ATS Diggers Not Digging

Owned by Gemma O'Farrell (Unlicensed)
Mar 11, 2021
2 min read

How to resolve poor digger utilisation in a period.

Example of poor digger utilisation in schedule.

If the schedule has these issues, resolve them first:


Check 1: Schedule > Calendar > Loaders.

  • Check the 'Number of Loaders' is greater than zero.
  • Check the 'Direct Utilisation' is greater than zero.

It may be that the digger is down for a service, in which case the downtime is intended behaviour.

Check 2: (Truck Constrained) Schedule > Calendar > Trucks.

  • Check the 'Actuals Units' is less than maximum.

If the diggers are limited by trucks capacity, consider mining less waste, or dumping on shorter hauls.

Check 3: Schedule > Reports > HaulageResult.LoaderRate.Wtph

  • Pivot the dig rate by Loader and Material.

Check dig rates by loader and material.

If the dig rate looks wrong, check and update your Haul Infinity inputs.

Check 4: (Loaders as Agents) Schedule > Calendar > Agents > Agent Rates.
This is a special case for projects with 'Loaders as Agents' in Setup > Loaders > Use as Agent.

  1. Run the schedule.
  2. Check the dig rates in Reporting > Pivot tables > HaulageResult.LoaderProductionRate.Wtph
  3. Check the agent rates in Calendar > Agents > Agent Rate.
  4. Make sure they are equal.

If the Agent Rate is lower than the Loader Rate, then it is possible for the Agent to under-utilise the digger.

Check 5: Schedule > Animation.

  • Move the animation to when the digger shuts down.
  • If the digger is halfway through a block, select that block. If it just finishes a block, select the next logical block that it should mine.
  • Right click > Show Dependencies and Traces > filter the Agents column by the digger name.
  • Read through the activity log in the Trace Report to find out why the digger shut down.

After resolving the issue, re-run the schedule and repeat for the next period.