ORBCOMM

Los Pelambres, a copper mine located in Salamanca, Chile, faced a significant challenge in its operations. The mine, which is the seventh largest producer of copper in the world, relied on 55 Komatsu mining trucks for the transportation of copper. In an effort to maximize asset utilization, the mine adopted a fast refueling system that reduced refueling time from 25 to approximately 5 minutes. However, this initiative led to a series of unexpected issues. The factory-installed fuel sensors ruptured due to the pressure from the fast refueling system. Without a working fuel sensor, drivers had to guess when to refuel and how much fuel to add back into the tank. This led to frequent under or overfilling of the tanks, causing operational delays and increased downtime. The mine needed a solution that could withstand the pressure from the fast refueling system, relay fuel level and truck location data back to a centralized application, and include a user-friendly interface for monitoring.

Terex Corporation, a global manufacturer of lifting and material processing products, identified a unique opportunity to differentiate their product and enhance customer experience by integrating telematics technology into their crushing and screening equipment. These machines, which are highly specialized and valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, operate in harsh and often remote environments. The setup and tuning requirements for these machines vary from site to site, as no two ores or rocks are identical. Failure to properly tune these machines can result in the final processed material not meeting the desired specification. The cost, complexity, and remote nature of crushing and screening operations made a compelling case for the introduction of telematics. Terex aimed to provide the market with innovative features and add more value to their product.