Request an FMS Performance Review

A fixed-scope diagnostic that shows where your fleet management system, dispatch practice and data are losing production, sizes each loss in hours and tonnes, and ranks what to fix first.

Why a review

The system that should reveal the losses is often hiding them.

Most mines cannot say how much production their FMS is costing them, because the same system that should reveal the losses is configured, coded and used in ways that hide them. Reports arrive, KPIs are published, and the operation still does not know which problem to fix first.

Signs you need one

  • KPIs that operations and the FMS team calculate differently
  • Delay and standby codes dominated by "other" or "unknown"
  • An optimiser that dispatchers routinely override
  • Nobody can reconcile FMS tonnes with survey or plant tonnes

What you receive

Four deliverables, ending in a read-out with named owners.

  1. 1

    Tonnes ledger

    Where production went between fleet capability and tonnes moved, by category, in hours and tonnes.

  2. 2

    Ranked improvement register

    Every finding with its root cause, confidence, recommended action, effort, owner and expected recovery, ranked by value.

  3. 3

    Configuration and data findings

    Specific corrections to road network, assignment rules, definitions and coding, ready to implement.

  4. 4

    Read-out and working session

    The findings presented to management, then worked through with the people who will own each action.

The final read-out covers

  • The tonnes ledger for the period reviewed
  • The ranked register, with the top actions walked through one by one
  • What can be done in weeks versus what needs a project
  • Where the data could not size a loss, and what it would take to size it
  • Agreed owners for each action before the session ends

Example output

What a review hands you, worked through.

Illustrative example. A hypothetical operation, not client data. Every figure is calculated from the assumptions below, and the ledger reconciles: capability minus losses equals tonnes moved.

Haul fleet
30 trucks, 290 t target payload
Loading units
6
Period
30 days, 24-hour operation
Cycle
32 min measured, 27 min without excess queue, load and haul time
Ledger: tonnes per lost hour
644 t, the ideal rate (290 t per 27 min)
Recovery: tonnes per regained hour
516 t, the current rate (275 t per 32 min)

1. The tonnes ledger

Where 12.81 Mt of fleet capability went. Select a bar for the hours behind it.

  1. Fleet capability12.81 Mt
  2. Tonnes moved7.74 Mt

Queueing1,173 truck-hours, 756 kt per 30 days

Three trucks queued at one shovel while another loading unit waits for trucks.

Illustrative example, per 30 days. Lost truck-hours valued at the ideal 644 t each; payload shortfall counted in tonnes. Delays include planned standby such as fuelling and blasting; the review separates the avoidable share.

2. The ranked improvement register

Findings ranked by expected recovery. Recovery is a range, never more than the loss it addresses, and regained hours are valued at the fleet's current rate, so no row assumes another has already been fixed. A finding the data cannot size yet is listed as such rather than given a number.

Ranked improvement register, figures per 30 days, illustrative example
RankLoss category and findingTruck-hoursTonnes impactRoot causeConfidenceRecommended actionEffortOwnerExpected recovery
1
QueueingTrucks queue at two loading units while others hang for trucks
1,173
756 kt
Road network and travel-time model not updated as the pit advanced; static shovel priorities.
HighMeasured from cycle-level FMS data over the full period
Rebuild road network and travel times; re-tune priorities; weekly polygon update routine.
Low
FMS administrator, dispatch superintendent
242 kt to 363 kt40–60% of queue loss
2
DelaysShift change averages 42 min against a 20 min target
660
425 kt
Operators return to the crib for changeover; all units change at once.
HighShift-change delay coded consistently
Hot-seat at the face; stagger changeover by loading unit; align crib transport.
Medium
Production superintendent
170 kt to 272 kt50–80% of the excess over target
3
PayloadAverage payload 275 t against a 290 t target
655
422 kt
Payload system uncalibrated on part of the fleet; last-pass decisions made conservatively.
MediumScale calibration unverified on some trucks
Calibrate payload monitoring; coach loading-unit operators on the last pass; show live payload in cab.
Low
Load and haul superintendent, maintenance
141 kt to 281 kt5–10 t of the 15 t gap per load
4
DowntimeUnplanned downtime following health alarms that were not actioned
380
245 kt
Critical health events reach the dispatcher, not the maintenance planner.
MediumAlarm-to-failure link inferred from timestamps
Route critical events to the maintenance planner with a response target.
Medium
Maintenance superintendent
59 kt to 98 kt30–50% of alarm-linked downtime
5
UncodedTruck time with no valid status or delay reason
540
Not yet sizeable
Long code lists; reasons requested after the event; predictable events coded by hand.
LowThe cause of uncoded time is unknown by definition
Auto-code predictable events; prompt at event start; publish the uncoded share weekly.
Low
FMS administrator
To be sizedSized after four weeks of clean coding

How it runs

From scoping call to read-out

  1. 01

    Scoping call

    Agree the questions the review must answer, the data period, site access and who is involved.

  2. 02

    Data and configuration review

    FMS exports analysed and configuration checked, before anyone travels.

  3. 03

    Site review

    Control room and pit observed across shifts; operators, dispatchers and supervisors interviewed.

  4. 04

    Analysis and read-out

    Findings sized, ranked and presented to site leadership and the team who will act on them.

Durations depend mainly on the data period and the number of site shifts. Both are agreed on the scoping call, before any work starts.

Data and access we need

  • Cycle and assignment records for a representative period
  • Equipment status and delay events, with the code list in use
  • Payload records and loading-unit production
  • Read access to the FMS configuration, or time with its administrator
  • Shift rosters and the current mine plan
  • Access to the control room and pit for a small number of shifts

Who takes part

Sponsor
General manager or operations managerAgrees scope; attends the read-out
FMS owner
FMS administrator or technology leadData extracts, configuration access
Dispatch
Dispatch superintendent and dispatchers on shiftInterviews and observation
Production
Production and load-and-haul superintendentsInterviews; own most actions
Maintenance
Maintenance or reliability leadAvailability and health data
Crews
A sample of operators and supervisorsShort conversations on shift

The work itself is done by TBOS's own mining engineers, the people you meet on the scoping call. Meet the team.

Request

Tell us about the operation

This goes straight to the TBOS consultants. The more context you give, the more useful our first reply.

Prefer email? contact@tbosco.com

Where do you think production is being lost? (optional)