Mining in the same way that has been the norm for the past decade has kept the industry in a state of productivity stagnation. By using automation solutions that leverage the intellectual property of employees, together with the processes and equipment deployed by mining operations, productivity can be substantially improved. This is according to Nicolas Glossoti from Future Digital Communication.

“In line with a growing demand for people and process changes to help improve productivity, costs and safety, Future Digital has entered into an exclusive South African agency partnership with Haultrax. The arrangement will see us bringing Haultrax’s FleetOps productivity solution to the local mining sector,” says Glossoti.

The aim of any productivity solution should be to provide timely, actionable information that eliminates the middle man and any delays currently associated with mining systems technology and processes, Glossoti points out.

“Without an integral alignment between people and the supporting processes to the technology, the benefits of automation can often not be fully achieved. Using the FleetOps solution we are able to appropriately identify, plan, implement and manage the necessary changes within open pit and underground mining operations,” says Glossoti.

The FleetOps solution leverages smart algorithms and affordable, effective technology and is tailored to mining operation requirements. Glossoti explains that a typical customisable solution could include a FleetOps data engine for creating production data, web and mobile apps, a digital infrastructure and standard reports and a dashboard configuration.

FleetOps provides the right information at the correct level of the business and is designed for scalability as the technology is enhanced. Using GPS time stamp samples, an analytics engine translates a series of data points into machine time-usage and cycle time information that includes asset utilisation; spot and queue time at load and dump operations; delays and downtime; and load counts.

The insights are delivered via the FleetOps user interface and can be used as a simple fleet reporting system to create management tools for specific improvement initiatives. The insights can also be used to verify the accuracy of cycle times calculated through fleet management systems.

“In a nutshell, FleetOps delivers the power of data to the operational teams on mines for improved decision making and maximised productivity. We encourage mining organisations to contact us to discuss a customised solution that incorporates FleetOps,” says Glossoti.