Chances are, your process plant relies heavily on manual processes and outdated systems. While there is a wide range of software tools available now, many plants still haven’t moved much beyond the Excel stage.
Paper log sheets, Excel macros, and physical inspections are still common ways to measure plant data and manage operations. This is partly because old habits die hard. But there are also good reasons why your plant might still be stuck in manual mode.
Drew Clements, Optimisation Team Lead at Mipac, says he understands why metallurgists and operations managers in process plants haven’t rushed to jump on board the digital bandwagon.
“I really do see a mix of different reasons why people are at different levels of digital adoption,” Drew says.
“There’s a sense that, if everything’s running smoothly, you shouldn’t change it, but then you miss out on a lot of innovation and improvement.”
Some might not realise how much technology has changed, with a range of software now tools designed specifically for mineral process plants. These tools are built for operational teams and can provide new data insights, real-time monitoring, and early problem detection, so metallurgists can coordinate quick responses to deviations. Meanwhile, they’re still simple enough that you won’t need months of training to get them working well for you.
Working like it’s 1999
One reason people are reluctant to adopt software is the idea that operators pay more attention when processes aren’t automated. When you write something down, you have to look at the page or screen. This means you’re more likely to pay attention and notice when something’s wrong. If that process is automated, it could mean less time spent looking at the data so things might get missed.
“The act of making someone look at the page trains their eye to that page and to that Human-Machine Interface (HMI),” Drew says. “If you automate everything, but nobody looks at the screens anymore, you’re going to have more mistakes being made.”
That’s why not every process should necessarily be automated, especially if there’s no real value in doing so. And there are some effective but old-fashioned ways of making sure an operator stays engaged with what’s happening on screen—but that doesn’t mean it’s the best way. Drew recalls one mine site that found a very simple fix to remind operators to check in.
“The team had these little stopwatches set for the things they had to record. They may have been engaged in a conversation with you, but when the watch went off, they had to switch back and have a look at the page.”
Of course, manual entry and paper record keeping have numerous issues. Sheets can get covered in mill grease and coffee stains or get the corners torn off. Entering data into a computer is tricky if you can’t read what’s on the paper – let alone if someone forgets to hand them in or they get lost in someone’s bag. These old-school problems can create inaccurate, unreliable data and limit your team’s effectiveness.
Then there’s the fact that highly paid metallurgists and engineers spend hours each day manually entering data. Time that could be better spent using their skills to improve the plant.
It just doesn’t make sense to have an experienced professional spending a big chunk of their day on basic admin tasks. Drew says he knows of at least one site where a metallurgist spent most of his time each day doing all the data entry. After implementing software tools to do that work, he had an extra 5-6 hours per day available to tackle more important projects that could have a real impact on the plant.
“What happens is you’ve given more time back to someone who’s got all these skills, but who doesn’t get enough time to get out on the plant.”
That’s why it’s time for more operations to look more closely at software options.
Moving towards a predictive plant
While systems like SCADA and AVEVA PI are commonly used alongside Excel in mineral process plants, they are largely used to provide historical reporting. For example, daily production reports are created to report on the events of the previous day. This means that problems often aren’t detected until some time after they occur, and it’s hard to sift through the data to track down the source of your issues.
Some newer software tools give you near-live visualisation of plant performance. They also allow you to track and resolve issues as they occur. Trigger Action Response Plan (TARP) software will kick in when something is out of range and start a process to flag and escalate it for a response. Control loop monitoring can recognise when a plant is beyond certain sigmas and will recommend which parameters you should adjust to fix it.
“If you can get these control loops working well, you can stop the downstream effects of other events happening,” Drew says.
Software also offers far more detailed analytics, so issues become visible that you simply couldn’t see with more manual data handling and reporting. Once they are visible, you can fix them as you find new optimisation opportunities throughout the plant.
Implementation time seen as an obstacle
The fear of lost time can deter sites from embracing new software tools. Drew says there used to be a saying that introducing anything new to the mining industry would take at least 20 years – and many plants worry they don’t have the time or resources to implement a big shift to digital, even when cost isn’t an issue.
“I’ve seen companies where, even though the price was low, the point of view was they just didn’t have time to take on a new app and learn how to use it.”
But while software tools were once complex beasts that required extensive training – and often a cultural shift – the new generation of apps tends to be simpler, more affordable and easier to implement, with benefits outweighing any imagined teething troubles.
“These new apps are quite intuitive,” Drew says. “Once you put one in, it doesn’t take long to notice that it works really well.”
Where to start?
If you want to start digitalising some of the processes in your plant, it’s worth thinking about what problems you want to tackle. Do you want information transfer automated to be as fast as possible? What about reducing the amount of time highly skilled – and highly paid – staff are spending on data entry and generating production reports?
Starting with a digital TARP is a no-brainer, Drew says. Many sites have an escalation procedure and every site should know what their top 10 problems are. Put these into a TARP to get started and you’ll see the benefits straightaway.
“The TARP only is flagged when, say, the mill bearing is outside of the temp that it’s supposed to be running in, and it’s something that needs addressing urgently so the escalation procedure kicks in. For the first 15 minutes, it’s with the operations team to fix it. If they can’t bring it under control, it gets escalated to the maintenance team.”
That way, more urgent problems get more visibility, with less risk of being overlooked and eventually causing downtime.
If you’re not sure what your top 10 problems are, you might need more historical data. Start by setting up historian software (AVEVA PI comes recommended), before moving on to downtime monitoring and log sheets (Mipac’s Logsheets). After TARP and production accounting, Drew suggests live visualisation software Golden State.
“Golden State is a good visual snapshot of your plant so that you can understand at any moment where your plant is at,” Drew says.
While he understands the hesitation around introducing new software, it’s something you can’t put off forever.
Digitalisation is more than just a corporate buzzword—it’s something that can have real, practical benefits for operations managers and metallurgists. It’s also a way to give your operation a competitive edge.
“There’s a change of guard coming through and we’re going to see more adoption of this kind of software,” Drew says.
“The rest of the industry is moving fast, so you’ve got to match it, otherwise you’ll get left behind.”
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