KOMATSU Ltd.
Analyze Big Data of Mining Equipment
- Detect Signs of Failures from Sensor Signal
- Aim the Maximum Efficiency of Mining Operations
Mr. Hisashi Asada
Director of ICT Solution Department Division, Business Innovation Department, KOMATSU
KOMATSU is the top IoT leading company in Japanese industry. The brand of KOMATSU is established by distinct user service based on equipment operation data. KOMATSU has top market share in Japanese construction equipment, and, even in global market, KOMATSU keeps second position after US-based Caterpillar. This year, KOMATSU has gone into high gear on the diagnostics project in a long-term growth business of mining equipment. It realizes prediction of unexpected failures via equipment’s sensor signals emitted in the field of mining. This is the solution provided by collaboration of ISID and US-based Predictronics, called Intelligent Maintenance.
Copper mine spreads out in the highlands of South America, Chile. Surface of the mountain has been scraped off. 7 meters high, max. load capacity of 327 tons, such huge dump trucks incessantly run back and forth through the path. Most of these mines including the open-pit copper mines are open 365 days a year. Similar to a blast furnace and a chemical plant, mining is continued day and night. If a failure stopped equipment, the downtime shall directly affect to the business loss.
But Failure Occurs — The Limit of Condition Monitoring
Mr. Asada explains, "We provide not only regular maintenance, but we also provide condition monitoring to detect anomalies by machine’s vital signs (health index) to reduce life cycle cost of mine construction equipment. For example, there is blow-by gas pressure in the diesel engine (pressure in the crank case), and this value rises if wear of the piston ring begins. We detect anomaly or degradation from that."
Analysis of ISID excelled other competitors in terms of data processing and detection accuracy as well as feasibility, but we were mostly impressed by their distinguished amount of experiences.
Increasing the number of regular inspections and cycle of maintenance. However, if the dump truck frequently stopped to exchange parts, maintenance cost increases and productivity decreases. As a result, customers become unhappy. We’ve been looking for a new prescription to reduce the downtime.
Data Mines Anomaly — The Advanced Data Science Revealed Its High Potential
While Mr. Asada was struggling to find a breakthrough to reduction of downtime within R&D at KOMATSU, he asked several IT vendors to examine benchmarking on each method in autumn 2015. Mr. Asada recalled, "I felt improvement of downtime reduction by condition monitoring reached a plateau. Although knowing its difficulty, I stepped into the world of predicting failure which required advanced data analysis."
KOMATSU asked the analysis and anomaly detection to different vendors. "We wanted to see if statistical and mathematical approaches overcome the problem derived only by the solution with purely numerical values, rather than solving structural and equipment mechanisms," Mr. Asada expressed his honest intention.
ISID joined this benchmarking and analyzed using Intelligent Maintenance methods built upon Predictronics extensive past experiences. The Intelligent Maintenance analytic method is to analyze pleiotropically industrial big data collected from machines and equipment sensors. ISID and Predictronics performed to detect hidden anomalies and degradations in moving parts by using defined several parameters and original algorithms. Mr. Asada told, "Analysis of ISID excelled other competitors in terms of data processing and detection accuracy as well as feasibility, but we were mostly impressed by their distinguished amount of experiences. Their report included some comparison of the past failed analysis results. These evidences showed their methods and techniques were developed by actual experiences.
Failure is an option for technology achievements in R&D.
“Data Driven” — The Key to Dantotsu Service on the Era of IoT
Based on this evaluation, KOMATSU began the validation project of Intelligent Maintenance with ISID at Chile mine on March 2016. Mr. Asada adds, "We opened masked information at benchmarking, and now we verifying validity and effectiveness of Intelligent Maintenance together. A delighted vision, which had never been seen, for future failure detection, which had never been achieved, has positively accepted by site workers."
Our mission is to provide absolute No.1 Dantotsu service to our users
In such case, ISID is reliable. KOMATSU business. "Construction and mining equipment business is not ended when products delivered to customers. It always comes along with services such as spare parts supplying, parts repairing, and operational improvements. Of course, competitors will attempt to enter here so it is necessary to differentiate from them. KOMATSU advantage is that we can expand data driven services in the world of ICT, and take actions based on data. This failure prediction technique becomes one of the tools."
KOMATSU is known for its brand as IoT manufacturing company by selling data driven user service and solution such as "KOMTRAX," "KOMTRAX Plus", "Autonomous Haulage System", "smart construction", etc. Mr. Asada recalls his feeling, "Glad to start together with ISID in the era of IoT. Our mission is to provide absolute No.1 Dantotsu service to our users in ahead of any other competitors, and to let customers recognize KOMATSU as essential. In such case, ISID is reliable. Their technology and wisdom based on their experience will prove their strength in such rapid competition."