Micromine has released the Pitram Production Reporting Service, a managed service and an extension of its mine operations system, Pitram. The company says “Pitram is an essential and proven system for management and process improvement of mine operations. Pitram can be used to record, manage and process mine site data related to equipment, personnel, locations and materials, providing an overall view of the current mine status and increasing clients’ control over their operations.”
Pitram Production Reporting Service is supplied and supported directly by Micromine, including all hardware, software, ongoing database and server administration, software updates, help desk, off-site backups, disaster recovery and remote monitoring. As a managed service offering, clients can experience the benefits of Pitram and the peace of mind of direct Micromine support for a simple, single monthly fee.
Operations Manager, Michael Layng, explains “The service is ideal for small to medium size underground and open pit operations that want to introduce Pitram’s advanced reporting capabilities without incurring the expense of installing the entire solution and investing in the resources to manage it.
“The service is quick and easy to implement, and can be up and running in as little as five days. Also, minimal training is required due to the simple and secure user interface based on the familiar Internet Explorer web browser.
“A pre-configured Pitram Microserver is installed by Micromine onsite. Site personnel connect to the device using their standard Internet Explorer application to enter data and generate reports. To minimise interference with the site and to ensure the quality of the service, Micromine’s Remote Operating Centre personnel regularly check the operating status of the site Microserver, run health checks, schedule system maintenance and provide database administration support including automated backup of the site’s data.
“Given the current economic environment, it is becoming increasingly critical that mine operations improve their bottom line and increase profits through the utilisation of technologies and services which help them to reduce costs and improve efficiencies. Micromine has introduced the Pitram Production Reporting Service to make our Pitram technology more accessible to operations from a cost perspective so that they can take advantage of our leading technology.
“Many small and medium mine sites are dependent on Excel or Access to create production reports from paper based activity reports and timesheets, resulting in inefficiencies including the unproductive use of staff time and data entry errors. Additionally, the long time-gap between an activity taking place and generating a report doesn’t promote informed and effective decision making. The service helps operations overcome these problems at minimal expense.”
The service reduces administration costs and improves efficiencies as multiple and unreliable data sources are replaced by one electronic data depository. All data related to mine events and activities is entered into Pitram by site personnel to generate and access key reports, including production reports, grade control reports and stockpile management reports. Through the provision of accurate and timely reports, and current and historical mine site data, management are better positioned to make informed decisions and undertake effective analysis.
Using Pitram’s reports, management can also monitor key performance indicators including availability and utilisation of equipment, operator performance, production metrics and consumable usage. Knowing how an operation’s assets are performing allows users to identify areas of constraint. Improvement plans can then be implemented which ultimately lead to a reduction in operating costs and increased production.
Like all of Micromine’s offerings, the Pitram Production Reporting Service is flexible and can be customised to an operation’s specific requirements. For example, data entry forms can be modified and custom reports can be created. Also, additional functions such as ODBC, Excel and CSV connectors can be added to allow the input of data from other systems.