Presentation by Steve Franklin of Cement & Aggregate Consulting at the 2017 IQA conference in Toowoomba covering use of drones and quarry planning and scheduling tools.

1. Presenters: Steve Franklin & Paul Soden
Smart Solutions for Productivity Gain
IQA National Conference 2017

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● The factors that regulate productivity.
● Why budget/benchmark numbers are important.
● How productivity is improved.
● Systems that can be used to measure and manage productivity.
Overview
Smart solutions for Productivity Gain

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Definition of Productivity:
‘A measure of the efficiency of a person, factory, system etc., in converting
inputs into valuable outputs.
Productivity is computed by dividing average output per period by the total
costs incurred or resources consumed (capital, energy, material, personnel) in
that period.
Productivity is a critical determinant of cost efficiency.’
(businessdictionary.com)
The factors that regulate productivity
Smart solutions for Productivity Gain

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Measuring productivity in many businesses is akin to playing a grand final where
your team has no idea what the opposing team’s score is.
By this I mean, that even though you might know your team’s score, if it is not
related to the opposing teams score, then you don’t really know if you are winning
or not.
This of course is where things like budgets and benchmarks come in, the idea that
we need to compare actual performance with expected performance.
The factors that regulate productivity
Smart solutions for Productivity Gain

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Definition of Budget:
‘An estimate of costs, revenues, and resources over a specified period,
reflecting a reading of future financial conditions and goals.
One of the most important administrative tools, a budget serves also as a:
(1) Plan of action for achieving quantified objectives.
(2) Standard for measuring performance.
(businessdictionary.com)
Why budget/benchmark numbers are important
Smart solutions for Productivity Gain

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Definition of Benchmark:
‘Standard, or a set of standards, used as a point of reference for evaluating
performance or level of quality.
Benchmarks may be drawn from a firm's own experience, from the experience
of other firms in the industry, or from legal requirements such as government
regulations.’
(businessdictionary.com)
Why budget/benchmark numbers are important
Smart solutions for Productivity Gain

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Note that in the definitions given, budgets and benchmarks are generally set from
‘experience’, comparisons with other businesses or on conditions imposed by
regulators.
This is good practice, however it can be an incomplete approach.
Why budget/benchmark numbers are important
Smart solutions for Productivity Gain

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To change or improve something, you need to know:
1. What is the system currently achieving?
2. What is the system is capable of (and what are the resources to achieve this)?
Then:
3. Estimate the ‘gap’ between current performance and what the system is
capable of.
4. Determine the ‘size of the prize’.
5. Create a plan to eliminate the gap (provided the prize warrants it).
Note - many companies are already good at applying this type of approach to fixed
plant (e.g. OEE), less so in other areas.
How productivity is improved
Smart solutions for Productivity Gain

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Background
• A site runs a fleet of six haul trucks.
• Each month, a detailed electronic productivity report is produced by the dealer,
compiled from load by load reporting from the truck indicating the average
payload is ≈ 50t.
Problem
• Production requirements are predicted to increase in the coming months
Solution
• An additional truck is hired.
How productivity is improved – Example 1
Smart solutions for Productivity Gain

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Background
• A site runs a fleet of six haul trucks.
• Each month, a detailed electronic productivity report is produced by the dealer,
compiled from load by load reporting from the truck indicating the average
payload is ≈ 50t.
Problem
• Production requirements are predicted to increase in the coming months
Solution
• On review, rated payload is found to be 60t.
• Ensure that trucks can be safely loaded to full capacity,
• Load trucks to capacity.
• ‘Bank the savings!’
How productivity is improved – Example 2
Smart solutions for Productivity Gain

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1. What is the system currently achieving?
50t.
2. What is the system is capable of?
60t.
3. Estimate the ‘gap’ between current performance and what the system is
capable of.
10t per load.
4. Determine the ‘size of the prize’.
One less truck on shift.
5. Create a plan to eliminate the gap (provided the prize warrants it).
Ensure trucks can hold rated payload.
Load trucks to rated payload.
Regularly check that rated payload is met.
How productivity is improved - summary
Smart solutions for Productivity Gain

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The example given is simplistic - in reality determination of system performance
and appropriate benchmarks and budget figures can be much more difficult.
We believe that it is important to determine what the site/system is capable of and
use that as the guide to whether things are ‘on track’ or not and not just compare
with last years performance or that of a neighbouring site.
This approach can also help to identify not just system capacity, but also what the
correct estimation of effort is to achieve the desired result.
Systems that can be used to measure and manage productivity
Smart solutions for Productivity Gain

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So how do we put this together?
The question ‘What is the system currently achieving?’ can be determined by
systems such as:
• VisionLink.
• Komtrax.
• TOTALcapture.
• Propeller.
There is a LOT of data available to us now (some would say ‘too much!’).
Systems that can be used to measure and manage productivity
Smart solutions for Productivity Gain

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The question ‘What is the system is capable of?’ are answered by simulation,
scheduling and visualisation software such as:
• AggFlow Fixed plant simulation and modelling.
• Alastri Haul Infinity Load and haul simulation.
• Deswik.Sched Long and medium term quarry development scheduling.
• Deswik.CAD Quarry design and visualisation.
Tools like these can give us valuable new insight into our operations through
looking at them from completely new viewpoints.
They also allow us to ‘what if’ and try different approaches – e.g.:
• ‘What if we hold that stripping campaign off for a year?’
• ‘When does that truck really need to be added to the fleet?’
• ‘Can we meet that new contract we are considering?’
Systems that can be used to measure and manage productivity
Smart solutions for Productivity Gain

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Example of load and haul fleet analysis
Smart solutions for Productivity Gain

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Smart solutions for Productivity Gain
Example of load and haul fleet analysis
Analysis of this kind can help us understand things like:
• The number of trucks required.
• Estimated truck and loader production.
• Estimated fuel consumption.
• Whether the load and haul fleet is truck or loader limited.

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Example of long/medium term quarry development simulation
Smart solutions for Productivity Gain

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Smart solutions for Productivity Gain
Example of long/medium term quarry development scheduling
Analysis of this kind can help us understand how much overburden needs to be
moved and by when, to achieve the production material targets, determine the
number of loading tools and trucks needed to achieve these targets and what an
optimised extraction sequence might look like.
These scheduling simulations help us budget and most importantly, allow us to
‘…make our mistakes on the computer, not in the field.’

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Example of visualisation
Smart solutions for Productivity Gain

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Visualisation models can have many benefits:
• Its often the first time that managers have seen all the elements of a deposit or
system in one cohesive whole.
• They highlight ‘holes’ in the data.
• They can be used to enlighten others on plans and implications of not following
them.
• They allow effective knowledge transfer as managers move through the
business.
Example of visualisation
Smart solutions for Productivity Gain

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To change or improve something, you need to know:
1. What is the system currently achieving?
2. What is the system is capable of (and what are the resources to achieve this)?
Then:
3. Estimate the ‘gap’ between current performance and what the system is
capable of.
4. Determine the ‘size of the prize’.
5. Create a plan to eliminate the gap (provided the prize warrants it).
Summary
Smart solutions for Productivity Gain

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