Komatsu’s iSite fleet management solution takes real-time operational data from construction machinery on a site and allows for issues and bottlenecks to be identified, giving businesses the ability to improve their productivity and get the most out of their machinery.
Focusing on the areas of site management, production, machine health, maintenance and safety for quarry operations, Komatsu’s iSite fleet management solution (FMS) is a brand-agnostic fleet manangement solution that can be used across a mixed fleet of machinery.
“In the quarry segment there isn’t an FMS like Komatsu iSite that delivers real-time data and is completely brand agnostic in nature,” Komatsu national product and solution manager Aaron Marsh told Quarry.
“The system has the ability, off the shelf, to use cellular or wifi networks to collect data direct from machinery or through an API [application programming interface] to cover all machine interfaces across the typical construction and mining products used in a quarry.”
Marsh says that iSite has a machine-to-machine (M2M) feature and includes M2M handshake during loading to gather valuable information during this process, as well as matching a loading tool to a truck in connected and non-connected environments, allowing total connectivity.
“Komatsu iSite does not make assumptions – we use real in-quarry data to visualise information in industry-leading FMS dashboards, taking the guesswork out for the quarry manager,” Marsh said.
“The dashboard visualisation and iControl are features of the product that are unrivalled in the quarry FMS space, providing actionable, usable data immediately that is specifically designed for the customer.”
The PreStart module in Komatsu iSite also provides pre-starts specific to original equipment manufacturers and provides a defect management pathway through immediate email and optional SMS notifications direct to the maintenance team.
“If an item in the pre-start check fails, the notification is sent as a high critical event and the operator is visually warned to shut machine down,” Marsh said.
“The maintenance team can then plan action immediately so that delays in production do not occur.”
Boosting productivity and longevity
Rather than trying to estimate the level of productivity of machinery on a particular site, using an FMS like Komatsu iSite gives a business the ability to see, in real time, what is happening without even needing to visit the site. This data feed allows for management to identify payload opportunities, see fuel consumption, see where machines are being utilised or are running idle on a site and track operator behaviour.
“We monitor and record the operators through a measured operator scoreboard, which ranks them against their own operation, focusing on safety, speeding, production, prestarts completed, utilisation and fuel consumption,” Marsh said.
“This also allows the manager of a quarry to identify best practices for the quarry by benchmarking, through the dashboard, against all the operators on site. We can then target the specific area on which to train the operators, based on the advice through this visualisation.”
Current operating data can be contrasted with historical machine data and analysis of the data feed can go down to the level of different material types, haul categories, individual idling events and individual operators. Marsh says that the efficiencies that can be gained through identifying productivity gains means customers can get a very quick return on their investment in Komatsu iSite.
Having all of this data on hand can also lead to longer lifecycles for machinery and improved operator safety.
“By monitoring real time events, machine health, safety, speeding, improving payloads on the trucks, reducing overloads, reducing fuel burn through more efficient cycles, etc., holistically we improve the longevity of a machine, reducing maintenance intervals, reducing unscheduled maintenance items, picking up and resolving issue from the electronic pre-starts, and so on,” Marsh said.
“We also monitor and report speeding events through geofenced areas on all parts of the site. This is reported directly through the operator in cabin guidance through a visual and audible speeding event, as well as being relayed to management.
“Through iControl we can monitor machine location and any near misses, we can review accidents through the backward history review and use this information to improve safety performance. For example we can ensure that the haul routes are being taken and operators are not cutting blind corners, etc.”
Komatsu’s iSite FMS is further evolving to best suit customer needs through improvements to the user experience, including new reporting and updates to dashboards focusing on quarry production targets.
“There’s also a real focus on ESG [environmental, social, and governance] targets to improve the visualisation of a site’s carbon footprint and actual carbon savings through more efficient operation,” Marsh said. •
For more information on Komatu’s iSite FMS, visit: www.komatsu.com.au/innovation/smart-construction/komatsu-isite