The challenge

To achieve sustainable success in the marketplace, mining and metal processing companies need to consistently deliver high-quality products. In this environment, product quality management has become a key business imperative.

Product quality management requires good sampling procedures, rigorous testing regimes, well-controlled production processes, and continuous quality control. Quality management systems are necessary to help ensure that products and services conform to a defined set of standards or customer expectations.

Effective laboratory management is a key element in the drive for high product quality. Laboratories in the mining and metal processing industry are faced with unique challenges: They need to process a very large number of samples, with varying testing regimes and different sampling routines, throughout the entire mining or processing value chain. From exploration to grade control, production to inventory storage, logistics to ship loading, the ability to obtain quality data in a timely manner, monitor the sample status, and have visibility of sample movements is vital for optimal operation of mining processes.

In order to ensure product quality, streamline laboratory processes, and maximize workflow efficiency – while also complying with industry standards and regulations – mining and metal processing laboratories need to control their processes with a sophisticated Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS).

The solution
The benefits

ABB’s CCLAS LIMS automates laboratory processes through flexible sample registration, barcode label printing, work list generation, online data capture from a wide range of analytical instruments, and automatic generation of analytical reports and commercial invoices. The system offers superior quality control functions that monitor operation product materials and quality control reference standards against specifications.

CCLAS enables high-volume, complex analytical laboratory data to be captured, calculated and stored with utmost confidence and reported to the client efficiently and on time.

CCLAS is in use by major mining companies and commercial testing laboratories worldwide, across a wide range of operations, from simple stand-alone systems through to complex global multi-site systems.

From sample registration, through the sample processing lifecycle, to the generation of high-quality analytical reports, CCLAS enables a laboratory, or group of laboratories, to standardize and streamline processing, improving efficiency and reducing costs.

The result is a single system that:

CCLAS 6

Building on the rich heritage and mature capabilities of its predecessors, CCLAS 6 is a LIMS for the modern operation, with a simple and intuitive web interface that can be easily personalized by end users. User friendly charts, icons and color-coding put key data at the forefront, enabling lab operators and managers to readily see issues that require immediate attention. As a web-based application, CCLAS 6 is designed and optimized for the cloud. There is no hardware to buy and no infrastructure to maintain, thereby lowering the total cost of ownership. The appliance deployment model means implementation is simple and straightforward. The simplified architecture of CCLAS 6 also makes it highly scalable. It’s easy to add more servers to handle more samples, more users, even more laboratories; customers can readily stand up new laboratories for campaigns or projects, or create test environments to train users, all according to established corporate standards.

As a web-based application, CCLAS 6 is designed and optimized for the cloud. There is no hardware to buy and no infrastructure to maintain, thereby lowering the total cost of ownership. The appliance deployment model means implementation is simple and straightforward.

The simplified architecture of CCLAS 6 also makes it highl scalable. It’s easy to add more servers to handle more samples, more users, even more laboratories; customers can readily stand up new laboratories for campaigns or projects, or create test environments to train users, all according to established corporate standards.

CCLAS enables scalability and operational governance across sites through a web-based platform and cloud deployment model, lowering IT costs so laboratories can focus on their core business.

Intelligent Mining Solutions

CCLAS is a key component in the ABB Intelligent Mining Solutions (IMS) suite, the most comprehensive and effective technical software for the mining industry. For over 35 years, IMS products have been trusted by mining operations around the world to support critical business processes across the value chain. When deployed with other components of the IMS suite, the benefits increase as the high quality data of CCLAS is able to be leveraged in other parts of the operation.

MineScape: Geologic modeling and mine planning

MineScape is a suite of integrated solutions designed for open cut and underground mining operations for coal and metalliferous deposits. It delivers extensive geological modeling and mine design functionality, and is in use by more than 200 of the world’s most complex mining operations.

MineMarket: Material tracking, logistics, sales & marketing

MineMarket provides comprehensive and integrated coverage of material tracking, production, logistics, and sales processes for mining operations and commodity trading houses. MineMarket models detailed product characteristics, logistics schedules, complex contracts and pricing terms, assay exchange, demurrage and dispatch, credit management, through to invoicing and payments in a single solution from mine to customer. MineMarket is designed to support operations across sites in a single solution to enable common processes and visibility across the enterprise.

About ABB’s Enterprise Software product group

We provide industry-leading software and deep domain expertise to help the world’s most asset-intensive industries such as mining, energy, and utilities solve their biggest challenges, from plant level, to regional network scale, to global fleet-wide operations.

Our enterprise software portfolio offers an unparalleled range of solutions for asset performance management, operations and workforce management, network control, and energy portfolio management to help customers reach new levels of efficiency, reliability, safety and sustainability. We are constantly researching and incorporating the latest technology innovations in areas such as mobility, analytics, and cloud computing.

We provide unmatched capabilities to integrate information technologies (IT) and operational technologies (OT) to provide complete solutions to our customers’ business problems.

Production Accounting: Metal accounting, reconciliation

Production Accounting is an advanced system for accurate, consistent, and transparent metallurgical accounting that increases confidence, streamlines end-of-month reporting, and maximizes productivity. Production Accounting includes native integration with MineMarket for detailed end-to-end operational visibility.