Flip through a mining journal or attend an industry conference, and you’ll likely come across some discussion of fleet management. It’s a hot topic these days. But beyond the obvious definition—managing a fleet of equipment—what exactly does it entail? And what benefits should it deliver for a mining operation?
The simplest way to define fleet management is to look more closely at its three basic components: equipment assignment and optimization, production monitoring, and position and material monitoring.
Equipment assignment and optimization is the primary reason many mining companies choose to implement fleet management systems in the first place. By enabling the scheduling and assignment of all types of equipment from multiple manufacturers—as well as shift change management—from a central office location, fleet management helps minimize unproductive machine wait time and optimize equipment usage on site.
The second critical element, production monitoring, is the ability to review information on machine cycle time, payload, loading performance and other key operational parameters. Fleet management provides visibility in real time to this kind of data—which can be tracked by individual machine or operator, groups of machines, specific sites or an entire fleet—enabling miners to make timely changes to improve loading performance and increase payload predictability.
Position and material monitoring is the third key component. At its most basic level, fleet management is about monitoring equipment location for an entire fleet—but beyond that, it also helps to ensure that machines are in the right location and that the amount and type of material they’re moving is accurate. This type of data can be used to alert operators to misroutes before mistakes or safety hazards occur, as well as to analyze performance factors such as dump movement and haul road congestion to boost overall site productivity.
Now that the “what” of fleet management is clear, let’s take a look at the “why.” Done right, it provides a comprehensive overview of an entire operation, across one mine site or multiple sites. From there, it enables a “drill down” into more detailed views and analysis, generating reports on specific groups of assets, equipment on particular sites or individual machines. And it allows for “what if” simulations to identify the effect of operational changes prior to implementation. These capabilities all come together to help mining operations reduce costs per ton, enhance productivity and boost overall site profitability.
What do you think? Does this align with your definition and expectations of fleet management? What other capabilities would you include? Tell us your thoughts, then click here to learn more about fleet management: Cat MineStar System/Fleet.