Surface Equipment Timing

Surface Equipment Timing schedules through surface pits and blocks based on equipment mining rates in accordance with a calendar. The mining rate is typically based on volume of overburden but may also be based on tons of key strata. The calendar is set by the user to indicate when entire days or individual shifts within a day are down for holidays, time off, or other reasons. The pits themselves must contain key strata and overburden information which is placed in them through use of Surface Reserves, Import Timing Grids, or Assign Timing Data. Surface Equipment Timing is distinct from Surface Production Timing by requiring use of quantities or grids stored in the pits, use of a calendar, and defined rates of production for equipment. The Calendar, Equipment and Crews are defined in the Surface Project Manager.

The Project Manager also appears at the start of Equipment Timing. The purpose of the timing project database file is to provide a single place where everything related to the timing project is stored. This includes equipment definitions, reporting settings, pit and panel information and reports produced. This also includes other data such as calendars, equipment options, date and weight tables, text block definitions. Basically everything except for the grid files, which will be referenced. This means that reviewing or even repeating results of a schedule done previously will be much easier if everything including the last results is stored in the same place.

The left side of the dialog has a tree control which displays the categories of items on the top level, with either set of items or actual items underneath. Depending on what is selected on the left, the buttons on the right will reflect the functionality available for the current selection. The sets of items showing in bold reflect the current set when applicable: i.e. the project can have multiple sets of equipment defined, but the one showing in bold is one used in calculations. By double-clicking on the item the Edit function can be executed if applicable. For equipment, the user can edit, add, copy or remove entire sets of equipment. Use the Set Current button to set a particular item current. Equipment can be imported from an older Equipment Definition file or from another project. It can also be exported to another file. A number of different data can be output to an external data source or brought up in the report formatter.

Following is a detailed description of each function on the Surface Timing window and subsequent windows. After that is a step by step procedure for setting up for the Surface Equipment Timing.

Add Unit: Selecting this button will bring up a list of Available Equipment for selecting a unit to add to the Surface Timing window. This must be done first, before assigning pits or blocks.
Edit Unit: This button will go to the Equipment Production Rate window, similar to Define Equipment. Any rate or shift changes made here will be saved to the equipment file.
Replace Unit: This replaces one unit with another.
Remove Unit: This button will remove the highlighted equipment from the list of Equipment Involved. It will still remain in the fleet for future use, just not on the list for the current mine plan.
Edit Calendar: This will bring up the active calendar where any changes and edits can take place.
Do Earlier: This option will move a selected pit/bench up the list in the Assignment window.
Do Later: This option will move a selected pit/bench down the list in the Assignment window.
Remove: This option will move the selected pit/bench from the Assignment window back to the Unassigned window.
Remove All: This option will move all of the pits/benches from the Assignment window back to the Unassigned window
Add Delay: This inserts a delay in-between the pit blocks. This brings up the same delay setting as found in the Drawing Events.
Assign: This button will move the high lighted pits/benches from the Unassigned window over to the Assignment window.
Select: This is to select the pits and their appropriate benches for assigning. It will highlight them, ready for the Assign. The choices to select are None, All, or by bench number, such as all the Bench2, or the Bench3.
Use Precedence: This gives the ability to adjust sorting of unassigned pits/panels so that precedence is satisfied (violating names are moved down the list until precedence is satisfied)
Screen Pick: Selecting this allows for screen picking of the pits in plan view. Cross-hairs appear, and the command line states: Pick on or inside of pit polyline or Enter to finish:. Pick inside the pits in the order they should be assigned. Picking once assigns the first available bench. Picking again in the same pit, assigns the next bench (if available) immediately after the first one. Hit Enter to get back to the Surface Timing screen, and the pits should be assigned in the order picked on screen.
3D Pick: This option gives a 3D view of the pits and the quantities stored in them. It allows for viewing, rotating and selecting of the pits to be mined in 3D. When a pit and bench is picked, it disappears from the mine plan, revealing the block beneath it. There must be a Pit Attribute called SURFACE with the surface topography grid assigned to it. Rotate the view to see the benches in 3D, select a unit, and start picking the blocks in the order to be mined. The “mode” it is in will determine what the mouse icon is.

Vertical Scale: This dropdown allows a different vertical scale set in the window from 1X to 16X
Single Pick / MultiPick. This allows for switching between selecting one pit block at a time, or a range. To select a single pit block, set the mouse to the arrow/pointer, then double click on a pit block to remove and mine it. If there is a range of pit blocks to select, choose the Multi Pick option and using the same arrow pointer, double click on the starting pit block, and then again on the ending pit block of the line of blocks to mine. Keep picking until the end of the string is reached. It will draw a red line from pick to pick. When finished, Right Click the Mouse, and all the blocks crossed by the red line will mine out in the order they were crossed. This will remove and mine that entire range for scheduling.
Use Bench Rules: This option will apply the bench rules to benches on top and those are assigned to the equipment selected for each bench in order top to bottom with defined sequence. The Bench Sequencing screen to set this up is shown below.
Zoom button gives the magnifying glass with the +/- to zoom in and out
Rotate button gives the XY icon to tip it on its side, and the Z icon rotates it around the Z axis
Pan button gives the hand and pans around the screen.
The Pick arrow button is the easiest icon to select the pits with. Just move the icon on top of a block and double click with the left mouse button. The name of the pit and bench it is pointing to is shown above the equipment window. The block will disappear and the name will be added to the Assignment list. Any mistakes can be removed with the Remove Button, the green X.
The Shade button renders the pit benches otherwise they are just 3D faces not shaded.
The Zoom Extents button returns to plan view, and zoomed to the extents.
Turn Benches On/Off button brings up the Set Layers window where unselecting a specific bench will remove it from the 3D image. Each bench color can be set here for better 3D visualization. These color settings can be saved and loaded at a different time. The Mining Rules sets up the precedence on what must be mined in upper benches to get to the desired block below. Bench Sequencing allows the user to setup default equipment for each bench and bench sequencing rules with ability to play back the sequence with the Play arrow >. A mining sequence rule for the top bench can be setup for each bench by setting the offset in North, East, West and South direction where North begins the twist screen angle from the drawing. Use the Twist Screen command first to rotate the blocks if they are not laid out on a N-S-E-W pattern. Once the rule is setup for one bench it could be applied to all the benches with the Set to All. The Upper Bench Offsets control how many blocks must be removed in each direction from the bench above. The Upper Bench Sequence sets the order of how to mine these blocks.

Once the bench rules are setup, there is an option to select the Bench to draw the advance on the screen by using “Draw” button, this will draw the perimeter for each bench on top, to show how much needs to advance to uncover the underlying bench for the selected pit. The perimeters will be drawn with the selected color for each bench in CAD.

The Chart Settings button brings up the window for selecting the bar chart attributes to display. Everything stored in the pit benches is available to display in the bar charts. When a pit bench block is selected, the tons, volume or quality of the bar charts increases to show the values. This shows a running total of the values as each block is picked and removed to be mined. The ranges for each attribute set the minimum and maximum values for the bars on the chart. So, as an example if 200,000 tons are needed for some short range mine planning, set the Key Tons to 200,000 maximum and then it is easy to see how many blocks are needed to be picked to get to that volume. Or, if a certain quality of Key material is needed, select blocks and monitor the quality to keep it in the desired zone.

Timing can be run from this window by selecting the Report button. It brings up the window with the finish date, where the Report or the Detailed Report are selected. Choosing Detailed Report brings up the Report Options and runs the schedule, and hatches the pit blocks in the drawing.
The blue circle with the yellow square in it is the light control, to cast shadows where the light shines from the direction selected.
The Vertical Scale box changes the scale for better viewing of sites with low relief.
Screen Entities button will allow for any picking in CAD of 3D entities to show up in the 3D Pick window. Entities such as contours, ramps, roads, pit shells and perimeters can be selected and viewed with the blocks in the 3D Pick window.
When done, just hit the Exit button (the door with the arrow going out) and you are back to the main Surface Timing sequencer.

The program uses the SURFACE grid as a starting elevation and the thickness of each block is relative to the volume of material assigned to each bench in the pits. Benches with more volume will show up thicker than others with less. The color scheme is based on the bench you are on. For better viewing of complex pits with separate bench polylines in 3D, surface attribute for each bench can be defined with attribute name SURFACE_BENCH# and value equal to the bench bottom elevation grid. If these attributes are defined the program builds the 3d pick view from top-down calculating the thickness on each pit vertex as elevation difference between two consecutive benches. The red text indicates the grids are moved and cannot be found at that path. There is a reset folder button to address it.

Add Delay of Days/Shifts: Adding a number in the day or shift window and hitting the Add Delay button will bring up the following windows. Highlight the pit/bench in the Assignment window and the delay will be added below the row that is highlighted.

The Schedule Effect on Delay gives two choices: Schedule delay, where the delay will take affect when the equipment is working. If the calendar has the equipment off at that time, then the program waits until it starts to work again, then schedules the delay. A Calendar delay, where if the calendar has it off already, then that is all it will do. It will not take it off additionally. The Due To option provides Drawing Event Types to choose from. Choose the button with "..." next to the Due To, to open the Drawing Event Types window. To Add or Edit a type, the Capture/Timing Event Definition screen provides names and productivity options. Anywhere the text drawn in the Capture Layer is encountered in the drawing, the equipment will be delayed by the Event Delay Length in shifts. The Productivity Effect is the result of the delay. Not working is where the equipment is completely down. Working is no change, and Not Producing is where the equipment is in use, but no quantities are being mined.

Assigning Bench Specific Events: If you want an event to associate with a specific bench put the event on the layer with “_BENCH##” (## - Bench Number) suffix to layer name. For example if the dragline move event occurs only on the bench 3 the capture layer name would be “DraglineMove_BENCH3”, if there isn't any _BENCH## it would apply to all the benches. Also update the Capture Layer name in the event definitions to “DraglineMove_Bench3”.This would make sure that drawing event will occur only on the equipments working on Bench3. You can specify other event on specific benches same way.
Undo Report: This option will Undo a previous Surface Timing run. It will delete the blocks or perimeters drawn in the drawing. If a quick change to the plan or equipment is made, it can be re-run very quickly just by hitting Undo Report and then Calculate again.
Starting Date: This must be filled in before selecting Calculate. Use the format that is defined for dates in Configure under Settings. It can be 12/15/2014 (month/day/year) or 15/12/2014 (day/month/year) etc.
Number of Shifts: This is the number of shifts the program will use in the actual sequencing. Even if 3 shifts are defined for the equipment or in the calendar, and 2 is entered here; it will only use 2 shifts in the timing. It uses the first two, ignoring the third shift in the equipment rate and calendar.
Skip Ore (Key Strata) for Timing: This toggle will determine if the equipment is mining just the NonKey/Overburden material or both the NonKey and Key Material that appears in the pit and bench. For example, a dragline moving overburden should have this checked so that it ignores the coal volume. It will still report the Key volume and tons, but not use it for the schedule.
Perform Bottleneck Analysis / Bottleneck Parameters: Bottleneck analysis is an option in Surface Equipment Timing that lets you limit the total production from several units to a specific level, even if the sum of the units’ production exceeds the set level. To use this method, check the box for Perform Bottleneck Analysis and then set the parameters.
The Bottleneck Parameters dialog box is found on the Surface Timing dialog under the Bottleneck Params button. The Field Name you specify must match one of the reserved words for volume, tons, or a user-defined attribute. These reserved names can be found in the Edit User Attributes section in the final report if they are not known. The Threshold value is another name for the limit placed on the attribute name. This limitation can be set for specific equipment units, and it can be set for ALL units as well. To set the unit preference order, ADD them to the dialog box to the right under the Equipment Order heading. The order can be changed by highlighting the unit (by selecting it with the left mouse button) and picking the UP or DOWN button to the right.

There are several schemes you can use to determine which units are restricted to meet to required level.

When production capacity exceeds the systems ability to absorb it some units need to be scaled back. The options available to reduce production include:
1.     Normal Rotation - alternates in order through the units.
2.     Hold Lead, rotate rest – operates the primary unit at full capacity and alternates through the rest of the units reducing production.
3.     Hold tail, rotate rest - opposite of Hold Lead.
4.     Fixed order – maintains the order of unit preference reducing production, beginning with the tail unit until it is completely down, then reducing the next in preference order until the objective is met.
Example: There are 4 excavators on a job (Units A-D )with a capacity of 3,000 cyds per shift. All of the material must be loaded in trucks and hauled away. There are 6 trucks in the fleet with the ability of hauling 1,000 cyds per shift. Therefore, the trucks in this case are the bottleneck of 6,000 cy/shift, limiting production of the excavators.
Using the fixed order as the restriction scheme, we will limit the tail unit’s production every shift that the excess excavator capacity exists. When the schedule is run, it checks the shift capacity for each shift as the program times out the progress. This slows the program down, showing a bottleneck window with the dates counting by, but keeps the production capacity in line with the desired production level. A report is generated showing which unit is reduced and by how much. An example report is shown here.

When the schedule is run and the map is hatched showing the progress, note the additional time periods for Units 3 and 4. This shows Units 3 & 4 have been held back while the other units worked at full production. Unit 4 is not even working in some of the early months. There is a progress bar to show the time elapsed and time remaining for very large mineplans that take a while to run.

The report generated shows the production for a 10,000 per day, 10 days gave 100,000.
Perform Period Target Analysis: This option takes a table of production targets with variable equipment usage and adjusts to meet the production. The Edit Range Definitions brings up the production table where the KEY amounts per period are defined. The Maximum Amount of Truck & Shovel range is Unlimited, and 1-10 for number of units There must be a piece of equipment defined as TRUCK&SHOVEL with a rate. The program will then add 1-10, or even unlimited units of truck and shovel production to make up the deficiency of the main unit working that pit and bench. This will increase the overburden removal to increase the KEY uncovered, to match the defined production. In the report, there will be a new field, called Truck and Shovel. This shows the extra amount needed to remove in addition to the main unit, to get the required KEY ore mined.

A report shows the amount added by unit.

Calculate: This is the button to start the sequencing. Choosing this button will bring up a small window displaying the completion date. Or if the bottleneck parameters are being used, it will display the days counting down and the various Loops it is using in the calculations. There are two report choices shown here. The Report button will bring up the Equipment Report where the following parameters, such as start and finish dates and the days waiting or pit available are displayed. This is useful to determine if there is a delay due to a unit holding something up. The Detailed Report will go into the Report Options Screen described next. This is the same as the Report button from the initial screen.

Report: Selecting this will go into the Report Options screen. It should only be active if the Calculate button has be selected previously. This is where many settings in the schedule are set, such as the breakdown of the time periods, hatching etc. The Report Options is defined next.

Report Options. Each item on the dialog box is defined below.

Report by period: This option runs the schedule and breaks the pits into blocks by period, such as month or year. The blocks and outlines are colored by period and displayed in the report. The report can be formatted may ways.
Report by equipment: This option runs the schedule and breaks the pits into blocks by Equipment. The blocks and outlines are colored by equipment and displayed in the report. The report can be formatted may ways.
Report Only: Choosing this option will not draw any blocks or outlines on the map. It will go directly to the Report Formatter for viewing of the data.
Draw blocks: When this option is selected, the periods or equipment will be drawn as blocks of solid fill or any AutoCAD hatch pattern that is chosen.
Draw distinct outline: When this option is selected, the periods or equipment will be drawn as closed polyline outlines.
Draw legend: This option draws a legend and the picked location on the map. The colors are based on period, custom amounts or equipment.
Pastel colors: Choosing this option draws the blocks or outlines in the pastel color region of the AutoCAD palette. It uses colors in the 11, 21, 31, 41 etc. row. If it is not selected, then it will use the brighter, primary colors such as 10, 20, 30, 40, etc. This is useful for plotting, the colors are lighter and use less ink.
Enforce custom colors: Selecting this option will use the custom color palette the is setup with the Custom Dates and Colors Table.
Custom table: Dates/Colors: This brings up the Define Ranges screen. This is where a custom date or color table can be set up. The Auto set button will bring up the smaller window for entering the starting line (row number), starting date, how often to repeat, and how long to keep repeating. The Set colors will prompt for a starting color, and the color number increment. The colors are set by picking the color box. The Pattern is the pattern of the hatch in the blocks. The Scale is the size of the hatch patterns if a hatch is used. The Layer is the AutoCAD Layer of the period. Finally, the Label is what each period will be called for reporting and labeling. The example shown here has created a weekly schedule with custom colors. The Clear button wipes out the data for starting over. The tables can be saved and loaded as CDT files. To use this option, choose Enforce Custom Colors or Custom Date Table.

Custom table: Amounts: This button brings up the Define Levels window. This is where the amount to target is set for the Custom Amounts option in the report. The amount to target is set in the first column. The next column is the color for the blocks and outlines. The colors are set by picking the color box. The Pattern is the pattern of the hatch in the blocks. The Scale is the size of the hatch patterns if a hatch is used. The Layer is the AutoCAD Layer of the period. Finally, the Label is what each period will be called for reporting and labeling.

Change shade color every: This option will change the color/layer of each block or outline. There are 3 choices. Every Period (what is selected below), Year, or 5 Years.
Block labeling: This pull-down is for setting the labeling options. There are 5 options here. No Block Labels will not draw any labels. Draw Actual Dates will draw the date of each period. Draw Period Names will place the period name in the block that is entered in the custom date table. Use Custom Names draws the names entered in the custom amount table. Use Custom Text Block activates the Add, Edit and Remove buttons. Choosing Add or Edit will bring up the input screen for arranging the text items in the block. First, give the new block a name. Then move items from the left side to the right, in the row desired. The Add Text button allows for custom text for prefix or suffix entry. The Add Attribute adds any attributes that exist in the schedule. Add New Line moves the added item to the next row. If this is not selected, then the next item is added to the same row, with a + as a separator. Remove will move the entire row from the Line definitions.

Text Size/Text autosize: This will either place all text in the map with the defined size, or autosize it to fit in the block dimension.
Length-wise labels: This option draws the text parallel with the long axis of the pits. If it is not selected, then the text will be 90 from the long axis.
Text Style: Enter in an AutoCAD text style for labels.
Text Block Style: This section is active if the Block labeling is set to Use Custom Text Block. Any premade blocks will appear on the list and may be selected for text orientation.
Report Period: This is the start and finish date of the report. By default, the program will display the full range from the start date to the final date it needs to finish. Any date range in the middle may be used.
Skip format prompt: If this option is selected, then after the blocks are drawn, a report will appear that is similar to the last one created. The program will not bring up the report formatter for customizing.
Sub-divide by properties: If this is selected, the schedule will recognize any named Carlson property lines drawn on the mineplan. In the report, the periods can be further subdivided by property and owner. These are the same property lines that are used in Surface Mine Reserves.
Output period grids: Choosing this option will create a grid file of the 3D surface at the end of each period, such as a month or a year. It needs the Surface Grid and the Bottom of Pit Grid. It needs at least the Bench 1 Grid filled in to make the grids. The Bench Grids will come in automatically from the Pit Attributes, where the SURFACE attribute is defined as the topography, and each benches bottom elevation is defined as SURFACE_BENCH*. If they aren't define in the Pit Attributes as such, then each grid will need to be selected here. A new output grid path with an Output Grid Prefix is set to create new grids of each period. A new grid file is then written of each period for the pit and bench. This can be an "ultimate pit" used in other design work. It doesn't have the flexibility of other commands such as Design Bench Pit, but it gives a 3D surface of each period mined. It uses a constant highwall slope of around 80 degrees, but varies based on the grid cell size.

Period Polylines to Pits: Selecting this option creates and names the outlines as Carlson pits. The names of the pits are the actual period names. This is useful if these period polylines need to be saved and re-run in the Surface Mine Reserves for additional quantities or analysis.
Output Spoil File: This option creates the SPO file that is used for the timing of the spoil commands found in the Spoil menu. This output contains the nonkey waste for spoil placement and timing.
12 months + 8 quarters + years: A schedule run with this option will break down the first year into 12 monthly periods, the next two years into 8, 3 month quarters, and the remaining periods will be full years.
Show Months of Development: This method will use the starting day and increment by month to the same day. For example, if the starting day is on the 12th of each month, the schedule will be from the 12th to the 12th for each month.
Show 1st Days of Months: This method will use the starting day and increment to the first of each month. For example, if the starting day is on the 12th of the first month, it will go to the end of the first month and then start fresh on the 1st of each month.
Show Years of Development: This method will use the starting day and increment by year to the same day. For example, if the starting day is on June 15th, the schedule will be from June 15th to the next June 15th.
Show 1st Days of Years: This method will use the starting day and increment to the first of each year. For example, if the starting day is on June 15th, it will go to the end of the first year and then start fresh on the 1st of each year.
Show Date Range: This option is used to just display a period as a partial range. Enter a range above in the Report period windows. Then when the sequence is run, only that period will be hatched all in the same color and time.
Custom Date Table: When a custom Date/Colors table is defined, this option must be selected to use it. Custom Dates/Colors are defined above.
Custom Amount Table: When a custom Amount table is defined, this option must be selected to use it. Custom Amounts are defined above.
Legend Scale: If the Draw Legend box is selected, this is the size of the legend. Sizes from 50-100 should appear legible for most mineplans with a dwg scale of 50.
Hatch: This is the hatch that is used for drawing in the blocks if the custom date or amount tables are not used. All hatch patterns appear on the list, the most common one, solid, appears at the top of the list for easy selection.
Retreat Hatch: This is used for underground retreat hatching. Disregard for surface mining.
Divide advance/retreat display: This is used for underground retreat hatching. Disregard for surface mining.
Scale: If a hatch pattern other than Solid is used, this is the scale it will be drawn at. Sometimes trial and error is needed to get the best scale, as different patterns look better at different scales.
Layer: This is the AutoCAD layer that the blocks and outlines will be drawn in, if no other options are used.
Layer by year: The blocks and outlines will be layered by year. The year will appear as a suffix to the layer name.
Layer by period: This option will put each period on its own layer. If there are many periods, it will create many layers which can be a hassle.
Of, Sum for whole mine & Stop at last period: These options are only active when using the Custom Amount Table. The "Of" window is for selecting what is being target for custom amounts. The options are similar to Surface Production Timing: Total Tons, Key Tons, Waste Tons, Total Area, Mined Area, Total Volume, Waste Volume, and User Grid. Sum for whole mine will keep a running total for summation in the report. Stop at Last Period will end the schedule at the last entered row in the Custom Amount Table entered above.
Split Report by Strata Fractions: This option will utilize the tonnage and volume factors stored as pit attributes and report out the volume and tons of each named seam, not just composite Key Tons and Nonkey volume.

Notes and Comments on Equipment Timing:
Equipment Timing can mimic Surface Production Timing through selection of "Custom Amount Table" at the base of the Report Options dialog. This would be an alternative way of getting to custom table amounts, since the equipment is removed from the equation and is therefore irrelevant. This will target tons of coal, yet report out how many dragline hours need to be scheduled to uncover the coal.

If there are multiple seams (both Key and NonKey) assigned to one bench, the program will report a tonnage and volume factor that applies to each strata. This factor can be used in the User Attributes to calculate the tonnage and volume of each separate strata instead of just a composite number of Key and NonKey.

While Surface Production Timing reports total quantities broken out by seams or specific strata, Surface Equipment Timing only reports totals for all key strata (eg. coal) and overburden, unless Split Report by Strata Fractions is turned on. However, Surface Production Timing does report specific quantities (composited) for each bench. Therefore, a 2-bench mining example will report quantities for Bench 1 (coal C1) and Bench 2 (coal C2). With sufficient benching, the individual strata quantities are retained. For one-bench mining, all multiple strata are composited in the final report.

To practice "what-if" scenarios, use "Undo Report" within the Surface Timing dialog, which will remove the colored hatching, allowing revision of equipment assignments and another practice run.

Prompts
Select all pit polylines.
Select objects: Pick all polylines

Pull-Down Menu Location: Surface Mining menu, under Surface
Keyboard Command: timepit
Related Commands: Surface Mine Reserves, Assign Directions, Surface Project Manager, Assign Timing Grids, Import Timing Data, Define Pit Attributes