Smart-Ex® 03 DZ1M
Intrinsically safe 5G Smartphone – certified for Mining
The new Smart-Ex® 03 smartphone sets the basis for future-oriented digital application scenarios in hazardous areas With the intrinsically safe Smart-Ex® 03, Pepperl+Fuchs presents a 5G and Wi-Fi 6 ready smartphone.
In the 6-inch Android smartphone, Pepperl+Fuchs combines its global, customer-oriented support with the know-how of its subsidiaries ECOM Instruments as a pioneer in intrinsically safe mobile devices and Aava Mobile as an expert in industrial tablets and wireless technology.
Mobile Computing in Underground Mining - A case study
RAG Deutsche Steinkohle AG
Production processes in the chemical industry are characterized by an ever-increasing degree of automation. At the same time, the production has to be as flexible as possible to meet the growing demands of its customers, on product diversity and continuous innovation. ecom knows the demands of the sectors and offers fitting solutions. And the challenge to meet the requirements in hazardous areas.
The challenge
“The chemical industry is one of the largest manufacturing industries in all developed and emerging countries. While many of the products from the industry (…) are purchased directly by the consumer, 70% of chemicals manufactured are used to make products by other industries including other branches of the chemical industry itself. The industry uses a wide range of raw materials, from air and minerals to oil.”
Source: essentialchemicalindustry.org
The requirements
- Basic Chemicals / Commodity Chemicals (e.g. polymers, bulk petrochemicals & intermediates)
- Specialty Chemicals (e.g. industrial gases, adhesives & sealants)
- Petrochemicals (e.g. ethylene & propylene)
- Consumer Chemicals (e.g. soaps, detergents & cosmetics)
- Agricultural Chemicals / Agrochemicals (e.g. pesticides)
- Pharmaceutical Chemicals
The goal
- Charge management
- Active Ingredient Management
- Material Reconciliation
- Qualitymanagement
- Recipe Cockpit
- Production schedule
- Integrated weighing solution
- Label printing cockpit
International Know-How
After careful examination, ecom instruments GmbH was chosen as the technology partner for the switch from analog to digital. They are the leading global specialist for mobile devices in hazardous areas, who can deliver the essential know-how and hardware. As a traditional German company, they can also guarantee the necessary service intensity and proximity to the project. The migration occurred on the basis of detailed proof and test runs with support of up to five ecom employees, who checked the devices and performance under real conditions.
Mobile Communication
The system allows constant transit tracking and material regulation by checking in and out with a PDA at each gateway, thereby ensuring compliance with schedules. Because of the extremely dangerous mixture of coal dust and methane in mining, the usage of dedicated handhelds with special mining-license is needed. The devices are to be intrinsically safe handhelds computers such as the i.roc® Ci70 –Ex, the only PDA with ATEX, IECEX and American mining-license worldwide.
Transit Optimization
The cycle of transport processes are standardized over predetermined stations. Orders for materials go through the PDA to a transport control center, which carries out the schedule monitoring, updates and loads orders on the inventory then passes the transfer order to the transport and message chain. There, the material and position survey is conducted and the information is adjusted with the transfer order. Through the entire transport chain, the charge is monitored by PDA and the condition of the material is checked at all stations or interfaces and fed into the material tracking system. When the material arrives at the mine, the quantities are checked by a worker, who confirms the completion of the transport chain. The confirmation is fed into the software of the material tracking system and the transport control center receives feedback of the successful completion.
Loading Standards
Uniform standards provide a smooth flow of materials. The loading of materials is carried out by predefined loading standards, whose goal is to ensure ideal use of transport space and avoid any overload. The information about the charge is read with a PDA via barcode scans of the marked shipping containers. In addition to the material characteristics, the technique of underground mining as well as the specific course of actions are considered and provided to the miners via i.roc®.
Process Optimization
The complex overall system successfully combines the technology of open cast mining and the IT and technology of underground mining. By digitizing the logistics processes, material utilization can not only be effectively controlled and monitored, but can also be evaluated based on the collected data. This allows continuous process optimization in terms of the use of materials, equipment and personnel, therefore having a direct effect on productivity and profitability of the RAG. Analyses provide information about vulnerabilities and enable improvements to be made in both processes and technology, so important personnel and resource savings can be made. Specifically, 95 percent of the material requests can be handled within 24 hours and schedule compliance rate was increased by approximately 100 percent. In return, the accident rate from 2002 to 2013 was reduced by 94 percent, a huge success for the work safety.
