Second-by-second monitoring of transport routes taken by materials from surface to underground. The just-in-time delivery to miners of the equipment they need for roadheading. Reduced manhandling of materials and the resulting increase in occupational safety. Such are the benefits of OKD’s new integrated logistics system.
OKD‘s mines underwent massive modernisation through the Productivity Optimisation Programme 2010 (POP 2010) and are now equipped with state-of-the-art boring machines and mining sets. This has increased efficiency, enabled access to further coal deposits at greater depths, and contributed considerably to improved safety. OKD‘s mines have in fact reached a level of safety never attained before.
Another key development that has recently come to OKD is the logistics system. As is so often the case in mining, all things are inter-related. “We have already made solid investments in the core processes, that is tunnelling and mining. Now the time has come to focus on related processes, which have considerable potential for increased efficiency. The position of logistics is fundamental in mining, as it affects many other areas. It concerns the system for material storage and handling, the monitoring of material movements, good material husbandry, and safety. Safety is our topmost concern,” said Marian Weiser, who manages OKD’s logistics project.
Weiser defines the project’s key objectives: increased material handling efficiency, which reduces labour demands and so frees up workers for other assignments. “We assume that once the project has fully taken off we will be able to do away with approximately 60 shifts a day at each mine. It will enable us to move people to other jobs where they will be more productive,” said Weiser.
The streamlining of material handling from the loading process on the surface to the underground workplace will increase safety. Linking information on material transport routes to an online system will eliminate unnecessary stockpiling and improve the management of the whole handling process. Weiser mentions the ambitious target to generate a return from the investment in two years.
Darkov Mine: Piloting the project
The pilot phase of the project has commenced at the Darkov Mine, with completion expected by the end of 2012. Before the end of this year the project will have been launched at Karviná Mine. The roll-out programme envisages full-scale implementation of the project at all mines within the coalfield between 2012 and 2014. “We, along with colleagues from RAG Mining Solutions who helped us apply experiences gained in German mines, presented the project to OKD management in the Spring and we are piloting the project at Darkov to sort out any bugs. At present, we are primarily concerned with the physical side of the project, which includes the purchase of new containers, mobile lifting equipment and locomotives. Subsequently, we will focus on the ‚software‘ side. Improving the efficiency of the logistics system is very closely associated with other projects currently ongoing within OKD,” Weiser added, pointing out a link to the implementation of a SAP system to enable the monitoring and planning of material movements throughout the mine.
Weiser also described a planned unified purchasing system for material, and new control desks to enable uniform handling at all mines. In addition to controlling mining processes, these control desks will also focus on monitoring in order to ensure the efficient transport and delivery of materials. A new storage systems is also planned, which will contribute to streamlined handling on the surface.
A management position to oversee the implementation of the project has been created at each mine. These managers are currently developing the project strategy and are preparing its launch.
One container: two metres tunnelled
The first measure implemented, which is tangible to miners at Darkov Mine, was the purchase of unified containers for transporting material. The design of the containers ensures they can be operated with mine equipment at any OKD mine. These containers, developed jointly by German and Czech companies, are already transporting material at four faces of the Darkov Mine. It is also planned to use the containers in a connecting tunnel between the Darkov and Karviná mines, which should commence at three start-up faces of Karviná Mine at the turn of the year. The application of the system means that one “TH-container” can carry all the required material for two metres of boring, weighing no more than four tonnes. Miners at the face thus know that if, for instance, six incoming containers are announced, they will have enough material for 12 metres of a new gallery. Other materials can be loaded onto universal containers, with special types being used to transport explosives, lubricants and other special accessories.
A tender is underway to select a supplier of locomotives that are 50 percent more powerful than the existing ones and are capable of pulling as much as 24 tonnes. It will also be possible to use them to transport machinery weighing up to 40 tonnes. The principle that in mining all things are interconnected is documented by the installation of a new type of overhead track, planned for early New Year, which will enable the new locomotives’ to drive at full power.
Depots: Containers await their locomotive
The new underground transport system requires the adaptation of depots, with associated demands for enlarged cross-sections of mine workings. Trains travelling along the overhead tracks require space to pass. The trains will eliminate the labour- and time-intensive arranging of materials at depots for further transport. Containers, placed on universal undercarriages, will await the arrival of suspended locomotives at depots. The locomotives will be fitted with hydraulic lifting arms to take hold of the containers, reducing manual handing.
Both materials and containers will have barcodes for movement monitoring. Once fully operational, employees equipped with barcode readers will scan the material at each node traversed to confirm the transit. The collected information will be fed online to the control desk providing operators with perfect knowledge of material movements throughout the mine, virtually second-by-second. And the real pinnacle will be the ability to use an information system based on data transfers via optical fibre even for wireless communication between employees responsible for material shipments or for real-time monitoring of positions and operational data from the locomotives‘ “black boxes”.
New ways of material loading
“The new system will demand changes even in the storage and preparation of materials on the surface. As a result, material loading will be more efficient and quicker,” says Weiser. The loading points will have new mobile machinery with capabilities that transcend what we traditionally understand to be covered by the term “loader”.
The new logistics system planned for NWR mines has great potential. The investment underpins the Company’s position as one of the most progressive mining groups. And it is a strategy that will pay off, in terms of both economics and safety.
Marek Síbrt,
marek.sibrt@okd.cz