Reducing cycle times by improving operator productivity

One of our clients, a large open pit gold and copper mine, was suffering from high variation between haul truck operator average haul speeds. This was being driven largely by operator behaviour due to a lack of a consistent and objective metrics to measure and manage individual operator performance. This not only caused higher average cycle times, but also caused bunching within the circuits.

MaxMine Application

Our trusted and unique methodology helped to significantly reduced variation in operator performance. In conjunction with management, our dedicated site coach helped our client communicate the new way of measuring performance to the operating crews to make sure that they all had a solid grasp of what they needed to do to achieve their targets. Our performance management approach is grounded by organisational psychology principles, and MaxMine’s operator efficiency metric epitomises this. It was deployed to automatically and objectively measure, compare and improve individual operator performance. Operators were able to view their own performance scores against those of their peers via wallboards installed in the crib rooms, displayed in a league table format to gamify the results. Subsequent further data analytics available to each supervisor and each operator allowed for targeted operator performance insight to manage gear selection, throttle and retarder usage.

Client Results and Discussion

• Sustained improvement in haul truck operator safety and productivity scores
• Maintained for 6 months after target attainment
• Measured across all crews and shifts, normalised for haul distances and elevation