Short interval control adoption for digital mines

This blog is an approach to adopt short interval control and recognizing the components.

Considerations for a Short Interval Control Journey

For a Short Interval control adoption to be successful, the current operating model of the mine needs to change. This change improves upon a baseline which could vary between sites/ regions and includes the following perspectives: -

How is planning done and to what levels of granularity? How are shift targets set?
How “integrated” is the mine plan? – This is not just about production but all activities that may have an impact on the plan (services and support activities)
What decisions can be taken or have been made in the past within the shift to adhere to the schedule and how does it impact a by-weekly rolling schedule?
How is the feedback intra-shift taken today on progress? What roles are involved?
What metrics are the measured end of shift and what is relevant in between the shift?
What medium of communication and collaboration tools is in use? How do various teams collaborate in the shift?
What tasks have a level of automation to denote auto-completion? What tasks need automation?
What digital tools are in use for data capture and logging?

Once the above perspectives are understood, one needs to consider the level of automation, boundaries of the short interval control scope. For example, the level of automation need to consider all aspects of planning and scheduling inputs and thus determine critical systems to support processes that are relevant as depicted below

Roadmap of Short Interval Control

SIC is a journey hence the feasible approach is to plan this journey into short initiatives along the line of the reference model with a goal of a digitalization that follows a defines a 4-step path. From No feedback closed loop (current state), digitized for continuous reporting and feedback, Optimized via decision support, - fully automated via cognitive and AI systems. The fundamental tenants of this philosophy would include

Integration between the detailed production scheduling function and integrated site management as key with access to a single, unified shift plan that is continuously updated to reflect what is happening on site accurately
Visualize beyond exercises in bespoke integrations and simple KPI reporting via dashboards to articulate and capture business value
Focus on the equipment-operator interface: Machine start-up checklists, Current workplace, Current work assignment, Operator details, Time started, completion percentage, Workplace KPIs, Variance analysis, Lost-time tracking, Expected time to complete tasks, Next work assignment, Machine health indicators, etc.
Embed holistic optimization instead of a one pass optimization beyond the current shift or day combining mining and engineering aspects, e.g., maximum square meters or even unit cost

A holistic upfront assessment is needed to undertake this journey, and the program can be delivered incrementally towards the goal of a fully automated mine.

About the author

Sudip Chaudhuri - Practice Head

Sudip Chaudhuri Heads the Mining Practice in Wipro and leads a team of domain and technology professionals working in the areas of Mining Process Optimization. Over a period of 19 years, Sudip has had extensive experience in applying IT for Mining and Mineral Processing industries across roles of go to market, conceptualization, solution design, delivery and project management of complex programs.

In his role as a practitioner he has successfully led or mentored multiple projects in India and abroad for improving asset utilization, operational efficiencies, energy efficiencies and embedding technology in operations for improving work practices that lead to top line growth and bottom line savings. In his current role he is responsible for advising clients on mining systems, creating innovative solutions and developing competencies that can provide the right technology enablement in a challenging industry environment

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