Outsourced minerals processing and maintenance specialist Minopex is reaping the benefits of improved operational efficiencies and maintaining its competitive-edge through PRAGMA`s On Key enterprise asset management system.
Minopex, one of the world`s leading players in the outsourced operations and maintenance of minerals and metals processing plants in the mining industry, was established in 1996 in response to the growing trend towards outsourcing. Anglo Vaal had put out an enquiry for a coal plant for the Forzando Coal Mine in Mpumalanga. Dowding Rynhardt & Associates was contracted to design, construct and commission the plant, and the company appointed Minopex for the ongoing operations and maintenance of the plant.
The company operates and maintains five platinum, three coal and one diamond processing facilities in southern Africa and is involved in a joint venture with an Indonesian company maintaining a coal processing facility in South Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Operational efficiencies are key to Minopex`s business directive of providing services at a more cost-effective rate than the mines can achieve through their own processing.
In 1998 Minopex sought a maintenance management system that could unlock these efficiencies.
"We evaluated a selection of alternatives ranging from small software packages to large solutions such as SAP and Baan. We chose On Key for its solid reference base and because it best suited our business objectives," says Kobus van Eeden, Minopex plant engineer.
The first Minopex site to implement On Key, which blends traditional computerised maintenance management with automated performance measurement to provide real-time monitoring and management of asset performance, was the Kroondal platinum mine. Over the next two years the solution was rolled out to the remaining eight sites.
Since roll-out, Minopex has kept pace with PRAGMA`s regular upgrades of the software, which enables real-time interface capability with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and enhanced asset identification and asset assessment capabilities. When On Key 3 was launched, the company commissioned the development of an interface between its financial and management accounts system and On Key, which required close collaboration between PRAGMA and the software integrators and developers appointed by Minopex.
The latest version of the software, On Key 4, uses Business Objects technology to simplify communication between applications, and between plant PLCs and the On Key system. Measurements such as pressures, temperatures, flows, densities, currents and hours can be automatically captured on the system for the generation of works orders. On Key 4 will be tested and rolled out to all Minopex sites within the first six months of 2006.
"One of the advantages that Minopex has enjoyed about On Key is its ease of use," says Alan Tait, divisional manager of PRAGMA`s enterprise asset data management division. "The simplicity and user-friendliness of the software have enabled Minopex to train its internal team quickly for implementation at new sites so they can maximise efficiencies and make direct savings to the bottom line. They can then pass on these efficiencies to their clients."
Van Eeden maintains Minopex would not be able to conduct effective maintenance without On Key.
"The software has added immense value to our business and is one of the primary tools that allow us to keep costs down, maintain the right mix of people, budget for future expenses and institute proper maintenance and spares replacement strategies. On Key is a crucial element in our strategy to keep the competitive-edge, which is the foundation of our business model," says Van Eeden.
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