With profits down, the mining industry has shifted its focus towards improving productivity in operations. In such a scenario, efficient utilization of personnel, material and equipment is the key to meeting daily mining production targets, while also cutting operating expenses. Digital and technology innovations have the potential to transform key aspects of mining operations to drive higher efficiencies. With a digital fleet management system in place, the right data can be presented to the right people at the right time to enable quick responses and facilitate the smooth running of mine operations.
GroundHog SIC is a comprehensive mobile fleet management system with features that enable full digitization in the mining life cycle. Optimized for use in underground mine operations, GroundHog SIC controls mining production, tracks and schedules workforce, and helps you get deep insights to drive higher operating efficiency. In this article, we list the features of GroundHog SIC that help miners stay on top of daily production targets.
Digitized Data Collection
With traditional methods of paper-based or verbal reporting at the end of a shift, the accuracy and validity of data captured are often questionable. Also, the opportunity to address delays during the shift itself is lost since the results of the shift are known only after the shift has ended. GroundHog SIC enables recording and capturing of data on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Mobile-based data collection eliminates the possibility of manual errors that creep in with paper forms, and enables quick operational assessments from the command center. By harnessing operational data that is available digitally, the management gains the intelligence to pursue mining production goals in a more strategic, data-oriented framework. Since mining is a highly regulated industry, accurate data is also crucial to ensuring compliance with environmental impact regulations and safety standards.
Enhanced Production Scheduling
GroundHog SIC’s cutting-edge production scheduling system facilitates scheduling and processing decisions that maximize utilization of mining equipment and yields. The system imports long-range schedule and tunable parameters from your production plan and creates shift task lists for supervisors to review and dispatch. Task lists are created using a capability matrix that identifies and matches operators to the most effective equipment. KPIs and reports allow supervisors, operation controllers and the management to detect deviations from expected operating conditions, and facilitate optimization as required.
Real-Time Location Tracking
GroundHog SIC’s real-time location tracking system integrates with a GPS transponder overlaying real-time location information of mining equipment, personnel and vehicles over a navigation display. The ability to track the precise location of mining assets in real time helps optimize current shifts, and plan upcoming shifts. By integrating with the production scheduling and control system, this feature improves utilization of mining assets and reduces operational delays.
Analytics and Intelligence
Mining companies generate volumes of data from equipment and processes, but only a fraction of this data is actually used to derive insights on equipment health and availability. Recent advances in data analytics and machine learning technology have enabled miners to leverage health-monitoring data for predictive maintenance, rather than use the traditional time-based maintenance approach. GroundHog SIC’s intelligent analytics system simplifies complex data and presents it in a manner that is easy to understand for miners, so as to empower them to optimize plans based on the insights available. In the wake of disturbances, the analytics systems can automatically dispatch a renewed schedule to prevent shortfalls in production targets and eliminate unnecessary downtime.
Automated Equipment and Work-site Inspections
To meet daily mining production goals, miners need predictable, repeatable performance from every piece of equipment. GroundHog SIC features a fully customizable digital fleet inspection process with the ability to manage and track inspections anytime, and from anywhere. Digital fleet inspections work in conjunction with production scheduling and location tracking to empower mines to keep their equipment running at 100 percent, and maximize compliance with safety and maintenance requirements.
