FLEET REPORTING
Remote fleet
awareness
Robert Pell looks at how fleet
management and reporting systems
are increasing efficiency and
productivity at mining operations, and
what the companies are offering
ecording, reporting and optimising
mining fleets are key tasks at any mine
operation. The current state of the mining
industry requires even greater integration
between fleet management systems with
geological systems and production management
systems (EAM,ERP) as well as a broad analytic
function. Future trends for fleet management in
operations include drill navigation and mineral
quality control as well as payload optimisation
and automatic dispatch with different criteria.
The storage of the large quantities of data in the
cloud is also moving forward for the industry.
High precision GPS systems are also becoming a
standard tool at mines. Often minesites have a
stand-alone HPGPS system, that doesn't require
a FMS to provide a value, but is still able to
scale to those systems to take advantage of a
full FMS at a later date.
In addition, remote solutions aimed at
preventative maintenance and having an active
awareness of machine condition in real-time
continue to move forward. The mining industry
as a whole has traditionally had a reactive
attitude to equipment maintenance; often
employing a fix-it-when broken attitude.
However, trucks, excavators and many other
pieces of mining related equipment are now
closely monitored, ensuring that downtime is
minimised. Fleet management systems (FMS)
also offer mines an opportunity for improved
efficiency and safety. Automatic optimisation
and dispatching of an equipment fleet can
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00 International Mining | MAY 2015
Fleet management systems
With Cat MineStar, Customers can configure the
optional sets: Fleet, Terrain, Detect, Health and
Command – to manage multiple operations and
gather real-time feedback
Mining operations have become increasingly
complex with the introduction of new systems
designed to improve safety and productivity. The
amount of information provided by these
systems can be overwhelming if they are not
managed properly. A Fleet Management System
(FMS) records, reports and ultimately optimises
the mining fleet to lower the operating costs.
Wenco’s FMS, Wencomine, is a suite of
specialised software which uses GPS and a
wireless radio network to track and monitor
production, maintenance, and safety at a mine
site. It gives dispatchers and operators realtime awareness and control of equipment and
data, while providing managers and supervisors
with multiple reporting options so they can
quickly get the big picture of their daily
operations. Wenco also has experimented with a
cloud-based FMS, including performing a
successful proof-of-concept in early 2014 with
Teck.
Jason Clarke, Director of Business
Development for Wenco, spoke to IM about
some their fleet management developments.
“Fleet management systems are becoming
increasingly comprehensive. They’ve grown to
encompass more of a mine management role;
offering or interfacing to proximity awareness,
tire sensors, fatigue monitoring, or slope
monitoring systems, to name just a few. No one
company can offer everything that a mine
needs, but the best ones focus on seamless,
smooth integrations.”
He adds: “At Wenco, we have learned that the
fleet management system is the hub that
drastically reduce fuel and tyre repair costs.
Wenco's MineVision mine map
dispatching applications