A low-cost equipment, plant and mobile asset management system uses the existing information available from machine sensors and programmable logic controllers (PLCs) to provide near real-time asset and maintenance management, says electronics engineering firm Keystone Electronic Solutions director John Eigelaar.

The RMM mining solution is specifically designed to integrate seamlessly with the existing systems of smaller mining companies and lower-value aggregate mining companies, as it does not require additional equipment, instrumentation, wiring or network capacity.

The overarching aim of the system is to enable smaller companies to do predictive maintenance and maintenance management to limit or remove any disruptions to operations, he says.

The solution uses open source software and there are no initial or recurring licensing fees. The entire system can run on a single server instance, and has been designed to use only lightweight data, which is sent from all the assets over cellular Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM, or 2G) connectivity.

“The initial costs are so low that companies can test the system on certain portions of their equipment fleet and then expand it to include more equipment if they get satisfactory results.

“The system is scalable and can use various forms of connectivity, depending on requirements or site constraints, including satellite backhaul and/or wide-area network connectivity to monitor equipment at a specific site, and even trunked radio systems,” adds Keystone Electronic Solutions director Ivan Popov.

The RMM system measures different operational parameters of equipment and then matches these to the known maintenance plans for the various pieces of equipment. This is then used to schedule maintenance procedures or to flag unscheduled maintenance based on inflection points in operating parameters or alarms.

“Data from PLCs are in standard industrial protocols and we tap this data to provide the RMM system functionalities and there is, thus, no need for extra sensors or wiring. Companies can deploy the system on infrastructure already in place,” says Eigelaar.

Maintenance procedure flags linked to equipment pieces are then cleared once the maintenance crew submits the job card for maintenance undertaken.

“Our system also links directly into companies’ enterprise resource management systems to enable them to keep track of equipment, maintenance and maintenance planning within these systems,” he notes.

It also enables maintenance logs and production data to be interrogated simultaneously in near real time, which provides insight into maintenance impacts, operational efficiencies and the impacts of downtime in relation to production variables.

“We aimed to make near-real-time production data immediately available throughout an organisation. We have added a mobile Web interface so that users, mostly managers, maintenance managers or factory floor managers, can get information on the state of equipment using any smart device. “This system also enables companies to expose production data to employees on the shop floor,” explains Eigelaar.

“For lower-end and smaller mining companies, disruptions can lead to additional costs that can negatively affect the efficiency of their supply chains, especially when the disruptions are unplanned.”

The RMM system aims to enable engineers to increase their focus on the strategic aspects of business performance, rather than on routine and mundane functions.

“Mining engineers should focus on mining and processing, and our system provides them with a way of easily controlling their equipment maintenance schedules to support their commercial activities,” Eigelaar concludes.