Modular Mining told IM : “ The APIs are developed within an extensible framework , which enables the potential for integration with a wide array of complementary third-party
Functional Area Supervisory Control Crusher Management Mine Planning Aftermarket Systems Integration Payload Management
systems . Because the APIs are built upon Internet-standard communications and technical specifications , such as : OpenAPI , AsynchAPI , WebSockets JSON , and REST , the APIs facilitate bi-directional data exchange with the third-party applications , for enhanced functionality at both ends . In addition , the APIs are OEM-agnostic . Thus , sites with mixed-manufacturer fleets can take advantage of the APIs , regardless of the make or model of trucks and shovels , provided the third-party systems are ‘ open ’ and allow their data to be exchanged through the API .”
What about third party system suppliers , does this mean Modular has to have separate agreements with them ? “ The APIs are purchased by , and licensed to , our customers , the minesites . Therefore , there is no reason for Modular Mining to engage in contractual negotiations with the third-party system suppliers , nor the equipment manufacturers . That said , to protect our intellectual property
Piklema bridging the FMS and analytics gap
Moving to Russia , Moscow-based Piklema has its office in the Skolkovo Innovation Center and describes itself a new industrial specific new vendor , which develops predictive analytics solutions and it says enables mining digital transformation with a profound understanding of operational excellence . Mike Makeev - Managing Director at Piklema and formerly with CIS FMS leader Zyfra Mining told IM : Modern FMS systems are already in use in most of significant mining companies worldwide . For the last 5-10 years of the active deployment FMS , they became commodity IT products and now play the role as infrastructure for deploying additional intelligent services , based on the data from FMS . The ecosystem of mining needs the data from FMS . Prospective players in those ecosystems are mining equipment OEMs , OEM dealers , IT integrators , consulting firms and operational management of the mining companies . All of them need specific insights from FMS .”
For different stakeholders Makeev says mining needs different innovative solutions , built on this and additional data . “ Current technological factors , such as extensive ongoing digitalisation in mining and existing historical databases from implemented FMS and MES systems , combined with macroeconomic trends of profitability decrease in mining production is creating high demand for solutions that are not capital investment intensive and at the same time allow mines to optimise current operational processes , creating added-value for mining companies and processing industries and as a result increasing return on investments .”
Makeev says such a demand is leading to an emerging market for predictive analytics solutions for optimisation of the mining value chain . “ Since both end-customers and market intermediaries are not sufficiently familiar with the potential of predictive analytics solutions in mining industry , there is no uniform market for such solutions . Under current circumstances each released solution forms an individual market with the characteristics of such a market depending on accuracy of predictive models , maturity of the product offer to the customer , ability of the product to address and solve the problem of the end customer in mining production and consequently increase the effectiveness of ‘ job to be done ’. As a result , currently there is no dominant player or a dominant solution in terms of market penetration and market share .”
Currently , Piklema says the level of competition in market of predictive analytics for mining industry is low , since the market of predictive analytics solutions is still emerging ( in the early stage of development ). “ Thus , the field for business development is quite wide that allows to focus on different processes with potential for optimisation . Mining industry requires non-standard predictive analytics solutions , that differ from those that are widely offered today : namely , universal platforms offered by IBM , Microsoft , SAP , Amazon , etc , that are customised for big sets of uniform data without production processes and suit such industries as retail , insurance and telecommunications . At the same time current market also offers customised solutions for specific machinery producers such as those offered by Uptake . “ Such solutions are already integrated in the proposals from machinery producers as an advanced product or service option . Also , the implementation of such solutions are often a part of the consulting services offered by such companies as Dingo , McKinsey ( MineLens ) and Accenture .”
Since both approaches are not optimal for solving specific production problems , Piklema says new innovative vendors offer a synthesis of both approaches , described above : a universal platform and solution , but customised to the specific production equipment . “ Such synthesis allows us to provide the main value to the customer : operational excellence and efficiency gains at minimum costs . At the same time , such companies potentially can compete with in-house production analytics departments of mining companies that can also leverage their solutions on data science .”
Piklema says it offers a needs-based strategy that consists of tested predictive models , piloted in several production companies , but at the same time customised for the needs of the customer . “ Piklema solves customers ’ ‘ job to be done ’ problems with the help of predictive analytics and AI models that can work with small samples and incomplete input data sets . This will guarantee short implementation time and user-friendliness of the system , so that it can be operated by business-users , rather than IT engineers .” Piklema ’ s solutions can be deployed within global and regional FMS systems producers and it has developed a technological partnership with SAP , despite getting predictive models and digital advisers in open-source platform .
Piklema ’ s solutions that are piloted or scaled in the real mining production include : Piklema Fuel Optimizer – Digital adviser for dump truck operator , that allows reduce fuel consumption of dump trucks through predictive analytics and online hints how to adjust driving modes ; Piklema Predictive Engine Management – Advisor to technicians and mining engineers on early warning diagnostics and forecast of dump trucks engine breakages ; Piklema Motor-Drive Predictive Maintenance – early warning diagnostics and prediction for motor-drive breakage , based on vibro diagnostics and math models ; Piklema Production Statistics – Easy to deploy production analytics with insights for top-management , operational level and mining engineers , using any open FMS database .
32 International Mining | MAY 2021