LECTURE 7

AUTOMATED PLANNING, SCHEDULING AND OPTIMISATION

TWO NECESSARY APPROACHES

• Loading and Haulage System Design and optimization

• Loading and Haulage System Management
BASIC SELECTION STEPS

• Determine the required production.

• Production requirements are affected by sales projections, contracts, amount
of available reserves and other operations of the company in question. Total
production is initially determined annually but should then be converted into
daily and hourly production rates for the individual operations.
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• Determine reach or haul path.

• Reach is the maximum horizontal distance over which a machine can either
load or dump. Haul path is the both the distance and corresponding grade on
the path over which mobile machinery must travel. One primary
consideration in determining haul path is topography.
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• Calculate cycle time.

• Cycle time for any operation can comprise two components. First category has fixed tasks
such as turning, spotting, dumping, and loading. Equipment manufacturers give estimates of
times taken to complete each of these fixed components of the cycle. The estimates are based
on experience and are specified for varying equipment model and job conditions. The
variable cycle time component involves travel time for mobile equipment or swing time for
fixed base equipment. Travel time is so variable since it is controlled by the haul distance,
geometry of the haul path and the speed of the vehicle. The speed in turn is a function of
available power, total resistance, and load. The swing angle controls swing time.
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• Calculate capacity
• Production rate = capacity * (number of cycles/unit time)……………2.10
Having considered all efficiency factors,
• Productivity = production rate * efficiency factors…………………....2.11
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• Iterate to improve productivity.

• Further refinements need to be done to optimize productivity. Capacity
calculated may not be achievable with the machinery class determined hence
the need to adjust cycle time which would then require further refinement of
the design capacity. A number of iterations need to be done to produce a
number of loading and haulage alternatives for cost comparison.
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• Calculate fleet size

• Previous assumption was that there is going to be one loading and hauling
unit for the entire haulage system but this compromises on fleet productivity
in cases of unavailability. As a result more than one piece of equipment must
be selected so that if one piece is unavailable production won’t come to a
stand-still.
CONT…

• Iterate to reduce owning and operating costs.

• A cost comparison is made in order to determine the best fleet choice based on total
cost per unit of production. Total cost per unit production is a function of owning
cost, operating cost and useful life. Furthermore, computer simulation should be
done to deal with assumptions inherent in the deterministic equipment selection
algorithms as well as to provide less approximate production and cost estimates.
Simulation doesn’t only provide straight forward comparisons but also provide a
platform for identifying potential system changes that results in better alternatives.
FLEET MANAGEMENT

• ELEMENTS OF AN INTEGRATED FLEET MANAGEMENT

SYSTEM
1. FLEET MONITORING
- Remote supervision
- Haulage optimization
- Turn by turn navigation
- Proximity alarms
- Real time web reporting
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• 2. MACHINE GUIDANCE SYSTEM

- Dozer/truck proximity alarms
- Dozer/truck dynamic digital terrain mode
- Shovel elevation control
- Shovel 3D material delineation
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• 3. MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

- Real time asset health monitoring
- Root cause analysis
- User defined alarms
- Time tracking
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• 4. PRODUCTION TRACKING SYSTEM

- Automated production recording
- Accurate time tracking
- Onboard mine map
- Optional control room operators
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• 5. POSITION AND SAFETY TRACKING SYSTEM

- Area access control
- Continuous speed monitoring
- Onboard mine map
- Portable position tracking
- Hazard detection
FLEET OPTIMISATION

• Fleet optimization software

• FPC
• Talpac, Haulnet, Haulsim
• Deswik
• Dispatch