Jake HutchinJ.Hutchin@mineware.com

Real-time Shovel Payload Feedback for Improved

Productivity

Contents

1. Learning journey for shovel productivity

a) What is an optimised shovel?

b) Why is shovel payload important?

c) What is the difficulty in achieving target payload?

2. Use of real-time operator feedback to drive improvement in truck loading

3. Case-studies of feedback in action

4. Challenges and future work

What is an optimized shovel??

Contributes to an optimized truck circuit

A high average truck load without causing overloads

In as few passes and as quickly as possible

Reduces stress and machine wear-and-tear were possible

Adheres to plan, and correctly differentiates ore bodies and waste

What key metrics affect optimal loader operation?Availability of loader Good maintenance practices

Reduction in poor operator practices (boom-jacks, impacts, etc.)

General smooth operation of the loader

Good fragmentation and diggability (reduce machines stress)

Availability of trucks to load Correct scheduling and number trucks on circuit

Reduction in bunching and queueing

Efficient backing in and kicking out of trucks

Minimisation of clean-up

cycles aka ‘gardening’ and

non-productive activities

(utilisation)

Good machine positioning on bench

Well designed excavation and sequencing

Good fragmentation and diggability

Correct muck pile management

Speed of loading of truck Loader/truck matching

Operator proficiency

Good fragmentation and diggability

Well designed excavation and bench height

Efficient backing in and kicking out of truck

Loader characteristics and tuning

Optimum truck payload Loader/truck matching

Operator judgment to achieve target load for every truck

Good fragmentation and diggability

Optimum Truck

Payload

Reduce Opportunity

Cost

Maximise Circuit

Productivity

Reduce Truck bunching/ queuing

Reduce Truck and Road

Maintenance Cost

(10:10:20)

Potential to reduce # of

trucks

What does success look like?

Challenges for Operator to estimate ‘correct’ payload in truck

Can’t estimate payload when you can

only see volume

Need to identify every truck model

and know every target payload

Can’t know carry-back in truck tray

and in the loader bucket

How to calculate opportunity cost for

under-loading, do I put a little more in

a truck?

Payloads vary significantly bucket-

by-bucket

Why not just use the truck weighing system?

Calibration of trucks is difficult

Some trucks have no weighing system

Timeliness of data to operator

Most accurate truck weighing occurs on ‘second gear reweigh’

Why not use the truck systems: inaccurate when being loaded

Truck payloads at point of load Vs second gear reweigh

Workings of the shovel based payload system:

New Truck Arrives

RFID system

determines Truck ID

Capacity of truck

provided to operator

Shovel payload system

calculates load for

each pass

Operator provided real-time

‘remaining tonnes’ to full load

Truck loaded

correctly and

dispatched

Visual Feedback during loading to operator

Operator feedback in action…

Case Studies

Two case studies: one back-hoe, one CAT cable shovel operating at different Australian mine sites

Shovel based payload systems used for feedback to operator

Data from week before and week after feedback enabled

Case Study Results from CAT shovel…

Higher Average

Less Major Overloads

Case Study results from Backhoe…

Monitor Avg ct

Target

Max ct

Target

SD ct

Avg

%

Trucks

> 110%

Without 93% 116% 9.4% 7%

With 99% 108% 4.2% 0%

Data provided by

What were the challenges?

A payload measurement already exist in a FMS, why is shovel based payload important?

Overcoming perception that productivity is simply the number of trucks loaded in a shift

Considering shovel performance as a key indicator to truck/shovel performance

Lack of collaboration with other systems, on and off board

Work to be done: Simulation testing…E.g. Simulation to understand effects of payload on truck bunching

Thank-you!

Ensure your loader:– Contributes to an optimized truck circuit

– Achieves a high average truck load without causing overloads

– In as few passes and as quickly as possible

– Reduces stress were possible

– Adheres to plan

Use shovel based payload systems, combined with

effective real-time feedback of truck payload, to drive

maximum production rates