Tips for using the InSite Cube for Ad Hoc Reporting – Part 1

By

It’s Tip Tuesday! Today’s post is Part 1 in a new series from Mariana Nobile, one of our Technical Customer Support Consultants.

Ad hoc analysis is a business intelligence process designed to answer a single, specific business question. The product of ad hoc analysis is typically a statistical model, analytic report, or other type of data summary. The purpose of ad hoc analysis is to fill in gaps left by the business’ static, regular reporting. Ad hoc analysis may be used to create a report that does not already exist, or drill deeper into a static report to get details about accounts, transactions, or records. The process may be also used to get more current data for the existing areas covered by a static report.   

Although most ad hoc reports and analyses are meant to be run only once, in practice, they often end up being reused and run on a regular basis. This relatively common practice can lead to unnecessary reporting processes that impact high-volume reporting periods. Reports should be reviewed periodically for efficiencies to determine whether they continue to serve a useful business purpose.

For GEOVIA InSite™ users, the InSite Cube is a database updated by the main InSite database used for reporting. The Excel Data Query add-in is used to link to this database to allow users to create Ad hoc reports from reconciled production data in InSite. The InSite cube is specifically designed to facilitate ad hoc analysis by providing quick, easy access to data. Allowing the user access to data through a point-and-click interface eliminates the need to request data and analysis from another group within the company. This capacity allows for quicker response times when a business question comes up, which in turn should help the user respond to issues and make business decisions faster. 

Here are some helpful tips for using the InSite Cube:

Connecting to InSite Cube
To connect to the InSite Cube, open Microsoft Excel and Navigate to the Data Menu and click on “From Other Sources.” Note: The screenshot, below, is from Microsoft Excel 2010. For those using a different version of Microsoft Excel, connecting to the InSite Cube may vary slightly.
Excel – Connecting to Analysis Service Database (IinSite Cube DatabaseScenario
One of the most important dimensions is the Scenario dimension. InSite stores values in different categories, claimed, estimated, actual, declared and best. Each represents a level of confidence in a value. Status options are:

  • Actual: Values returned from material balance or reconciliation.
  • Estimated: Estimated values are refined, or audited, Claimed values. They may be the same as the original Claimed value, but have been reviewed, for example, by a shift manager.
  • Claimed: All values entering the system are Claimed values.
  • Best: The most reliable value available. If Actual value is not available, Estimated value = Best.
  • Decl: Declared values are the most reliable value from Estimated and Claimed values.

Note: To ensure that numbers aren’t doubled, always select the best scenario for reporting purposes.
Excel – Dimension Scenario – available fields to be used in the pivot tablesStockpile Balance Type
There are two stockpile balance types in InSite: Survey and WAG. Survey provides the balances entered into the InSite Stockpile Data Entry form. The WAG, Weighted Average Grade, displays balances that are calculated by InSite. 

  • Stockpile Location – This dimension is the same as the location dimension.
  • Stockpile Material – Same as material
  • Stockpile Organization Unit – There is only one organization unit setup and only one organization unit type. These dimensions can be ignored in the cube.
  • Survey Date – Same as date, see date definitions and use.

Work Period
The most common practice is to have two work periods are defined within InSite. These represent the shifts and are defined as D for day shift and N for Night shift. This dimension allows the user to create reports to review production at the shift level.

Excel – Work Period – available fields to be used in the pivot tablesAs an example, I created a report that looks at the monthly volume of a mine commodity moved to a stockpile for both the day and night shift, and then configured the Pivot table group boxes. In the row label group box, I have added only the ‘To Location’ to obtain all movements into the stockpile and added the ‘Work Period’ to the column labels group box.

Excel – Pivot table set up as per example cited aboveGive these tips a try the next time you are using InSite Cube, and be sure to check back next month for Part 2 where I share tricks for working with InSite Cube.

Looking for more InSite tips & Tricks? Check out Marina’s last post on Viewing and Reprocessing Activity Data Rejects

0
GEOVIA

GEOVIA

When mining companies seek to increase mine productivity, they turn to Dassault Systèmes for technology and services. It is home to world-renowned and award-winning mining solutions and to industry thought leaders who are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in mining, through the GEOVIA brand. The largest global supplier of mining software, GEOVIA delivers comprehensive solutions in all major mining centers in more than 130 countries at over 4,000 sites.
GEOVIA

Latest posts by GEOVIA (see all)