Volume 9 Edition 3 2012 - The ASIA Miner

Body TextCompany ProfileIndonesiaHeaderSatNetCom technology for Indonesia’s mining boomWITH Indonesia’s mining sectorexploding, many companies areturning to technology as a way toincrease productivity and improvemanagement tools. With newmines opening and existing minesexpanding, SatNetCom is deliveringthe technology solutions thatcan provide highly sought aftersavings and productivity increases.SatNetCom’s president directorKen Grant says dozens of newmines are opening while existingmines are greatly increasing production.Some large mines are targetingup to a 75% increase inproduction this year. It is like a‘coal rush’ and companies areseeking to gain the edge overcompetitors with technology oneof the best ways to achieve this.“Indonesia has huge fleets comparedto Australia or America –with 200, 250 or 400 truckssometimes. On one hand thismeans more managementheadaches, but it also meansmore opportunities for savings andproductivity increases. Our job isto deliver technology solutions thatdeliver savings and productivity improvements,and we have neverbeen busier,” he says.SatNetCom is a nine-year-oldprovider of technology solutionsand has become one of Indonesia’sleading information technologyand communicationscompanies, and the largest in themining sector. It provides a widerange of services and products tomines, mining contractors; oil companiesand oil contractors; andgeneral businesses of all types.The company’s main office andNetwork Operations Centre(NOC) are in Balikpapan, EastKalimantan, and it has network facilitiesin Jakarta and Sangatta. TheNOC monitors and controls thecompany’s microwave, fibre opticand satellite networks. It houses therouters, switches, bandwidth managers,and proxy, data name,email, web servers that handle allof the network traffic, and operates24 hours a day, 7 days a week.SatNetCom is exclusive Indonesiadistributor for Leica GeoSystemsmining. Among the minemanagement solutions it providesis Leica Jigsaw Jsoftware, which ispart of Leica’s Jfleet Fleet ManagementSystem. Jigsaw Jsoftwareproduces production and managementinformation, and doesautomatic fleet dispatching tomaximize fleet efficiency. Leicahas several productivity and managementproducts in the miningspace including high precisiondrill, dozer and shovel guidancesystems. Ken Grant says Leica isa very important partner. “Theyhave the most advanced minemanagement systems in the marketand we are proud to representthem in Indonesia. They havesome exciting new products comingout and we can’t wait to introducethem into the market.”SatNetCom also services miningwith special pit-to-port longhaul traffic management systems,which are more in demand nowas hauling distances get longer.Ken Grant says, “They are buildingmines deep in the interior –some with 200km haul roads. Inorder to cut cost, parts of theseroads are one-way – so a trafficmanagement system is vital. Buteven for a normal two-way roadwe can help maximize efficiencyand management.” SatNetComalso has equipment performancemonitoring solutions and communicationssolutions, includingsatellite connections, two-way radiosand microwave links.The company offers safety systems,including SAFEmine anti-collisionand SmartCap fatiguemonitoring, and can provideCCTV and access control systems.The fatigue monitoring system isbuilt into a normal looking baseballcap and monitor’s the driver’sbrain waves. Ken Grant says,“We are a one-stop-shop for miningtechnology. We are industryfocused, not product focused, andwe are the largest provider of onlinehauler and equipment solutions.We are not only a systemsintegrator but also develop ourown hardware and software solutions.We are experts at ‘onboard’ mining applications. Wecan customize hardware, softwareand communications solutions tomeet customer’s individual needs.”“Sometimes I stop in amazementabout some of the things we dotoday - that with Leica’s JFleet systema manager can sit in theJakarta head office and watchreal-time production figures beingfed from the site, truck load bytruck load. Or a guy can get analert of a potentially faulty engineon a truck running around a pit inSouth Kalimantan and diagnosisthe problem remotely.”SatNetCom has grown with Indonesia’smining industry and lastyear revenue and staff numbersgrew 65%, with similar growth expectedin 2012. There are nowmore than 200 people in the companywith about 150 of these onvarious Indonesian mine sites. Thecompany is also looking furtherafield and will undertake its firstoverseas job in the Philippines thisyear. It is also investigating opportunitiesin other countries.Being a technology company,SatNetCom’s survival dependsupon bringing new technologiesto market. “Sometimes we adapttechnologies in other fields tomining applications,” Ken Grantsays. “Our motto is that ‘we advancetechnologically, or we perish’and there is no compromise.You cannot stand still in a businesslike this.”He says service is a vital componentof the company’s operations.“We build a relationship overtime. When a mine is in the explorationstage we provide satphones, then when they start buildinginfrastructure, a satellite communicationsystem, then two-wayradios and subsequently microwavenetworks, fuel managementsystems, tracking systems,fleet management systems, etc.“One of our strong points is thatwe have more than 150 engineerson the ground at mines installingand maintaining ourproducts. No other company inIndonesia has our breadth anddepth of capabilities. We havesystems running on more than3000 trucks, we have vast experiencein communications technologies,and have our ownhardware and software developmentgroups. This means we notonly deploy unique systems thatmeet the needs of the marketplace,but also develop customizedsolutions for customers.“We are not just a systems integratorbut also a product developerand we have a saying that‘we can do anything’ … and wecan,” Ken Grant adds.May/June 2012 | ASIA Miner | 41