BHP eyes momentum as it scales digital systems across supply chain

Image credit: BHP

BHP is using computer vision to detect oversized rocks on conveyor belts and unspecified digital technology to optimise the movement of port machinery, as part of a ‘wave’ of digital enhancements.

In a blog post overnight, the miner’s Melbourne-based digital officer Mikko Tepponen outlined the two projects and their collective contribution to productivity and to BHP’s bottom line.

He also emphasized an ambition by the miner to make further digitally-driven improvements to its operations from pit to port.

“Many of our technology gains to date have been from ‘single point’ applications, essentially the first wave of value creation,” Tepponen wrote.

“We are scaling these initiatives across our global operations to capture more value.

“Applying technology to integrate the entire supply chain - from pit to port - means we will be able to optimise the whole system more dynamically. 

“That will liberate more productive hours, which means more production, leading to lower cost.”

Tepponen outlined several examples of work under BHP’s current digital strategy.

These include a computer vision system to detect oversized rocks or other “foreign objects” on conveyor belts at its Western Australian Iron Ore (WAIO) operations.

The project had previously been briefly revealed by the Business Council of Australia back in May.

Prior to the detection system, it was down to people onsite to spot the oversized rocks.

BHP said in a video that it is using “cameras, data and AI technology” for automated detection.

“Cameras sit on diggers and above conveyor belts, constantly capturing images. These images are sent through a high-speed network to computer vision where AI compares them to thousand examples to spot anything unusual,” data scientist Joshua Thorp said in an accompanying video.

Tepponen wrote that “when an oversized rock is detected, the conveyor belt stops automatically, and controllers coordinate with site teams to safely remove the material.”

The result, he wrote, is “a reduction in crusher events, improved ore throughput, reduced equipment downtime and lower maintenance requirements since these monitoring systems have been introduced, driving value to our bottom-line.”

A second project at Port Hedland in Western Australia has made it possible to reposition stackers and reclaimers - the industrial machinery used to manage ore before it is loaded onto a ship - at the same time, rather than in a set sequence.

The intent is to reduce idle time, which again has a bottom line benefit.

BHP provided little detail about the digital technology that enabled this particular work, noting only that it involved the use of “edge detection systems … to avoid collisions.”