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A plan is only perfect on paper – once started, real life gets in the way. Mining is no exception – even the most optimal schedule will change once the shift is underway. Whether it’s a shortage of materials, equipment breakdowns, or unexpected geology, issues during the shift need to be identified and resolved.
Of course, we always want to do the right thing – but to do that, we need the right information. In our last post, we introduced the concept of short interval control for mining. The first step, knowing what’s actually happened (look back) means having the data you need in a time-frame that allows you to then look forward and implement in the next interval.
So what data do we need?
The first thing is the plan – you can’t identify an issue without knowing what you intended to achieve. There are often several versions: the quarterly plan, weekly schedule, and shift schedule. Then we need the progress updates, including meters advanced, tonnes moved, equipment in use and employees on shift.
Ideally, there’s also a comparison between the plan and the actual. We call this operational transparency: providing access to all the information planners need to easily identify when there’s an issue with progress to plan and find out why.
Dassault Systèmes & Epiroc
Dassault Systèmes recently collaborated with Epiroc to show the value of operational transparency combined with equipment efficiency, providing a seamless inter-operability between planning and execution by mining in the right place at the right time with the right resources.
Have a look at the proof-of-concept video, which comprises software solutions from Dassault Systèmes including GEOVIA MineSched and the 3DEXPERIENCE platform with the Epiroc Certiq telematics solution.
Watch the Proof-Of-Concept Video
With operational transparency, mine sites benefit from the ability to make decisions that reduce inefficiencies in operations, increase productivity, and drive continuous improvement in their business processes, even without having other components of a short interval control solution. And, with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform from Dassault Systèmes, you can easily integrate multiple sources of data to create your unique operational transparency dashboard – easily identifying and communicating changes to the plan. To find out more about the platform, have a look at our recent webinar in the 2019 Innovation Webinar Series.
In our next blog post (#3), we’ll look at short-term scheduling, the next step in the broader solution for short interval control.
