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Resources tab

A resource represents a piece of equipment that performs work within an activity area.

Here, you can:

• Add resources to the 3D scene

• Assign them to specific activity areas

• Configure their time usage model, which defines how each resource uses time throughout the schedule

The time usage model directly influences the resource’s total operating time within each period – and its actual production rate on assigned tasks. Time usage values can vary by period, allowing for dynamic adjustments to availability and performance.

Resource definition

Resource definitions are created in Config > Resources. These definitions form the foundation for a shared set of resources and specify base properties such as:

• Permitted activities (e.g., Drilling, Mining)

• Production rate per activity

• Travel speed

• Roster

• Operating location (e.g., roof of a bench)

Within each definition, you can create multiple individual resources. These resources:

• Inherit the base properties from the definition

• Have unique names

• May override specific properties (e.g., custom production rates)

Resources can also have site-specific production rates (refer to Site Config > Resources (Production Rates)).

Add resources to 3D scene

You can add resources to the 3D scene and assign them to activity areas.

Select resources to add

To select a resource to add, you can either:

• On the Resources tab, click Insert resource to 3D scene .

• On the 3D scene’s right-click menu, select the arrow above Insert Resource .

You are prompted to select a resource from a certain definition.

1. Select a definition from the list to show the associated resources.

2. Double-click a resource to add it to the 3D scene.

Resources with an orange outline are already added to the 3D scene. Double-clicking one will zoom to its location.

Assign to activity areas

After adding a resource to the 3D scene, you can assign it to activity areas that correspond to the resource’s assigned activities.

Throughout the schedule, within an order dictated by the area path, the resource will perform work on its assigned activity areas.

In Config > Resources, a resource could be assigned to only the Drilling activity. In this case, the resource can be assigned to only Drilling activity areas.

For more information about assigning resources to activity areas, refer to Resource assignment.

Resources table

Each resource has a set of fields. The field set:

• Defines the resource’s periodic availability, utilisation, and efficiency.

  • These fields influence the resource’s total operating time within the period – as well as its actual production rate used on a task within the period.

• Defines the resource’s periodic rate factor.

  • This modifies its global or site-specific production rate across each period.

The field values are stored within the active calendar’s periods.

Time usage model

A resource includes a time usage model. It contains a series of fields that determine how the resource uses the time allocated to it within each period. A field is a measure of performance, such as the percent of the resource’s allocated time during which it’s available for use.

To define the rostered hours allocated to each resource, go to Rosters.

Fields

Let’s say that Shovel1 has 10 rostered hours within a period. Of that time, it must be idle for 1 hour, accounting for shift changes and other idle time. In that case, its periodic availability should be 90%.

Calculating the actual allocated operating time

Availability, utilisation, and efficiency determine the total operating hours that can be allocated to a resource within a period. To calculate this, the software takes the rostered time and multiplies it by period’s time usage factors.

The calculation works like this:

Effective Utilisation = (Availability × Utilisation × Efficiency)
Operating Hours = Rostered Hours × Effective Utilisation

For example, in a given weekly period, a resource is rostered 40 hours:

1. Availability = 90% → 40 × 0.90 = 36 hours

2. Utilisation = 95% → 36 × 0.95 = 34.2 hours

3. Efficiency = 96% → 34.2 × 0.96 = 32.83 hours

Other fields

Other fields in the Resources table, which can affect how a resource’s actual production rate is calculated per period, are detailed below.

Production rate factor

Each resource has a periodic production rate factor. It adjusts the nominal rate to derive the entered rate:

Entered Rate = Base Rate × Rate Factor

Depending on your setup, the base rate may be:

• The nominal (global) production rate, or

• A site-specific production rate (which overrides the nominal rate if defined in Site Config > Resources (Production Rates))

Example – using the nominal rate

Nominal/global rate: 3,500 t/h

An example of how the rate factor uses the nominal rate to determine the entered rate. In this case, there is no site-specific override. An orange cell indicates that the nominal rate for that period was overridden. The rate considers any overrides (refer to Client > Gantt Chart) to determine the given period’s entered rate.

Example – using a site-specific rate

If a resource has a site-specific rate (defined in Site Config > Resources (Production Rates)), the rate factor uses this (rather than the nominal one) to determine the entered rate.

An example of how the rate factor uses the site-specific production rate to determine the entered rate.
In this case, the nominal rate isn’t used at all to determine the entered rate

More information

For further details on how production rates are configured and used—including nominal, site-specific, and actual rates—refer to Site Config > Resources (Production Rates).

Rehandle group allocation

A rehandle group defines a set of material movements from a stockpile to another node, such as a crusher. The movements are termed “rehandle” because they involve relocating previously placed material. Performing rehandle for the movements within a group is treated as an activity.

Configuration steps

Rehandle groups are defined in Site Management > Material flow diagram.

• On the material flow diagram, you can define rehandle groups and assign them to movements.

• In the resource configuration, you:

  • Specify whether a resource can perform the rehandling activity for the group

  • Indicate the default production rate in tonnes per hour.

For more information about rehandle groups, refer to Site Config > General and Calendar Settings.

Rehandle rate factor

When a resource is assigned to a rehandle group, a Rehandle Rate Factor field appears in its configuration. This field defines the percentage of the resource’s rehandle production rate that will be applied during a given period.

Example calculation

If a resource has:

• A rehandle production rate of 600 t/h

• A rehandle rate factor of 85% in a given period

Then the actual production rate for that period is 600 × 0.85 = 510 t/h

Varying factors across periods

Resources can have varying time usage factors, resulting in operating times or production rates that ramp up or down over periods. The factors could vary over days, weeks, or months, and so on.

For each factor, the default expression is simply 100%, making the value consistent across each period – resulting in a static operating time or production rate (ignoring any activity area rates).

Using a dynamic expression, or by manually overriding periodic values, you can make the time usage factors vary across periods.

Dynamic expression

A factor’s default expression sets its value across all periods. The expression must return a factor, between 0 and 1, representing a percentage of time (e.g., 0.85 = 85%).

The expression can evaluate certain attributes of a period to derive a value.

The expression can also reference custom calendar fields. A calendar field returns its value for the current period.

Expression examples

Consider this example, which uses the following calendar:

For the given resource, to automatically vary the entered production rates, based on attributes of each period, the following expressions are entered:

Overrides

You can override any resource field value. Overriding fields is useful when:

• A value should be an exception to the conditions of the expression

• You need to manually populating values without using an expression. While you can individually set overrides, you can perform bulk overrides by pasting values into cells.

To override a field, select it, then enter a new value. Overridden fields and values are highlighted in orange.

An example of overriding fields

On the right-click menu of a cell, you can select these options:

• Reset Selected to Default: Replaces the overridden value with the value determined by the expression.

• Fill Right: Replaces all periods to the right of the select field value with this value.

Copy from Excel

You can copy multiple lines of cells from Excel and paste them into the table cells to rapidly populate the fields.

Configure field values

Field values are configured in a tabular format, where:

• Rows = resource fields (e.g., Availability, Utilisation…)

  • Resource fields are grouped by their resources

• Columns = Period-specific values of the given field (e.g., Period1-Availability: 90%)

Field values are initially populated using default expressions. You can:

• Modify the default expression to apply a value across all periods dynamically.

• Manually override values for specific periods.

All factors must be between 0 and 1, representing a percentage.

Table columns overview

Resource toolbar

Resource visibility

You can control the visibility of resources in the scene.

• In the Scene Manager, within the Resources node, the site’s resources are listed and grouped within their definitions. Select a checkbox at any level to toggle the display of the resource, resources belonging to the definition, or all resources.

• On the Resources tab, select Toggle resources visibility to toggle the display of all resources.

Both options must be enabled to display a resource in the scene.

Hiding a resource in the Gantt chart doesn’t hide it in the scene.

By default, in the scene, resources are displayed at their currently assigned activity area (dictated by the tasks within the Gantt chart under the timeline). As the schedule progresses, the resource follows the face position of each mined area. To control the position of the resource during the schedule animation, you can adjust the offset and rotation angle relative to the mining direction.