Material Car Tracking – Enabling control of the logistics process

Accuchip? is our material car tracking product for rail-bound mines. Accutrak designs and develops all the embedded systems, edge computing, software and analytics in-house. All components of our products, including Accuchip?, are developed to sustain the harsh conditions of mining operations.

Key elements of Accuchip? include:

• the dispatch capability;
• the accurate tracking;
• trip intelligence;
• material management;
• compliance management; and;
• a bespoke reporting platform tailored for various users.

In this second edition of the Accuchip? newsletter we will continue the discussion on the elements of our material car tracking solution being installed across the major mining groups in South Africa.

Key features of material car tracking and automated trip intelligence:

• Tracking and trip intelligence are completely automated without human intervention.
• A trip is defined as the process from when a material car submerges to when it surfaces again. The system automatically determines if a trip has started, a trip is in progress or if trip is complete.
• Trips automatically close dispatch orders when the correct underground reader station is passed by the relevant material car.
• Each event for a trip is recorded and easily accessible through the web interface

Key Benefits of tracking and trips:

• Search for a material car and ascertain where it was last seen
• Know the real-time number of material cars by type on each level
• Know the duration of trips for each material car
• Investigate the timeline and exact route each material car followed

Dispatch Management

• Material Requester/Shift Boss creates a dispatch order and specifies material type, material quantity and desired destination underground.
• The dispatch team receives the request, loads the material car and links the material car to the dispatch order.
• The status of the dispatch order can now be monitored in real-time as the material is transported to the destination.

Key benefits enabled by the ability to dispatch:

• Search for a dispatch order and ascertain its timeline and status.
• Know the duration from the start of a dispatch until the material car reaches its destination underground.
• If there are any deviations, such as the material car surfacing without reaching its destination, the system will flag this event.
• Make sure explosives and other materials are delivered on time, preventing irrecoverable delays in production.

Material Management

• The material management module shows the real-time location of material across the operation.
• It also shows the amount of material issued to a level or person over a specified period.

Benefits of the material management module:

• Know the real-time flow of material quantities by type across the entire operation.
• Know how much of any material type has been sent to a level or shift boss for a specified time period.
• Compare the amount of material issued to the budgeted amounts.

Compliance Management

The compliance management module highlights exceptions from the dispatch system that requires attention. Examples include:

• Trip started with no linked dispatch order
• Material car has been underground longer than the acceptable threshold.
• The Compliance Management enables mining operations to easily manage non-compliance and improve the quality of data.

Reporting Features

• Real-time dashboards and live displays that automatically update
• Live displays are customisable
• Reports can be exported to Excel or PDF
• Automate the process of receiving events and reports indefinitely
• The software is tailored to meet the needs of various roles on the mine
• Easy-to-use software

*All data presented in this newsletter are for illustrative purposes only.

For more information on our material car tracking and management solution, send us an email on [email protected].