Digital fuel management technology dent free after coal truck crash

One of the only things running after a coal service truck overturned at a major Australian mine site was a digital fuel management hardware system installed to monitor diesel consumption and track emissions down to every litre. 

The mishap (no one was injured) underscores the growing importance of reliable digital technology operating on the ground at mines sites.  

Before digital technology mine operators were often left to ‘guesstimate’ just how much fuel on-site assets were burning. Calculating and reconciling delivery and dispensing could be erratic and unreliable, providing procurement managers with little in the way of accurate data.

It’s safe to say the process has come a long way in the past two decades. 

Says KPMG about the future of fuel management: “Digital transformation leaders reveal that digital fuel is an accelerant that has transformed customers’ experiences and expectations, and there’s no going back... The bar for delivering exceptional digital customer experiences is high - and is set to get higher." 

No one knows this better than the innovators leading the digital shift and the mining companies smart enough to get on board. 

“We strive to marry reliable data with rugged hardware, each complimenting the other,”

aid Wayne Arthur, Head of Mining, AdaptFMS, VERIDAPT, who’s technology survived the truck crash.

For VERIDAPT, a digital leader in commodity monitoring, one of the keys unlocking its proprietary technology is a unique touch screen interface that allows businesses, such as BHP, Rio Tinto and Roy Hill to customise workflows and integrate with PLCs. It also enables operators to capture information, such as reporting of faults or recording odometer readings and engine hours reported via the product software, AdaptIQ. 

More specifically, VERIDAPT’s rugged hardware integrates with hydrocarbon infrastructure monitoring and controlling the flow of 30 billion litres of fuel and oil across 80+ mining and rail operations worldwide. 

The technology is deployed in some of the world’s harshest mining environments. 

Fuel management experts at the Australia-based company like to say they “never ask Mother Nature to throw everything she has at AdaptMAC, but she does anyway. And AdaptMAC wins every time.” 

Hundreds of AdaptMAC's are pelted time and again by cyclonic rains and wind in Australia's Pilbara iron ore belt without effect. Another couple of hundred of the same devices have been operating steadily for over a decade in temperatures that can top 50 degrees. 

One Canadian gold mining operation deployed VERIDAPT’s fuel management solution in the Arctic Circle, one of the coldest places on earth. Seven years later, the hardware supporting AdaptFMS continues to operate without a hitch.

“There’s the story of the service truck that caught fire and was written off. The hose reels were damaged and the AdaptMAC screen blistered, but once the screen was swapped out, the AdaptMAC was still operational,” said Wayne.

AdaptMAC (by the way, MAC stands for Monitor, Authorise, Control) provides on-site management control over the delivery, storage, transfer and dispensing of fuels, oils and other bulk commodities as part of AdaptFMS. Users like that it automatically captures all product movement as distinct transactions, with dates, times and other details right down to the individual vehicle, person, or asset.  

A final word on data: Without trust in the data, users are less likely to action the insights gained from a fuel management system. A tank-by-tank inventory reconciliation of fuel and lubricants, down to the level of the fuel consuming asset, is critical to the success of any fuel management system.