CEN DEC
28
MINING
MONITORING
QIC-FLEET BOASTS
an on-board global positioning system (GPS) that tracks vehicles and
through on-board intelligence, manages on-site productivity. QCIC Director, Brian McKenzie,
says that a combination of labour unrest and financial constraints has led to an increase in
demand for QIC-FLEET in local mining applications.
“Mining companies are turning to asset management solutions such as QIC-FLEET, which can
locate mobile assets on-site, before being rerouted to areas of greater production importance,
by directly contacting the vehicle operator,” he explains.
QIC-FLEET can be installed on mining-related vehicles, including: forklifts; handling plant;
bulldozers; loaders; ADTs; RDT and cranes, as well as on transport vehicles, such staff
transporters.
The company is in the process of supplying multinational engineering and electronics
conglomerate Hitachi, with the QIC-FLEET system, which has been installed on a fleet of
approximately 400 assets at the Kusile and Medupi coal-fired power station projects.
“The system has been installed on light-duty and heavy duty equipment, such as generators,
compressors, cranes, elevated work platforms and materials handling plant equipment,”
Brian adds, and continues, “It is being used by Hitachi to monitor productivity, availability
of machinery, breakdowns and the hours worked for internal billing of cost centres at the
respective power stations.”
Using a complementary CAN-BUS add-on, QIC-FLEET plots the data on a map with GPS
positions to identify the cause of an incident and the precise location where it occurred.
Another advantage of the CAN-BUS and QIC-FLEET combination is that it has the ability
to warn of a potential accident through an in-cab buzzer, based on the set-up of
the device installed in the vehicle. CAN-BUS offers additional monitoring of oil
pressure, water temperature, PTO take off, fuel used/burnt, fuel tank level
and exact hours worked.Essential data such as RPM, speed and braking
is recorded, while a warning is sounded to the driver to take necessary
action before failure occurs. “Should the driver fail to take the action that
was prompted, the system boasts a crash analysis feature, which makes
available to the relevant manager, recorded data 21 seconds before and
six seconds after the incident.”
QCIC currently manages a call centre that monitors QIC-FLEET fitted
vehicles on a 24/7 basis. “A major safety advantage of establishing
a call centre is that the call centre operator can contact the driver,
should any alarms or exceptions be ignored,” he says.
Gaining ground
in the mining sector
Asset management solutions
provider, QCIC, continues
to make significant inroads
in the southern African
mining industry through its
flagship QIC-FLEET GSM fleet
management solution. The
QIC-FLEET solution enables
fleet owners to effectively and
affordably manage numerous
variables related to the location
and performance of individual
vehicles and equipment, by
transmitting relevant data on
the GSM network.
The future of automation
Brian believes that the local mining industry will eventually move from labour intensive
practices towards remote mining - whereby equipment operators will no longer be required to
physically work in the cabin of the production equipment. “The rapid advancement of technology
enables mining vehicles to be equipped with high-resolution cameras and local RF networks that
enable operators to control the equipment from a remote location.”
Bearing this in mind, he concludes by adding that he is confident that QCIC will continue to gain
measurable market share in the mining industry through its range of unique telemetry solutions and
services, that act as a complementary add-on to mechanical automation technology.
