Mechanical Technology March 2015

⎪ Modern transport and vehicle solutions ⎪

1. Booyco Electronics’ manufacturing facility in Jet Park, Johannesburg. 2. Booyco Electronics is a provider of unique electronic products that add value to a mining operation’s overall safety, process improvement, production control and efficiency. 3. All products and systems are performance tested by Booyco Electronics and certified to ensure compliance with the relevant specifications. “The main factor in favour of our products is definitely the quality, while a related issue is the maturity of our VLF technology due to our experience and expertise. We regard ourselves as probably the most experienced player in this sector. Even as an industry leader, we constantly encounter new challenges and different scenarios and applications, simply due to the fact that this technology does not comprise simple off-the-shelf solutions, but is tailor-made for individual clients and applications,” Lourens notes. Looking to the future, he says that the successful application of PDS technol- ogy in underground and surface mining operations will go a long way to reducing the high rate of vehicle accidents in the South African mining industry. “While the various stakeholders have realised that this is now quite a critical issue, there is also the realisation that this is a highly complex and technologically sophisticated sector. This means that a major player such as Booyco Electronics stands to play a critical role in the correct adoption, implementation and applica- tion of this technology,” he concludes. q are designed and manufactured for local conditions and specifications,” Lourens says.

to ensure that all these stakeholders are accommodated.” While Booyco Electronics is engaged in ongoing discussions with OEMs, “the biggest part of our installation work right now is retrofits, as many of our mining customers wish to ensure that they are compliant. That is a challenge in itself, as we often have to relocate existing installed equipment so that the PDS is working properly. The technology is such that it requires a specific solution for each particular application.” While this market sector is highly competitive at the moment, Lourens says that what gives Booyco Electronics its leading edge is its capability to offer a total solutions package. “What we have tried to do is create a total scope of supply so that the client does not have to worry about safety equipment, for example, as we can supply our biometric readers either in conjunction with PDS or as standalone items.” Booyco Electronics has added data capturing or logging functionality to its PDS technology, which is also anticipated to become a DMR requirement in the near future. “We have also increased the level of diagnostics in the equipment to ensure that the system is fully functional at all times and that it can be connected ‘fail to safe’ on a continuous basis.” Another significant long-term require- ment will be the servicing and mainte- nance of Booyco Electronics’ installed PDS base once the technology has been legislated. “There are huge opportuni- ties for us, particularly in how we have positioned our products in terms of functionality and pricing. What gives us a competitive edge is that our products

longer than 8.0 m, two sets of antennae should be installed, with unit sets on opposite ends. A miner’s RFID tag is issued to every person, with such a tag consuming less than 100 µ A and not producing any electromagnetic radiation. “Booyco Electronics is setting the local standard in PDS technology for sur- face mining operations. Currently there are quite a few systems out there that look at machine-to-machine interaction, but which are not necessarily applicable on the pedestrian side. While we believe that we have the best solution available on the market, the industry-wide imple- mentation of PDS technology remains an issue.” Lourens says that the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) has unveiled the draft version of the mandatory Code of Practice for Trackless Mobile Machinery (TMM). “Basically, this is draft legislation that deals with TMMs in terms of what measures are expected by the regulator and where this is going. It is already past draft stage, so we believe that will change the immediate require- ments. The DMR has specified additional testing to ensure that all the products out there comply with the same standards.” Lourens comments that the mining in- dustry has adopted a cautious approach to the implementation of PDS technology. “There is quite a lot of work still to be done, as we are not yet at the point where these systems can just be switched on. A major challenge is that there are many stakeholders to deal with, from the min- ing house and contractor to the vehicle OEM and PDS supplier. Ultimately the client has a specific viewpoint in terms of his operational requirements, so we have

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