Modular Mining Systems

Overview

Modular Mining Systems, founded in 1979 in Tucson, Arizona, introduced the first computerised truck dispatch system for surface mining. The first DISPATCH system was installed at Phelps Dodge Corporation’s Tyrone copper mine in New Mexico in 1980–81. The company was acquired by Komatsu Ltd in 1996.

DISPATCH FMS

DISPATCH is Modular Mining’s fleet management system, using linear programming and heuristic algorithms to optimise haul truck assignment, routing, and production across the mine site [1].

Core Capabilities

Real-time truck assignment with dynamic reallocation based on changing conditions
GPS-based vehicle tracking across the entire mine site
Route optimisation with dynamic path selection based on road conditions
Production reporting with real-time KPI dashboards and shift summaries
Speed management — GPS-based speed monitoring against configured limits in defined zones [1]
Prestart checklists — operator safety and compliance checks integrated into the dispatch workflow

Material Tracking and Grade Control

Material tracking from source to destination
Material blending automation at crushers — monitors and tracks grades at blast, stockpile, and dump locations [2]
Truck Diversion Utility for routing material to appropriate destinations
Crusher API integrates SCADA and PLC data with DISPATCH for real-time truck redirection and queue management [2]

Shift and Crew Management

Parkup module — automates equipment assignment to parkup locations at shift change, optimising truck allocation to nearby end-points to maximise production in the final and first hours of each shift [1]
Crew Line-Up module — analyses the DISPATCH database to automatically assign qualified personnel to equipment based on priority, qualification, or availability [1]
Auxiliary task management — directs cleanup and auxiliary equipment to assigned work lists

Tire Management

TKPH/TMPH (Tire Kilometres Per Hour / Tire Miles Per Hour) planning utilities
Evaluates tire duty cycle impact of prospective haulage paths [1]

DISPATCH Underground

The original DISPATCH Underground product has been transitioned to MST Global and redeveloped as the HELIX Dispatch platform for underground fleet management.

ProVision Machine Guidance

ProVision provides centimetre-level GNSS positioning guidance for mining equipment [3]:

Drill rigs — onboard drill hole position navigation with blast-hole design compliance
Dozers — high-precision grade control
Excavators and loaders — dig guidance and bench control
Guided Spotting — centimetre-level guidance for haul truck spotting at shovels, eliminating re-spotting and reducing queue time [4]
Proximity detection module — alerts operators to encroaching equipment, hazards, and keep-out zones using GNSS and on-board cameras with multi-level alarms [5]

ProVision integrates with DISPATCH to identify and prevent misdirected loads through combined fleet management and machine guidance data.

MineCare

MineCare is Modular’s equipment health monitoring system with interfaces to approximately 175 different OEM systems across engines, hydraulics, electrical systems, and tires [6].

MineCare 3

Current cloud-based version with predictive maintenance capabilities [7]:

Condition-based maintenance with predictive trending
User-configurable dashboards for continuous or conditional data monitoring
Early detection of abnormal behaviour, rate-of-change anomalies, and out-of-range parameters
Predicts specific failure modes before they occur

RemoteCare

Dedicated MineCare experts remotely monitor real-time equipment component condition, providing custom alerts and early intervention recommendations [8].

Modular Ecosystem

Launched at MINExpo on September 24, 2024, the Modular Ecosystem is a vendor-agnostic platform built on top of DISPATCH that provides a single source of truth for operational data across Komatsu and third-party equipment [9].

Architecture and Standards

The ecosystem uses a public API built on OpenAPI and AsyncAPI specifications [10]:

REST with JSON for request/response patterns
WebSockets for real-time bidirectional publish/subscribe communication
ISA-95 information models with mining-specific B2MML markup language for business-to-manufacturing integration [11]
ISO 23725:2024 — defines interfaces between fleet management systems and autonomous haulage systems, including communication protocols, message structures, telemetry signals, map sharing, and task assignments [12]
ISO 15143-3 / AEMP 2.0 — equipment monitoring interoperability
Interfaces to approximately 175 different OEM systems

API Capabilities

Read access: Real-time equipment positioning, status changes, cycle state changes
Write access: Location status, road state, crusher telemetry
Bidirectional data flow between DISPATCH/ProVision and third-party applications

Third-Party Integrations

MineSense ShovelSense — plug-and-play integration for real-time material classification data, with automated truck rerouting when material mismatch is identified [13]
Crusher SCADA/PLC — integrates crusher data with DISPATCH for real-time truck redirection and queue management
Mine planning systems — generic integration element enables any third-party mine planning system to connect with ProVision for schedule-to-field execution
ERP systems — bidirectional updates for configuration, positioning, time tracking, and production states

New Applications (September 2024)

Four companion apps for DISPATCH announced at launch [9]:

Simulate — scenario analysis for shift-level decision-making
Roadways — uses GPS data and algorithms to keep DISPATCH road systems accurate with minimal user intervention
Replenish — manages refuelling and recharging schedules while minimising production impact, including real-time simulation and best-case scenario calculation
Look Ahead — processes load and haul data in real-time, adjusts to minute-by-minute fluctuations, and executes multi-objective mine plans

Komatsu also acquired Chilean AI company Octodots Analytics in September 2024 to expand optimisation capabilities within the ecosystem [14].