Greg Baiden

Abstract:

The mining industry has a history of applying the latest technology and techniques of the time just as the manufacturing industry does. The difference is that the manufacturing industry seems to do this more effectively. But is this the case? Can the mining industry learn from the manufacturing industry? Will the techniques apply? While the mining industry has been lagging behind the manufacturing industry, Computer Integrated Manufacturing or CIM has been evolving for the last four or five decades through the use of robotic manufacturing techniques that eliminate waste such as the Toyota Production System. In fact, Shigeo Shingo, the father of the Toyota Production System describes it as a system that "absolutely eliminates waste". Basic principles include Eliminating Overproduction, Just-in-Time and the Separation of the Worker from the Machine. The principle of "Separation of the Worker from the Machine" has been one of the keys to the application of automation in the research and in the industrial work our team applies to mining. Key technologies such as telecommunications networking, positioning, robots and plant control allow the application of this principle and will be described in this talk. In summary, this talk reviews the evolution of manufacturing and mining comparing their characteristics focusing on the latest techniques being applied. It will discuss the infrastructure required and the application of telerobotics to mining through case studies carried out by our team.