Bottleneck identification and ranking model for mine operations

Abstract

Mining has a long history of production and operations management. Considering the increasing complexity of reserves, declining metal grades, and worldwide price volatilities, mines have to operate more efficiently than ever. In recent years, companies have been adopting innovative solutions and technologies to reduce costs and remain competitive in the global market. Specifically, management of bottlenecks has been in the focus of the manufacturing industry for decades now. The mining industry has made significant advancements in process improvement tools using equipment, human, and asset tracking capabilities. However, to date, there is no holistic approach or system to identify and manage the bottleneck in the entire value chain of mining. This research proposes a new method to identify and rank the bottlenecks in a mine value chain. The method is applied in a coal mine and the results are presented in the case study.

Keywords:

• Bottlenecks
• bottleneck identification
• bottleneck ranking
• holistic mine management

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank PPC reviewers and editors for providing valuable comments to enhance the article’s quality. The authors are grateful to the management of partner coal mine for their contributions and cooperation during this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

M. Mustafa Kahraman

M. Mustafa Kahraman is an Assistant Professor at Gumushane University. He has received his PhD from University of Arizona in 2015. He has combined over a decade of experience in the industry as an engineer, manager, executive, consultant and academician. His research interests include data driven mine management, Big Data applications in mining, simulation, mine planning and optimization, holistic bottleneck management, business intelligence, internet of things (IoT), data analysis, operational mining technologies, mine performance management, data mining/machine learning, mine economics, balanced scorecards. Dr. Kahraman is a recognized expert in mine performance management.

W. Pratt Rogers

Dr. W. Pratt Rogers is a mining professional with extensive business and research experience in socio-technical systems, big data analysis, mining technology, & safety and health management systems. Dr. Rogers is currently an assistant professor at University of Utah’s Mining Engineering Department. His research interests concentrate on the reliability of socio-technical systems deployed in mining organizations and data management. Prior to starting at the University of Utah, Pratt was VP of Product Development at MISOM Technologies. Dr. Rogers earned his PhD from University of Arizona.

Sean Dessureault

Dr. Sean Dessureault founded MISOM Technologies, a technology company that developed the Field Analysis and Reporting Application (FARA) that brings together the Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, a tablet-based mobile app, and modern approaches such as big data and gamification to create an innovative form digitization and fleet management system platform. In late 2017 MISOM was acquired by of MST Global, where he served as the Chief Innovation Evangelist until he joined Mosaic Company as Vice President of Technology and Innovation in late 2019. From 2002 to 2018, Dessureault was a professor at the University of Arizona, engaged in research related to the integration and effective use of modern mining information systems.