Tag Archives: MCB

RPMGlobal provides asset management add-on for SAP users

IoT, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , , ,

RPMGlobal has launched a new version of its dedicated asset lifecycle costing software, AMT, designed to complement SAP’s Intelligent Asset Management offering and solve the plant and maintenance needs of miners.

In this release of AMT, AMT4SAP will be equipped with over 20 logical business connectors into SAP to support any organisations’ SAP work management solution, RPMGlobal said.

AMT4SAP is an add-on to a miner’s existing SAP solution (pictured) designed to complement and enhance asset management decision support through advanced modelling, maintenance cost budgeting, lifecycle management, benchmarking, component life optimisation and overall strategy optimisation, according to the company.

RPMGlobal and SAP have had a partnership agreement in place since 2013 and have already successfully deployed AMT with SAP to many global mining organisations, RPMGlobal says. These deployments include integration between the solutions that automate the transfer of data to amplify the decision-making capabilities of these organisations.

RPMGlobal CEO, Richard Mathews, said AMT4SAP provides a “complementary and connected solution” to SAP’s maintenance planning (PM), reliability analysis and optimisation functions.

“Miners have complex plant and maintenance needs that AMT4SAP can solve through the creation of a truly holistic approach to asset management. The outcome is long-term performance and cost benefits that positively impact the bottom line,” he said.

At the core of RPMGlobal’s AMT solution is a Dynamic Life Cycle Costing (DLCC) engine and inbuilt intelligence engine. The DLCC takes inputs in real-time from various asset management processes and systems such as on-board monitoring systems, fleet management systems, the mine plan and SAP itself.

The calculation engine then automatically reforecasts future usage, availability, productivity, further maintenance costs and future resource requirements, according to RPMGlobal. It does this for every piece of equipment, every part and component for the entire life of each asset in real-time.

Harnessing the DLCC engine, AMT4SAP is able to identify asset lifecycle risks and opportunities to control and reduce maintenance spend, arming end-users with the ability to proactively make decisions.

AMT’s ability to define, track and maintain an asset’s lifecycle cost through the DLCC complements SAP’s work management capabilities across work scheduling, strategy definition, resource levelling, downtime capturing and warranty management.

“The differentiating strength of RPMGlobal’s AMT solution is the ability to rapidly generate and analyse multiple maintenance scenarios and strategies to determine the optimal solutions available to a mining operation,” the company said.

Through modelling multiple scenarios for evaluation of new assets (advanced modelling) and alternate maintenance strategies for assets already in operation (strategy optimisation); optimal long-term plans that impact on costs, availability and resources can be better understood and shared with stakeholders well in advance (long-term planning), it added.

A good example of the two systems complementary functions is AMT’s unique MCB (Maintenance Cost Budgeting) module, RPMGlobal said. Integrating AMT’s live lifecycle costing – which includes factoring in unplanned events not covered in SAP – together with SAP’s work order and master data, AMT4SAP is able to generate a full zero-based maintenance budget in “minutes instead of weeks”, it said.

AMT4SAP assists to ensure all data is structured and ready for analytics solutions, such as SAP Analytics Cloud. “This means users spend less time creating a budget and more time using the analytical tools to better understand the maintenance business and deliver real value,” the company said.

AMT, RPMGlobal says, is used by hundreds of mine sites worldwide as well as all major OEMs to manage their assets and contracts.

Deswik furthers Latin America mining software presence with MCB deal in Brazil

IoT, Mining mergers and acquisitions, Mining services, Mining software, , , , , , , , ,

Deswik, the Australia-based mining software developer, has stepped up its overseas expansion push by taking a minority stake in its longstanding Brazilian reseller partner, MCB Services and Minerals.

MCB has been Deswik’s exclusive reseller partner in Brazil since 2012. Established in 2006 in Belo Horizonte, it sells mining software and services to local customers including Nexa, Vale, AngloGold Ashanti, Yamana, Kinross and many others.

Deswik says it is expanding its presence across South America and opened offices in Chile and Peru in 2015 and 2018, respectively. Sales across the continent accounted for 27% of Deswik’s turnover in 2018.

Deswik Managing Director, Matt Chilcott, said Brazil was a key growth market, which contributed 8% of Deswik’s global software turnover in 2018.

Acquiring a stake in MCB would cement Deswik’s presence in the country and allow it to offer local clients enhanced technical support and greater input into the Deswik development and roadmap process, Chilcott said.

“MCB is a like-minded company with an approach to servicing the mining industry that’s very similar to our own,” he said. “Our culture and values are extremely compatible. That’s why we’ve worked together so successfully for such a long time. We couldn’t find a better partner and we’re delighted to be able to formalise our relationship in this way.”

Chilcott said he was upbeat about Deswik’s prospects in the region: “Brazil is a large and mature market and we think we’ve only just scratched the surface in terms of demand. We’re excited about working with the MCB team to help more customers in the region experience the productivity and efficiency gains the Deswik suite of products can deliver.”

As part of the deal, MCB will be rebranded as Deswik Brazil.

MCB’s senior management, Mauro Servulo, Cesar Machado and Francisco Bittencourt, will remain at the helm of Deswik Brazil and local customers will continue to receive support from the company’s 35-strong team of geology and mine engineering consultants, Deswik said.

Within six years, MCB has grown from six to 35 people, according to Deswik.

In addition to having 11 offices across Australia, North and South America, Canada, Africa and Europe, Deswik works with a select group of technology, education, reseller and certified partners.

Deswik Partner Manager, Patrick Doig, said on these partnerships: “Fostering a healthy eco-system of partners has allowed us to extend the reach of our software internationally and provide customers with a consistent ‘Deswik experience’ wherever they are in the world.”

Founded in 2007, Deswik develops specialist solutions covering all aspects of mine planning. Its flagship suite of products, Deswik.CAD, Deswik.Sched, Deswik.LHS and Deswik. MDM, are used by miners on six continents, across the underground metals, open-pit metals, open-pit coal and underground coal sectors.

Deswik employs a team of 300 across 13 offices worldwide and derives more than 70% of its revenue from overseas markets.