The mining industry is often faced with rising costs. In this article we will try to understand how the industry is transitioning to new, better ways of working while using digital technology, and how it is providing new opportunities to the dramatic increase of productivity and profits.
Economists believe that the increase in capitalized expenses by more than 30% and the increase in operating costs by up to 90% is due to higher labor costs, lower ore grade, pressure from new markets, depletion of some ore reserve types, new mines located in remote areas with extreme weather conditions, etc. According to experts, these aspects negatively affect the cost of the finished product and its margins. Therefore, the most important tasks of the enterprise are to increase productivity and reduce costs. One of the tools to streamline production is the use of digital technology, and digital transformation is becoming the profitability assurance.
The biggest advantages will go to companies that can shape an environment conducive to change and support digitalization. Integrating technologies that are successfully used in other industries opens up great opportunities for enterprises both to find new ways production problems and to minimize costs.
This is the route taken by the East Mining Company, which is a leading producer of thermal coal grades mined on islands off the east coast of Asia. The difficulty is that roads in quarries do not have a clear and constant topography. Road profiles are constantly changing, and operational efficiency focuses on controlling downtime, turnaround times, and choosing the most efficient solution for each case.
Galileosky released a new 7x device with LTE support especially for Eastern Mining Company. In turn, EMC developed a digital solution powered with Galileosky devices. That is OES (Operation Excellence Solutions), which allows to increase productivity and reduce costs of the mining company.
While developing the solution, the main goal was to get a set of end-to-end business tools that aim to increase productivity and reduce costs in the mining enterprise.
«You need to have a very clear understanding of certain operations that exist in a mining company. For example, you need to know how an operator should act correctly and what decisions should be made in this or that situation. In fact, we are building a control center where specialists can analyze mining plan execution options, identify bottlenecks, and improve overall production efficiency»
The ready-to-use digital solution toolkit includes five modules.
- Increasing productivity of complexes. It is necessary for the equipment to work synchronously and not to idle in queues at the quarry to achieve maximum productivity.
- Motivating and engaging staff. Every year at the end of August, Miner's Day is held, where the best employees in their field are awarded. The OES provides KPIs for each employee for the shift. Employees can find out their personal and crew ratings.
- Reduction of non-production downtime. The system shows the history of equipment operation and determines downtime in real time. Production staff reacts promptly to downtime and makes necessary decisions.
- Increasing fuel efficiency. Fuel is a major part of any mining company's expenses. A digital advisor predicts vehicle behavior on the road and adjusts driver behavior to optimize fuel consumption and speed.
- Increasing technical availability. Galileosky 7x LTE tracker is equipped with CAN Scanner technology, which gives more benefits. Connected to the CAN-bus, CAN Scanner can monitor the internal components and track the condition of the vehicle in real time. Due to this, the reaction to malfunctions or errors comes before they become a major problem. As a result, mining trucks do not have to be put on extended repair runs. When big data about the condition of machinery is accumulated, predictive diagnostic systems can be used.
It is possible to handle most operational efficiency cases in a mining company with the platform. Initial information from sensors is collected and processed through the Galileosky tracker, and the data is transferred to the platform and the digital advisor.
The platform is focused on applying the artificial intelligence algorithms and support for cloud technologies.
Galileosky is one of the world's leading equipment developers for transportation and manufacturing processes digitalization. The company has been in business since 2008 and supplies products to 70 countries worldwide. In 2018, Galileosky opened its headquarters in Hong Kong by the name of Tai Lu Tek. It is an independent business unit with well-established business processes which are procurement of components, Galileosky technology development, production and logistics. Galileosky is one of the Top 10 GPS Hardware Manufacturers 2022 according to Gurtam.
