Kap software enhances mining maintenance.

• Author: Stewart, Nick
• Position: SPECIAL REPORT: ENGINEERING

The mismanagement of vehicles and equipment can needlessly cost a company millions of dollars, a problem that a Kapuskasing-based computing service and software developer is working to eliminate.

On a contract from the Washington Group, which operates a variety of metal, industrial mineral and coal mines, Kap Data & Systems Ltd. has designed a program which assists with equipment and vehicular maintenance planning.

"It's a developing trend for a good reason," says Miro Spacek, president.

"You get more value from existing equipment, and you stretch the dollars that you're making."

The program is already being used throughout four of the Washington Group's managed mines, including the Absoloka coal mine in Montana, the Serro San Pedro Gold/Silver Project in San Luis Potosi in Mexico, as well as Ontario's Kapuskasing Phosphate Mine.

Simply named "Kap Data software," the program determines what degree of maintenance will be necessary based on schedules put together by management, taking into account estimated levels of wear and tear on elements such as hydraulics and transmission. It then provides short-term and immediate alerts in order to inform the appropriate personnel that specific parts will need to be ordered in a certain time frame, or simply to provide a reminder that a maintenance session is scheduled to take place.

It also tracks scheduled maintenance procedures to generate service accuracy reports which inform the user whether specific equipment is being serviced too rarely or too often. Either situation can prove harmful to the bottom line, and as such, this program enables managers to maximize the use of their fleet.

"It makes the difference between using your fleet at 50 per cent and using it at 98 per cent," says Spacek.

As an example, he says that proper management of vehicular maintenance schedules can make the difference between making efficient use of a million-dollar piece of machinery, and being forced to purchase additional units as a result of wasteful planning.

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Spacek, whose company also created a computerized OHIP billing system for Northern medical offices in the mid 1990s, says there is a growing move towards maximizing efficiencies among companies who use large quantities of heavy equipment. In today's competitive environment, this is...