FIDES MINING TAKES CONTROL ON ITS FLEET AND EQUIPMENT WITH OMNICOMM FUEL MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS
OVERVIEW
Brazilian mining company reduces fuel consumption by 45%, cuts operating expenses by 23% and optimize its fleet usage by 40% thanks to OMNICOMM solutions.
Fides Mining is a privately held Brazilian mining company based in Matupá. Founded in 2012, today it includes under its brand the companies Fides Gold, Fides Mining and Fides Exploration, all linked to the mining area, working with a focus on research and mineral exploration, and the mining, processing and commercialization of gold.
With quite an extensive fleet of vehicles that includes ~260 vehicles and equipment of various types including trucks, excavators, grades, light vehicles and diesel generators, Fides was facing lack of control and monitoring of its fleet productivity as well as physical use of machines and equipment.
To address challenges common for mining industries fleet management solutions can be used. Fuel consumption is the second-largest component of the fleet’s total cost of ownership, so it was important for Fides to take this under control. It was crucial for them to monitor their fleet and other equipment to optimize costs and usage.
After implementation of OMNICOMM solution and installing fuel sensors Fides was able to take its fleet management under control and increase productivity and efficiency.
THE NUMBERS
THE CHALLENGE
THE SOLUTION
Mining requires large, expensive equipment and fleet management costs might reach up to 50-60% of total operational costs. Mixed-fleet optimization is essential to support business sustainability.
As many the vehicles, more is difficult the task to manage and maintain them. Moreover, failing to keep them service ready may end up disturbing the deliveries, processes and thus overall business. Besides, mining is done in the distant and remote locations far from the reach of cities and resources. Hence, fleet health and capacity become the prime need.
Fides was facing issues of heterogeneous fleet management like clear control of operational efficency, physical availability and usage of the vehicles.
Owning the fleet of heavy vehicles and equipment there is always a threat of getting assets being taken for unofficial use, or unauthorized access to restricted areas.
Another sore point is control and preventive maintenance in machines and equipment. It is crucial to keep the vehicles job ready, when required for heavy usage.
But, with efficient fleet and fuel management system, these challenges can be smartly tackled.
The Omnicomm solution package was made up of hardware: the GPS Trackers, fuel sensors and various accessories; connected to a local Wi-Fi network and an Internet access system, all integrated with software platform: Omnicomm Online. This complex solution allowed to develop and implement the complete management solution which is extremely comprehensive and efficient for business.
The project with Fides is lasting almost 15 months and 100% of its fleet was furnished by Omnicomm equipment: Profi WiFi 3.0 GPS Trackers with LLS4 fuel sensors and RFID accessories.
Fide’s project is ongoing in Mato Grosso state in the region without GSM/GPRS data coverage and it was necessary to build its own WiFi network with Internet access using low-cost satellite technology. In this scenario, the Wi-Fi Profi GPS Trackers were fully compliant, as well as the LLS4 fuel sensors.
This equipment associated with georeferencing functionalities and various integrations allowed to implement a complete business management and control solution.
It is important to highlight the robustness of the Omnicomm hardware installed, developed to perform extremely severe operations. It works perfectly well in completely remote areas through the WiFi solution, operating with substancially reduced data traffic and thus allowing the use of satellites of low cost. All these makes the entire package to be a complete, robust and highly competitive solution on the market.
Advanced fuel monitoring and fuel analytics provided by Omnicomm Online gives insights about the factors that influence fleet’s fuel economy like speed, idle time, usage and more. Finally, it can be transferred into concrete actions influencing operational factors for better fleet performance, fuel efficiency, and overall total cost of ownership.
The existing functionalities on the online platform, the highest quality of the hardware, connectivity resources and integration with external hardware and software make an additional difference for the Omnicomm solution.
THE RESULTS
Fides estimates the following savings and efficiency improvements after the OMNICOMM solution implementation: 45% direct diesel economy.
- Saving on fuel costs up to BRL 300,000.00 ($56,000.00) MNTHLY
- With the implementation of fuel monitoring system, the management had the opportunity to observe the excess number of machines and equipment, with further optimization of 40% of the fleet usage and the elimination of undesirable drains.
- Fides also had savings of approximately 5% per vehicle due to the improvement in the operation.
- Operating savings reached approximately 23% monthly.
OMNICOMM solutions have helped Fides mining to reach better productivity, more transparency on their fleet usage, excellent results in fuel savings, and continuous monitoring and control.
OMNICOMM together with its extensive partner network and fleet & fuel management solution successfully managing the problems in different industries, helping customers like Fides mining to improve productivity, cut costs, and increase their profitability.
“We are satisfied with all the possibilities that Omnicomm was able to deliver and integrate. We are confident that we will soon have a mine connected through technology. One of the most important points for us is the absolute control of movements and with Omnicomm we will have a holistic view of fleet and equipment management.” - Pedro Portugal, General Manager of Mining.