Processes

A Process is any activity a piece of equipment may undertake that should be scheduled and reported separately from others. Processes are either productive (linked to a data value such as tonnes or metres) or non-productive (representing a pause in activity such as a public holiday or maintenance).

Every productive process has a value that is linked to a Field in the Deposit Table. Source scheduling is based on "working" this value, which is called the Source Quantity. Note that two or more different processes may use the same Field for their Source Quantity, however the value is duplicated, not shared.

Any Leaf in the Deposit Table that has a Source Quantity greater than zero can be worked. The most work that can be done on any Source Quantity is 100%.

The following could be considered common Source Quantity Fields:

  • Waste: Bank Cubic Metres. Total as opposed to Prime or Swelled.

  • Coal/Ore/Mucking: Tonnes. Total as opposed to Prime or Swelled.

  • Drilling/Development: Metres

Note that you don't have to schedule Coal or Ore by Volume or Tonnes, it's possible to schedule with something less common like Energy content, depending on your scheduling requirements. A Source Quantity field can be a calculated field that uses other metrics in its expression.

Anywhere from 0% (default) to 100% of each productive process can be pre-scheduled (per Leaf). Assigning an Initial Percentage Completed Field reconciles your Data with any material that has already been mined to ensure you are only scheduling material that is still in the ground.

Any Leaf that can be worked (has a Source Quantity greater than zero) can also be displayed visually through the use of 3D Solids by assigning a Solids Field to the process. This means that Leaves that cannot be worked (volume <=0) will not be displayed even with an associated Solid field. Any pre-schedule will also apply to the way each Solid is displayed (50% pre-schedule = 50% visible, 100% pre-schedule = 0% visible).

The "Alternate" Solids Field is used when a Solid can't be found in the primary Field (material that may have changed Solid type during reserves processing).

Cone Dependencies, Proximity Centroids and Haulage all potentially use Centroids (Point3D Type Fields). Normal practice for Source Scheduling is to use Floor Centroids.

The combination of a Process (including its assigned Source Quantity) and each workable Leaf is known in the application as a Task. Scheduling can be considered to be the assignment of each of these Tasks to one or many pieces of Equipment.

On the Home tab, in the Setup group: Select Processes to manage the productive and the non-productive processes of your schedule.

Example Productive Processes:

  • Topsoil
  • Freedig
  • Drill
  • Blast
  • Waste
  • Commodity to be mined

Example Non-productive Processes:

  • Maintenance
  • Wait on Block
  • Public Holiday
  • Delayed Start

Add Process

Click the Add Process button to add a Productive or a Non-productive process (depending on the tab currently selected in the Processes Setup window).

Specify the following fields and parameters:

Name

The name of the Productive or Non-productive process.

Active

In order to undergo any kind of simulation, a Productive Process must be set as Active.

Set the Source (Text Range or [Inline] *) Range that applies to the Tasks. See: Text Range and Inline Ranges.

Default Source Quantity Field

For Source Scheduling, link to a Double Precision Float Field type.

It is possible to not choose a Default Source Quantity Field, but this will require each piece of equipment that works this process to have a Source Quantity Field explicitly assigned.

Default Destination Quantity Field

For Destination Scheduling, link to a Double Precision Float Field type.

It is possible to not choose a Default Destination Quantity Field, but this will require each piece of equipment that works this process to have a Destination Quantity Field explicitly assigned.

Initial Percentage Completed Field

Link to a Percentage Field type. Anywhere from 0% (default) to 100% of each productive process can be pre-scheduled (per Leaf). Assigning an Initial Percentage Completed Field reconciles your data with any material that has already been mined to ensure you are only scheduling material that is still in the ground.

Solids Field

Link to a Solid Field type.

Any Leaf that can be worked (has a Source Quantity greater than zero) can also be displayed visually through the use of 3D Solids by assigning a Solids Field to the process. This means that Leaves that cannot be worked (volume <=0) will not be displayed even with an associated Solid. Any pre-schedule will also apply to the way each Solid is displayed (50% pre-schedule = 50% visible, 100% pre-schedule = 0% visible).

Alternate Solids Field

Link to a Solid Field type. The "Alternate" Solids Field is used when a Solid can't be found in the primary Field (material that may have changed Solid type during reserves processing).

Centroid Field

Link to a Point3D Field type.

Solids Colour

Click on the colour patch or the drop-down arrow to set standard or custom colours for your productive process solids. These colours are shown anywhere a process is selected.

Show in Animation

Select or deselect the check boxes to show or hide processes in the Animation Window.

Right-click in the header to access common grid functions:

  • Best Fit makes the best use of the column space.

  • Best Fit (all columns) makes the best use of the available space.

  • Use the Column Chooser to access additional columns and drag them into the headers.

  • Show/Hide Column options

  • Show/Hide a Find Pane to search the grid list.

  • Show/Hide Auto Filter Row to filter the grid list

  • Show/Hide Group By Box to group list items