FlowCentric Business Process Management (BPM) technology, innovatively packaged into a complete, ground-breaking solution for the mining industry by Ability Solutions (Pty) Ltd, is changing the way in which mining companies manage compliance with SHEQ, guide workflow and enhance productivity.
The solution, “Rokman” leverages the robust mobile engine Mobiflow from Flux on the sharp-end, with tightly integrated FlowCentric BPM at the back end to provide powerful SHEQ Management Software for the South African market.
“Rokman” is in the process of implementation at two mines, with all of them giving the solution a thumbs-up so far.
“Initial responses from the mines that have seen the system are excellent. Rokman has tremendous potential to support mines in reducing accidents, managing health and safety risks, driving operational efficiencies, achieving production targets and ensuring legal compliance.
“We believe that the solution has a promising future in an industry that faces a complex compliance environment, hundreds of accidents on a weekly basis, and an excess of 160 deaths per year,” says Jacques Wessels, the CEO at FlowCentric Technologies which develops value-adding, highly-customisable, and agile BPM solutions for companies in Africa.
“Rokman” is a FlowCentric Processware-enabled end-to end-solution that can be tailored to automate a mine’s specific processes, enforce compliance and authorisations, and ensure that information where it needs to be. The solution is delivered on rugged mobile, handheld devices that are designed to withstand hostile environments.
Shift Supervisors sign on via drop down boxes on the screen after collection of equipment from the lamp room. The system automatically loads predefined tasks for that shift according to the mine’s operational procedures.
Tasks are managed by icon-driven responses, and depending on the response, the operator is automatically routed to the next appropriate action while all the time the system is monitoring the progress of tasks against a planned schedule.
Depending on levels of communication infrastructure available, be it in the cross-cut, rest area, bottom of the shaft or in the base of an opencast mine, the required data is captured and transmitted, as soon as practical, to the appropriate structures for action. Each transaction is supported by user, date and time stamped audit trails.
“Rokman’s” icon-driven mobile screens make customisation, or the adding of functionality, simple and quick, while the underlying BPM engine routes notifications and assignments to the correct people, supported by full escalation, according to the mine’s operational rules.
Seamlessly integrated into Microsoft Outlook, management can access a Master Console to analyse the KPI for their area of responsibility, see which pre-scheduled tasks have been actioned, or are now overdue, respond to requests, and schedule new tasks on the fly to the appropriate people or departments.
To support the legal process, electronic signatures or fingerprint images can be captured in terms of declarations etc.
“The robust devices can work online or off line. Data can immediately be synced to the Managers Console depending on the mine’s communication infrastructure. In a worst case scenario, data will be automatically uploaded at end of shift. Managers can view completed safety checks and analyse the underlying data to detect patterns of equipment failure, and lost production, and non-compliance amongst other things.
“It is probably the most reliable and accurate way to analyse a day’s work in a mine without management being physically present the whole time,” says Wessels.
He says that the solution has been cleverly-packaged by Ability Solutions for ease-of-use. Processes are icon-driven which makes the system easy to understand and use by all levels; from the mine manager and health and safety officer, to the shift supervisor.
“In terms of streamlining productivity, empowering mobility, and ease-of-use, this solution is ground-breaking. Ability Solutions is setting a new trend for risk and process management in mines with Rokman. We are thrilled to be part of it.”