Trentyre's groundbreaking Quality Safety Management Assurance (QSMA) software system has transformed the way its on-site Tyre Management Service services control operating risks at massive mine sites.
(Seen here: A Trentyre technician attends to one of the massive tyres at Anglo-American's Kumba iron ore mine.)
"The advanced system facilitates continuous improvement of Trentyre's professional service to its mining customers," says Warren Miller, Trentyre's Retail health and safety manager.
"Our aim is to remain a leading supplier to Africa's mining industry, providing a world-class, all-encompassing range of tyre management services and support for this crucial sector of our economy. We take mine safety as seriously as our customers do." The company currently services mining operations in 16 countries, including South Africa.
Determined to actively support the stringent measures prescribed by the Mine Health and Safety Act, and driven by its mother company Goodyear's global philosophy that ‘No one Gets Hurt', Trentyre developed the pioneering QSMA system to help manage and minimise risks. The software enhances its valued Tyre Management System by incorporating strict health and safety controls.
The QSMA integrates fully with various operations at on-site facilities, even capturing and downloading tyre performance measurement data from cell phones to a central database on a daily basis. Information is shared and available at the touch of a button, quality is independently monitored by the system and operational procedures are controlled methodically.
Features of the QSMA system include document control management, data base storage of risk assessments, standard operating procedures, audit reports, equipment calibration, employee training and certification, asset register and equipment specifications, and supplier and product management. It enables more effective management of non-conformances and incidents, such as tyre blow-outs or accidents. As all information is linked to a single job card, supervisors are able to identify the root causes and quickly take effective corrective actions.
"In essence, our QSMA ensures employee safety, highlights risks and provides guidelines for operational procedures," Miller says.
The company's on-site employee training includes the integrated QSMA system, which was implemented first at Kumba Iron Ore's Sishen and adjacent Khumani mines near the little town of Kathu, some 200 km east of Upington. The scale of these operations is immense - Sishen, for example, ranks as the third-largest mine in the world - and Trentyre's specialist cradle-to-grave TMS operations need to match them in terms of quality and efficiency. Here, downtime is measured in hundreds of thousands of rands, so it remains permanently on call, around the clock, 365 days a year.
Miller says the company's long-term vision is to incorporate QSMA at all the mine operations it supports. "Our approach is uncompromising when it comes to employee safety."
