Indo contractor cuts fuel cost 7%
Indonesian mining contractor Cipta Kridatama has managed to improve haul truck fuel efficiency by 6.9%, through an operator training program incorporating simulation technology.
Employing more than 3,400 workers, who operate 624 units of heavy and supporting equipment, Cipta Kridatama is among Indonesia’s biggest mining contractors.
But with operating costs rising and a softening global mining market, Cipta Kridatama’s talent development manager Gemilang Adi Perdana says the company had to find a way to increase efficiency.
“With commodity prices going down, like many sites, we are looking at ways to cut costs,” Perdana says. “Fuel consumption was identified as a problem area.”
Cipta Kridatama says it’s achieved a 6.9% improvement in fuel efficiency since it trained its staff on simulators.
At one site, Cipta Kridatama was running nearly 10,000 litres over fuel budget each month. Fuel records for 30 haul truck operators were collected over a one month period and the contractor found that 18 of the 30 were over the budgeted litres per hour consumption.
The key target for fixing that issue, Perdana explains, was improving operator skill level.
All operators were assessed on an advanced equipment simulator from manufacturer Immersive Technologies, to establish a baseline. From there, they were trained using the simulator technology and then reassessed.
Once operators passed their reassessment, they were put back in the field. A month later they were assessed again to confirm retention of new haul truck operating techniques.
A comparison of fuel records pre-simulation and post-simulation training showed an improvement of 6.3% in just a month, according to the contractor. On-site fuel usage went down each month thereafter, with the latest reported usage showing an overall reduction of 6.9%.
“Production time was not affected with these improvements and we believe, with a conservative estimate, we can save $500,000 per year through this initiative,” Perdana says.
Source from – here
