Komatsu’s joy smart service centre – an excursion into a connected future (Part 1)

By Sharyn Macnamara

On a visit to Komatsu’s Joy Smart Services Centre in eMalahleni – home to the company’s service division that takes care of machine condition monitoring, training and field service to coal mines in South Africa and as far afield as India – African Mining stepped into a smart, connected future for mines. The centre is a key differentiator that drives optimised productivity, reliability and ultimately Zero Harm for mining clients.

 

The Joy Smart Services Centre was launched in June 2009, offering coal mining customers a service hub which brought existing traditional “in the field support services” and new state-of-the-art “data-driven services” together to optimise the performance of the company’s already reliable underground Joy-manufactured equipment grafting in underground end user operations. “The objective,” says Ryan Gaylard, director Marketing & Service Sales, “is to replace a traditionally reactive strategy with one that proactively supports the customer’s capital asset to ensure return on investment (ROI), improve customer operations and safety, while reducing downtime and costs to enable customers to produce coal at the lowest cost per ton.”

 

The concept

To do this, Komatsu supplies a holistic solution with productivity and safety top of mind through asset performance – from the product and equipment itself to the servicing and support thereof. Komatsu’s Joy Smart Solutions integrate its smart connected products and systems, advanced analytics and direct services customising these by customer to solve the toughest mining challenges. The strategy includes data solutions, machine health monitoring, performance optimisation, product support and training, life cycle management, condition monitoring, reliability engineering and client relationship management (CRM). Leon Papenfus, manager Smart Services, points out that “by leveraging data effectively, companies can not only improve their current operations but also innovate and adapt to future challenges. As the landscape of business continues to evolve, the role of data analysis in decision-making will undoubtedly grow, paving the way for new levels of success and discovery.”

The Joy Smart Solutions Strategy follows a tiered approach where data – “which equates to knowledge,” says Papenfus – “is the point of departure”. Data is generated, collected, analysed and collated into recommendations in the Joy Smart Services Centre. These suggestions are then communicated to and actioned by the customer. The recommendations include equipment data and information to manage infrastructure and application engineering; skills development – both technical and operational – and equipment reliability management, offering remote health monitoring and condition monitoring. This solution involves data-driven intelligence, collaboration through partnership and experienced-based service execution with smart products and systems, advanced analytics, customised solutions and direct customer engagement – all being key.

 

Drilling down to the detail

The company started to drive “machine connection” fifteen years ago, explains Papenfus. Komatsu now has 124 machines in the field connected by smart sensors to the cloud and monitored in 22 n African Mining n September 2024 www. africanmining.co.za n EXCURSION the support centre linked via internet, satellite and radio frequency to customers. The support centre is where the company uses its agnostic and integrated data analytics ecosystem to deliver data and reporting solutions to customers with shared outcomes in mind, taking the supplier-client partnership to the next level – data is used to provide both actionable operational insights to customers and technical insights to Komatsu to leveraged for future innovation of equipment through shared resourcing.

Papenfus adds, “The end goal is complete automation. We want to eventually completely remove the individual out of hazardous environments.” For example, Komatsu has been testing the Continuous Miner Assistant Program to assist operators with cutting cycles using a remote control – similar to cruise control on a vehicle. “Reducing the number of inputs required from the operator, and in turn, reducing the strain on the operator, this frees up the operator to focus on safety and better controlling and observing the overall mining process, promoting safety and predictable cutting cycles, even surfaces, fewer fines and efficient shuttle car loading.”

Furthermore, advances in technology have prompted the inclusion of a complex network link to advanced sensors that are constantly monitoring the performance and health of equipment and the system. Machine telemetry data is gathered from the continuous miner and haulage equipment in an underground section to determine haulage routes, distances travelled and more. The data can be used to monitor cutting sequences and whether mine plans are being followed in reality. If plans are not being correctly followed or if changes in the environment require adjusted planning, mine management can then intervene with corrective action. “This is where the value in data is experienced,” says Papenfus.

 

Smart service: equipment data and information

“The monitoring room at the Smart Services Centre functions 18 hours a day, monitoring the performance of Joy equipment in customer operations remotely, in real time,” explains Data Solutions manager, Hein Wilsch. Of the 124 machines connected to the centre, 90 are continuous miners, while the balance are shuttle cars, roof bolters and support equipment such as haulers. The monitoring room has a two-way communication with the customer and Komatsu analysts are on standby 24 hours a day to assist.

Each monitored machine sports around 300 sensor points, collecting data continuously and feeding it through to the Komatsu analytical platform. Algorithms (rules built into the platform) collate events and deviations (anomalies) – both engineering and operational – while monitoring machine performance. Built in alarms and notifications alert analysts who, in turn, flag selected events to customers, based on the customer’s preselected parametres to be measured. After identification, these anomalies and the trends are reported to customers telephonically, for the customer to address during maintenance time, with the long-term objective of managing events even before they occur to reduce downtime.

Each customer has a “stack” of pre-arranged views of data, per machine, secured in the cloud that only they and the Komatsu analysts in the monitoring room are privy to. Each machine has its own integrated dashboard and the customer can access this information online during meetings. With the information at their fingertips, customers can drill down to the detail – for instance, machine component detail such as remaining component life – enabling both the end user and Komatsu, as the supplying original equipment manufacturer (OEM), to forecast maintenance and the supply of spare parts respectively. In fact, the customer can directly access the online parts manual, also available on the dashboard.

Just some examples of information available to the customer in real time from the system are: equipment availability, like Mean Time between Failures (MTBF), Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) and performance, like daily tonnage, cutting rates, sumping speeds, shear-down speeds achieved – all as measured against targets and production KPIs set by the customer beforehand. If a machine is not achieving optimal benchmarked performance to spec, the on-site Komatsu field service technician will impose corrective action such as readjusting the settings of that machine to assist the customer in resolving the issue.

For some customers, the Komatsu tech team will perform an MCA machine condition assessment to assess the entire machine every 6 months, taking the machine apart to perform condition monitoring on all parts. A key benefit to this partnership is that the customer can now plan rebuild strategies, and benchmarking against the norm which enables planned estimated replacement dates too. The machines themselves also have built-in checks and balances supplied on FaceBoss, where operators too can monitor machine health and note alerts to be flagged.

The on-site Komatsu field service technician will impose corrective action such as readjusting the settings of that machine to assist the customer in resolving the issue.

Watch this space for Part 2 of this series, which covers Smart services – equipment reliability management and technical/ operational skills development.

About: Komatsu’s “Good to Excellence” Programme Combining Integration of Smart Products and Systems, Advanced Analytics, Customized Solutions and Direct Customer Engagement, Komatsu’s Smart Services ensure that customers receive not just data, but actionable insights and support that lead to significant improvements in their mining activities.   The programme To this end, April 2023 saw the launch of the Komatsu “Good to Excellence” programme. This programme sought to maximise the impact that could be made on customer’s sites by combining Joy Smart Solutions and in-house capabilities with the customer’s operational expertise. Setting a common goal managed by specific actions, and supported by both parties proved to be a winning formula. The programme kicked off with identifying critical success factors – technical skills upliftment and operational equipment awareness. By applying Joy Smart Solutions and working closely with the teams on site, Komatsu was able to customise a fit for purpose strategy specifically for its customers. With agreed milestones in place such as establishing an engagement model to set the framework for collaboration, having dedicated champions onboard to ensure effective coordination and agreeing on short and long-term KPIs which were all essential to measuring progress and success.   1 million production tons achieved In mid-March 2024 the first section at a customer site achieved 1 million production tons, followed by the second section at the end of March 2024. This is a significant milestone and a testament to the effectiveness of working to continuously improve on technical skills and operational excellence. The company concludes, “This campaign has proved that partnering with our customers, and providing holistic mining solutions, through utilising Joy Smart Solutions and onsite support, operational excellence can be achieved.” Go to: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/ urn:li:activity:7212079331475410944 to see a short interview with Simon Andrews, the new VP at Komatsu Joy Global, Region Africa, touching on the value the Smart services Centre adds to mining customers.

Continued to Part 2…

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