COMMENT
Setting the standard: communicating across brands
While advancing technology— particularly performance tracking and maintenance management systems— is touted as the way of the future, such systems can generate massive amounts of data and require substantial investment in both time and money. Until recently, the incompatibility of data between systems added to this investment significantly.
There has been a lot of talk about advancing technology and its impact on those using heavy equipment, particularly in the mining industry. PricewaterhouseCoopers’ s( PwC) global study Industry 4.0: Building the digital enterprise, which incorporates feedback from more than 2 000 companies in 26 countries( including 61 in South Africa), indicates that digitisation is increasing, and the average level is expected to more than double over the next five years, from 33 % to 72 %. This is mirrored in South Africa, where the level of digitisation and integration is expected to rise from 27 % to 64 % during the same period.
The advantages of digitisation are driving the demand for digitisation, with PwC reporting that 87 % of South African respondents plan to introduce new digital products and data-based services over the next five years. More than half of local companies( 55 %) are using big data analytics in areas such as optimisation of overall business planning, while 83 % expect data analytics to have a significant influence on their decision-making processes in five years’ time.
However, while many OEMs and third party companies are offering systems that enable owners to track and gather data from their machines, data between systems has not always been compatible, particularly for companies operating mixed fleets.
To address this concern, in 2008 the Association of Equipment Management Professionals( AEMP) brought together the major construction equipment manufacturers and telematics providers in the heavy equipment industry to discuss the development of the industry’ s first telematics standard.
AEMP and the Association of Equipment Manufacturers( AEM) recently submitted the revised standard to the International Organisation for Standardisation( ISO). The standard was subsequently approved as part of‘ IS0 15143: Earth-moving machinery and mobile road construction machinery – worksite data exchange’, and forms a new section,‘ Part 3: Machine data’, with data points including location, operating hours, fuel use, distance travelled, idle time, and engine operating data.
The standard was published on the ISO website in December 2016, and plans include extending coverage beyond earthmoving equipment. This standard is the first step to addressing the issue of collating data across mixed fleets, and OEMs like Caterpillar have already started moving towards this interoperability by ensuring that their tracking systems and other advanced technology work across multiple brands.
Progress has also been made in standardisation for proximity detection systems( PDSs). From 2004 to 2009, 35 % of fatalities at mine sites were due to vehicle interaction incidents, and 53 % of these involved pedestrians. In response to these statistics and the Department of Mineral Resources’ recent promulgation of legislation mandating the use of PDSs for mining operations, the Earth Moving Equipment Safety Round Table( EMESRT) started a project to develop an openarchitecture industry communications standard for proximity detection and vehicle interaction.
The collaborative industry working group with both the OEMs and third-party system suppliers— initiated and facilitated by EMESRT— aims to develop a common electronic communication protocol to enable slowdown and stopping of mobile equipment. This protocol is based on the Society of Automotive Engineers( SAE)‘ J1939: Serial control and communications heavyduty vehicle network’ standard for communication and diagnostics among vehicle components, which originated in the car and heavy-duty truck industry in the United States and is now in use globally. It forms one part of a new ISO standard that is also under development:‘ ISO 21815: Earth-moving machinery – collision awareness and avoidance’.
Along with achieving functional specifications for PDSs, EMESRT aims to work with OEMs and purchasers to improve design and manufacturing standards, as well as compliance with said standards.
This move to standardise the transmission of data will have a significant— and positive— effect on the industry. The ability to compare performance across different brands and models of machines can result in significant cost savings for fleet operators, and help them determine which equipment will best suit their operating needs.
Robyn Grimsley- Editor Quarry SA robyn @ interactmedia. co. za
QUARRY SA | MARCH 2017 _ 1