More than ever the global mining industry is facing new and growing challenges to support and sustain a viable business. At the product end of the business, commodity prices can fluctuate substantially and rapidly force mining companies to be more reactive and less proactive than they would like to be in managing their business. Potential viable ore bodies can disappear virtually overnight from a company's asset portfolio as related commodity prices drop while environmental control and operating costs escalate. Fortunately, for the more progressive mining companies, rapidly advancing technologies empower them to better deal with these current and future challenges. Those technologies functioning within the open and integrated architecture of today's Mine Fleet Management Systems (MFMS) can help the process of Full Value Creation in the three key asset components of an industry namely; Physical, Human, and Business Assets.Mine Fleet Management Systems have a real-time operational focus on the efficiencies of production that take into account material quality requirements, equipment utilization and health, and operator safety. These benefits are realized immediately; load-by-load, shift-by-shift, day-by day, offering improvements across shift boundaries to create consistent performance and outcomes from varying crew capabilities. These are the real-time performance improvements that these systems deliver on the physical assets of the company.But it's the additional aspect of how you use that data, that will create opportunities for continuous improvement. These systems are great at providing measurements and delivering those results, but it is the personnel at the mine that need to identify what Key Performance Indicators, what measurements, are the most significant. Being able to take results that very clearly identify how the mine is performing, determine why mine performance is at that level, and then create a plan on how to improve.Systems providers need to be proactive in at least three areas to help their customers succeed in this goal.One: Provide tools with the flexibility to not only report data, but to deliver meaningful representations of results for accurate and informed decision making. Dashboard tools are ideal for this purpose, especially if they are user configurable with options for multiple visualizations and data sources.Two: Allow ease of access to the information. Have an open system philosophy that encourages their customers to not only access the data but share it among other systems at numerous levels. Whether it's at a localized level where one user benefits from connectivity of technologies, or at an enterprise level where key data is fed into systems such as SAP for the development of operational strategies.Three: Understand the entire value chain and provide coaching at every level. Throughout the scope of our system, Wenco is able to provide training for the machine operators, work with ITC departments to ensure system reliability, and engage with mine engineers to ensure that their plans are being properly executed.We are also fortunate enough to be associated through common ownership by Hitachi with Business Intelligence companies such as Hitachi Solutions and Hitachi Consulting that work with Management at the mine sites and at the C-Level to achieve sustainability through operational strategies. At the managerial level it is about leveraging even more value from systems, whether from proper and planned integration of systems into SAP, or through identifying benefits and using those benefits to lead the implementation of new methodology. At the C-level it's about being responsible to the shareholders by delivering true operational value through the implementation of best practices across a global footprint.It all boils down to the same source data, and using that data towards achieving the common goals at each level, and at every point along the value chain; safely increasing operational throughput, improving mechanical reliability, and lowering costs.
