Level 0 Field: This is the essential ‘base’ level of any plant’s optimisation. It’s where data is captured through IoT devices that include flow meters, density gauges, weightometers and other instrumentation that actively monitor production variables. It also includes actuators such as valves, and pumps that keep variables within setpoints, such as flow, heat and pressure. In this model, there is constant communication between Level 1 and Level 0. The purpose of a control system (level 1) is to both monitor and dynamically, or manually, adjust process variables to the required level of the given control system implementation. For the purposes of production data flow (level 0) to management levels, only the production or performance data typically is sent to higher levels of the pyramid.
Level 1 Field: Devices in this level receive data from devices at the field level and use this data to control the production process. In the minerals processing segment, this is where you would find Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and control systems. In the mining segment, there are several solution suites that interface with onboard vehicle systems and make this data available to higher-level dispatch and mine control software. In some instances, data can be recorded at a granular level, down to the millisecond.
Level 2 Supervisory: For the processing segment, this level is where you would find production data historians and Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS). For the mining segment, mine control, operations, short-term planning, or haulage solutions may also be found here. These tend to report data on a slightly delayed or less granular level than the lower levels. They assist in planning and monitoring, often reporting at the intraday to five-day level.
Level 3 Planning: This level monitors the entire production process, from raw material to finished goods. For the processing segment, this layer is where you will typically find a Manufacturing Execution System (MES). A MES is responsible for gathering, integrating, validating and centralising source data, as well as making the data available to employees through analytics and visualisation tools. A highquality MES will source data from right across the plant and from all levels of this automation pyramid. In the mining segment, medium- to long-term mine planning solutions would be found at this level. Common solutions such as health and safety may also be found here.
Level 4 Business and Logistics: This is the ‘C-suite’ layer of the pyramid; the enterprise layer that gives the organisation’s decision-makers information extracted from all levels of the automation pyramid, and relating to all aspects of the plant’s or mine’s operation This is where an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution would be found. These usually receive information from Level 3 and map it to financial aspects of the operation. Typically sales, marketing and perhaps supply chain solutions are introduced here, which may also have representation at lower levels of the pyramid, depending on complexity.