Master Schedule Strategy

Limited resources on mines such as equipment, personnel, and infrastructure can make designing a master schedule a challenge, particularly in allocating these resources effectively to maintain production targets while meeting environmental and safety regulations.

Various interdependent mine processes, such as drilling, blasting, hauling or conveying, stockpiles and processing, add to this complexity. Changes in one part of the process can have ripple effects throughout the entire value chain, making it difficult to manage when two or more variables change simultaneously.

Mine planning also often involves long time horizons that can span several years. Predicting market trends, technological advancements, and other external factors over such extended periods adds a layer of uncertainty to the scheduling process over the LOM.

Key Client Challenges:

1. How do we accurately determine how much material needs to be extracted and processed to meet market demand and our financial goals?
2. How do we optimize resource allocation such as equipment, personnel, and infrastructure to maximize productivity and efficiency across different mining activities?
3. How do we sequence our mining activities to account for varying ore grades, rock hardness, and other geological constraints?
4. How do we factor operational constraints into our master schedule such as equipment maintenance schedules, regulatory compliance requirements, and safety considerations?
5. How will changes in market demand and commodity prices affect our scheduling strategy and how do we adjust it according to market fluctuations when planning production levels?
6. How can we ensure data from various sources are integrated and validated to support decision-making in our master schedule strategy?

An effective master schedule often requires making trade-offs between conflicting objectives, such as maximizing production, minimizing costs, and adhering to environmental regulations. Finding the right balance to achieve built-in flexibility to adapt to unforeseen events like equipment breakdowns, labor shortages, or market disruptions, will mark its true success.

Our Unison Mining experts can help ensure the systems, processes, training and controls are implemented at every level of your organization to ensure that a master schedule strategy is developed and maintained sustainably, with full employee buy-in.