Komatsu Buys Leading Mine Payload Monitoring Specialist Mineware

Komatsu Australia has bought global mining technology firm MineWare.

Komatsu Australia has bought global mining technology firm MineWare, which specialises in the monitoring of draglines, mining shovels and excavators, optimising mine productivity through real time payload measurement and mine compliance.

MineWare's Argus shovel monitoring system improves truck and shovel operations globally by up to 25%, lowering costs and improving production, mine design and planning. While designed to work with all brands of mining equipment, since the purchase in April this year, Komatsu Australia's and MineWare's development teams have been working together on integrating the two company's technologies.

This will deliver substantial added value for users of Komatsu mining equipment, significantly enhancing the data monitored through Komatsu Australia's iNSITE Centre at its Fairfield, NSW headquarters.

According to Sean Taylor, Komatsu's Managing Director, the purchase of MineWare is a significant development for the company and its customers.

"This exciting acquisition reinforces Komatsu's commitment to drive continuous technology innovation for our customers," he said.

Using KOMTRAX and KOMTRAX Plus systems, Komatsu's iNSITE Centre monitors and displays a real-time feed of Komatsu machine data, ranging from the productivity to the machine health of equipment throughout Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia.

"By integrating MineWare's Argus shovel monitor data with data provided by KOMTRAX and KOMTRAX Plus, we can extract a higher level of real-time, actionable information to improve all aspects of our customers' truck and shovel operations," said MineWare CEO Andrew Jessett.

"We are committed to enabling our customers to achieve their goals of lowering their costs per tonne, managing machine health and achieving higher productivity with the use of such technology."

Andrew believes MineWare's real-time technology has a pivotal role to play in improving the performance of payload optimisation, machine health and mine plan compliance.

"Payload optimisation lies at the heart of good fleet management due to its direct role in improving haulage efficiency and production," he said.

"It's about tightening the payload distribution and increasing the average truck payload. "Loading the truck correctly into its target capacity results in the optimisation of both the truck as well as the shovel fleet which, in turn, reduces fuel costs, tyre wear and road maintenance.

"This exciting acquisition reinforces Komatsu's commitment to drive continuous technology innovation for our

customers"

"The optimisation of any fleet starts with an accurate payload. If you can measure it, you can manage it."

He said that with MineWare's systems achieving up to 25% productivity improvement, they deliver a payback anywhere between three and six months.

"It's not just about the data we can collect, it's about the quality of the information produced and our ability to help customers extract maximum value," said Andrew.

"Our systems produce actionable information for multiple personnel from machine operators to our engineers, maintenance teams and technical service people to drive real-time improvements in mine compliance, production, maintenance and safety, while reducing overall running costs."