MOBILE earthmoving and mining equipment computer integration is on the horizon. Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) was only a concept ten years ago, today in some sectors it is an approaching reality.
This paper draws parallels between Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) and what is potentially available today in the earthmoving and mining equipment environments.
As various on-board earthmoving and mining vehicle monitoring devices are developed, the next logical step is Computer Integrated Mobile Equipment Operations (CIMEO), with performance/production monitoring devices tied into a data network, fleet equipment operations can operate in sync-in the most productive manner possible.
This paper will review some of the performance/production monitoring that is presently being done with mobile heavy equipment, identifying specifically with off-highway trucks, and the computer integration that can occur in first monitoring, then downloading data, and finally providing feedback from a central processing unit to (1) analyse what has happened and, (2) more importantly make a future happen that wouldn't otherwise be possible.