Electricity + Control March 2021

CONTROL SYSTEMS + AUTOMATION : PRODUCTS + SERVICES

The right tools to take mining digital

face Drilling, enabling customers to scale up mining automa- tion at their own pace. The AutoMine ® Underground product family includes AutoMine ® Tele-Remote, AutoMine ® Lite, AutoMine ® Multi- Lite, and AutoMine ® Fleet. AutoMine ® Surface Drilling is an automation solution available for a wide range of Sandvik’s iSeries top hammer, down-the-hole and rotary drills. “One of the biggest differentiating factors is that Sandvik is a mining equipment/mining process and digital solutions pro- vider,” says Karthikeyan. “This expertise in technical, industrial and digital domains enables it to deliver solutions that outper- form peers’ products to the market.” Riku Pulli, President, Rock Drills and Technologies Division, Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions, says: “We are continually developing technologies that benefit our customers’ operations and this award points to the success that Sandvik has achieved with its automation solutions over the years.” tal tools, including tools to monitor equipment health and manage processes. Its AutoMine ® automation offering operates on 59 mining sites globally, and its OptiMine ® suite of digital solutions is active on 66 connected sites. The ‘My Sandvik’ customer portal, a web-based digital hub, serves 214 sites and its Newtrax technology in wire- less IoT connectivity is operating on 115 sites. “Monitoring equipment health through My Sandvik Digital Services Solutions allows users to draw down telemetry data from their equipment in real time,” says McCoy. “The data is automatically compiled into the re- quired report format for quick analysis and response. “The next aspect to be addressed is the management of the process being monitored,” he says. This is where Sandvik’s Task Management and Scheduler – part of its Optimine ® suite of digital solutions – can be applied. McCoy explains that this allows a tablet to be fitted to an item of equipment so an underground operator can accept tasks and provide real-time progress reports on those tasks. “The more advanced the equipment, the more data can be extracted and communicated auto- matically without operator intervention.” The solutions allow for data to be recorded on equip- ment’s key operations – such as the weight of loads in a loader bucket. Telemetry on the equipment gives valua- ble insights into the equipment’s availability and perfor- mance – so management can respond. “When starting the digital journey, the focus must be on improving current operations,” says McCoy. “This means getting work started on time, for instance, before moving onto optimisation efforts. Most digital implemen- tations will battle if the starting point is trying to increase productivity before getting the basics right.” For more information contact Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology. Visit: www.sandvik.com

The astute application of digital tools is the key to continually improving efficiencies on underground mines, according to Niel McCoy, Business Line Manager for Automation and Digitalisation at Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions. McCoy says the choice of digital tools needs to be based on each operation’s key performance indicators (KPIs) – because the solutions that are implemented will be focused on monitoring and managing those KPIs. He recommends a phased approach to introducing digital tools to a mining operation. “The starting point is always machine telemetry and basic production or productivity reporting,” he says. “From there, the solutions can be expanded.” Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions has extensive global experience in designing and implementing digi-

Sandvik OptiMine ® is a powerful suite of digital tools for analysing and optimising mining production and processes.

Global recognition in product leadership Simon Andrews, Managing Director at Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions, recently announced that Sandvik AutoMine ® and OptiMine ® had been recognised with the 2020 Global Autonomous Mining Solutions Product Leadership Award from Frost & Sullivan. Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognise companies in various regional and global markets where they demonstrate outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service and strategic product development. ”Sandvik is the only mining equipment and solutions company that received an award in our 2020 Class of Top 50 Digital Best Practitioners across the Industrial and Energy Space,” says Rohit Karthikeyan, Industry Analyst at Frost & Sullivan. The AutoMine ® system is an innovative automation solution that comprises AutoMine ® Underground and AutoMine ® Sur-

For more information visit: www.sandvik.com

10 Electricity + Control MARCH 2021