Dvoinoye is already seeing benefits from its recent ‘Achieving Excellence’ drive to optimize operations.
The site set out to improve all aspects of its day-to-day activities and began a comprehensive review of their underground operations in the summer of 2016.
First, they identified bottlenecks and capacity constraints in the underground operations. The team found that they could improve the underground truck routes to optimize efficiency as trucks were getting into ‘traffic jams’ underground which led to vehicles being re-routed and slower cycle times.
After identifying the areas that could be optimized on the routes, they used dynamic simulation modelling and motion sensors to test the different improvement ideas that the team had.
The simulations helped the team determine the optimal number of trucks that should be used at one time and create a new set of routes to increase efficiency.
The new route plans have already resulted in a 30-40% decrease in average line-up times per shift by reducing the frequency of truck jams, enabling trucks to make more trips per shift and transport more ore.
“I’m incredibly proud of the team in finding this way to increase productivity. It was very much a full team approach,” said Claude Schimper, Regional Vice-President, Russia. “This was a great start to the Achieving Excellence program and we hope to identify other initiatives like this.”
