The solution, provided by IT and professional services company CSC, using Precyse Technologies's Smart Agent battery-powered RFID tags, enables the mining company to control the power within more than 100 mobile light towers used to illuminate the mine during nighttime work hours.

"Improving 'time-on-tools' for maintenance crews was the primary driver for the project," says Jarrod Bassan, a CSC senior consultant. The amount of time workers spend with tools is a measure of productivity, he explains, and the mining company sought to reduce time-wasting activities, such as searching for assets or discovering that critical equipment was out of fuel.

"It's not unusual for maintenance crews to report that they spent two hours searching for tools and another two hours dealing with equipment that is damaged or out of fuel," Bassan says, describing a typical 12-hour shift.

Ultimately, Bassan notes, "by improving time-on-tools, we are helping them to increase the availability of their production assets, and to reduce their maintenance costs."

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