Using Caterpillars Fleet

Production Cost Program - FPC

Mar. 2008 Dr. B. C. Paul
Note This presentation covers the use of software proprietary to Caterpillar
Equipment Company and includes screen shots from the program FPC by
Caterpillar Equipment Company.

What is FPC
FPC is a program by Caterpillar used to
calculate earth moving cycle times, fleet
sizes and costs.
In this case Trucks and Loaders are of
Interest
We will select a fleet of trucks and loaders to
check
A Haul Road Profile

It will tell us the amount of time needed to

move a tonnage and the cost we will incur.

What Do We Want From This

For Our Fleet we want to know
What is the cycle time for our truck trips to
The Mill
The Dump
The Pad Leach Area

How Well Balanced is Our Number of Trucks and

Loaders
Do we have enough trucks and loaders to move our
quota of overburden, ore, and leach material.
When we get this information we will use it for
capacity limits in programs like MSVALP and
Strategic Planner
(Interesting note MineSight is adding a Haulage
Program inside MineSight)

FPC Can Be Started From A Desk Top

Icon or From Selecting All Programs

The Availability of Help

After an inspiring
Picture of trucks
This starting screen
Comes up.
You can click on help
And pick help topics
From the pop down
Menu.

The Help Topics Screen Contents Tab

Gives You a Whole Users Manual
Of course other tabs
Give you other topic
Look up options.

Lets Begin
To Start a project click
On File and pull down
The menu
Pick New off the Menu

The Project Screen Appears

I put in a project title
And explanation
(this is for my
Reference and
Organization)
I identify what it was
Prepared for, by
Whom, and when
I select my basic
Units of measurement

I Input Project Specific Plans

I input my cost of
Diesel fuel
(yours may vary)
I also put what percent
Of the scheduled
Time the trucks and
Loaders actually work
(operators get
Breaks or may take
Time to get to their
Equipment)
On 50 minutes per
Hour is a broad
Industrial average
And corresponds to
About 87%

More Parameters
I need to specify the time
Period I will work with
(the year is most common)
I need to estimate the
Number of hours I will
Schedule. This will
Depend on how many
Days per week you will
Work and how many
Shifts.
(In this case I assumed
5 days per week with
Ten holidays 250 days
And then 24 hours a day)

Operator efficiency measures how much of the machines theoretical

Acceleration and performance the operator will actually achieve.
(the
Default is that drivers do better on longer hauls and more poorly on

Bunching is the tendency

Of trucks to not space
Themselves out evenly
Causing multiple trucks
To arrive to be loaded at
The same time (Cat has
Done extensive work on

Next We Input Our Equipment

Fleets
Put in a name and
Explanation for your
Fleet
You may have multiple
Fleets for example
You can have separate
Fleets for ore and
Waste
If you need to do
Several fleets you can
Add the additional
Fleets by pushing the
Add New Fleet button
To start entering the
Next fleet.

Start By Identifying the Trucks in

This Fleet
Click Add Hauler
The Select Hauler
Screen comes up.

Cat Equipment Is Preprogrammed

in (Obviously)
You can program in
Other equipment but to
Use the Cat equipment
Click the Cat Standard
Machines Radio Button
And Identify that we are
Working on Trucks
A list of Cat trucks
Appears scroll to
What you want to work
With.

When you find the

One you are using
Click on it
Your selection turns red
Then click Ok

The Basic Info for Your Truck

Comes Up
Enter the number of
These trucks you
Have.

For some inputs you

Have a menu or
Sub-Screen of choices
Clicking on the little
Doted boxes will
Activate those options
(for example Ton
Mile Per Hour
Limits
Or ownership and
Operating costs)

The Cat Handbook is a Useful

Supplement
I clicked on the dot
Box by Ton Miles
Per Hour
The box came up
Showing me the
Typical weight
Distribution for my
Truck.
I still need to know
What limits to
Impose
This is where the Cat
Handbook comes in
Handy because it has
Typical Ton Mile
Per hour ratings for
Tires you may also
Get such info from
Tire manufactures

I Can Also Bring Up Costs

(In fact I better if I want a cost estimate)
It starts with ownership
Costs
I start out working with
Vehicle hours and life
I enter my scheduled
Vehicle hours per year
And what I expect for
The vehicles availability
Now I get operating
Hours per year
Given I know typical
Engine hours in a
Vehicle life I can now
Estimate the years I
Will have the truck.

I Enter the Truck Cost

Enter the complete
Cost for the truck
Delivered erected and
Ready to work.
(Your values may differ)
Because tires are
An operating cost and
We dont want to
double
Account we subtract
Out the tire price
We also identify any
Salvage value the truck
May have.
The program will then
Get the hourly Capital
Cost of the truck.

I Also Enter the Interest, Insurance,

and Property Tax Cost
One of the problems
With interest is that
The amount varies
By year as the loan
Is paid off (assuming
There ever was a
Loan in the first
Place).
The Cat Program
Requires a constant
amount

Ideas on Interest
Option #1 The money is all investor
equity
You can put in a 0 but now you will have to
deal with investor return in a separate cash
flow spreadsheet

Option #2 The loan is simple interest.

Simple interest charges a constant amount
each year so the number is easy to get (but
simple interest loans are rare)

Option #3 Go to the Next Slide This is

going to take a while.

Interest From a Compound Interest

Loan
Use A/P at your compound interest rate to get your
payment amount (probably annually)
Calculate out the principle and interest amount each year and
make a cash flow showing only the interest

Your Payment Life and Truck Life May be Different

Get the NPV of your interest payment cash flow at your
investor required rate of return
This interest rate is probably different than the interest rate you
are paying the bank

Now Get the Total Life Cycle Cost of That Interest NPV
over the total service life of the truck
Enter this number as the amount of interest

(If you are confused see you instructor for a review of

Engineering Economics principles)

Input Your Annual Truck Costs for

Insurance and Property Tax
As a rule of thumb
Each number is about
4 to 5% of the average
Annual investment for
A truck.

Wait A Minute What is Average

Annual Investment?
Trucks loose value as they age and you are usually
taxed or insure only the value of the truck (not its new
value)
The average value of a truck at the start of the year is
(N+1)/(2*N)*New Value of Truck
Where N is the years life of the truck

When you get this number multiply by around 4 or 5% to

get average insurance or tax costs
If you know actual tax or insurance costs these numbers are
obviously better than rule of thumb estimates
Note also this average annual investment rule does not
incorporate the time value of money into the average tax and
insurance cost so it is a little off that way also.

Next We Go For the Operating

Costs

Enter the Cost of your

Operator per hour with
The cost of benefits.
(You may be able to
Get wage rates from
Western Mine Cost
Service or contracts or
Labor unions in your
Area)
Remember to add the
Cost of vacation,
Social Security, Medicare
Unemployment,
Workmans Comp,
Vacations, and health
Or other benefits you
Pay these things
Called burden typically
Add 40 to 65% more to
The wage.

You Need Fuel, Lube, Tires, and

Repair Reserve Costs Per Hour
Note with lubricants you
Can either enter an
Over-all cost
Or you can break it down
By component.

Where Do I Get Stuff Like Fuel or

Repair or Lubricant Cost
The Cat Handbook has a table of truck fuel
consumption per hour
If you know how many gallons per hour of fuel is
burned and the price of your diesel you know the cost
per hour for fuel

The Cat Handbook has a table of lubricant costs

(Terex has a rule of thumb that lubrication expenses
including labor are about 1/4th to 1/3rd of fuel cost)

The Cat Handbook has a bar chart showing

approximate hourly maintenance and repair
costs for their trucks
Kamatsu has similar tables for their trucks.

We Check Our Truck Cost Fields

and Prepare to Do Our Loaders
To load the trucks I click
On the Select Loader
Button.

Note I have set 85% availability (your numbers may differ)

It is Similar to What We Had for

Trucks
I get a separate window
I pick standard machines
I pick power shovel
(Interesting Cat does
Not make power
Shovels but it has
Some of the big P+H
Models)
I click on my shovel
And it turns red
Next I will click OK

I Set My Loader Info and Cost as

Before

The Rimpull Graph Tab Shows a PreEntered Rimpull Curve for Cat Trucks
I bet you can guess
What is under the
Retarder graph tab.

The is where I could enter another trucks rimpull curve if I needed to.

I Next Prepare to Enter My Haul

Road Profile
I enter the name
Of the haul route
An explanation of
The route
And whether a
Truck can pass
A slower truck
(the Cat program
Uses a bunching
Probability)

One may have

More than one
Course such as
A course to the mill,
A course to the
Leach pads, or a
Course to the dumps.
After entering a
Course you can
Add another.

I Need Loose and Bank Densities

of Materials
I can click the
Select materials
Tab and a list pops
Up for me to pick
From
I can pick as before
Click it turns red
And then Ok
(The list in FPC is
Much less extensive
Than in the Cat
Handbook so you
May want to just
Manually enter the
Properties)
You also need to
Enter the tonnage of
Material to move per
Time period
(my example is waste
Per year)

If I Have Trouble With a Field I Can

Get Help
Click on the
Question icon
Then drag a
Question down to
The field or
Button in question
And click
A help field comes
Up.

Enter Your Haul Road Segment By

Segment
You need length
(of the segment)
Rolling Resistance
% Grade
And you have a
Chance to enter
An explanation
Of that segment
The default button
Tells me this is
The loaded haul
Segment.

Your Return Trip May Or May Not

be a Reverse of the Forward Haul
If the return trip is
Just a reverse of the
Haul you can
Click the mirror
Haul road button
It automatically
Sets the return haul
If not you click the
Return haul button
And then enter
The return haul
One segment at
A time.

Now It Is Time to Select Which Truck

Fleet Will Haul Over Which Route
Choose the select
Tab
All possible
Combinations come
Up and you check
Off what you want
To run this time
(in this example
Case with just one
Set the choice is not
Much of a challenge)

Next Go To the Production Cost

Tab
The select subtab
Is up first and
Shows in red the
Selection you are
Running.

Go to The Cycle Times Sub-Tab

It has already
Estimated a bunch
Of cycle time
Elements
(you cant change
Brown fields)
It does not know
Exactly how your
Dump point is
Set up so you must
Enter the dump time
(Note that until you
Do this the program
Will claim 0
Production all over
The place)

You Need to Do Some Loader

Balancing
It Starts out telling you
Some fractional
Number of passes
To perfectly fill the
Truck. Most loader
Operators will use
A fractional pass to
Complete the fill.
You need to manually
Adjust to an
Integer number of
Passes.

If You Increase the Number of Passes

to Get an Integer Your Truck will be
Overloaded
The program assumes
What ever fill factor
You selected
Earlier.
Since you dont want
To overload a truck
More than 5% you
Will want to adjust
Down to a lower fill
Factor for the average
Fill so as not to
Overload the truck.

Eventually You Will Balance Your

Loader Fill
Check the times for
Your truck and loader
Configuration.
The program assumes
Single truck loading
So there is a truck
Change out time
(a very impressive
Speed for one at that)

You get your first glimpse of your

Cycle time.

If you are using a

Loading truck
Configuration that
Spots a truck while
Another is loaded the
Loader may not have
The idol change out
Time.
The loader may also
Be filling the dipper
While a truck changes

Now We Get Some Results

Look Under the
Fleet Production
Sub-Tab

It tells how many

Fleet hours or
Part of a year that
Will be required to
Move the target
Amount of material
It also says how
Much material could
Be moved if the whole
Fleet where used for
The scheduled time
In a year
(This will give you a
Good idea of whether
Your fleet is sized to
The task)

You Can Check Your Haul and Return

Times by Road Segment

Even Though I Did Not Enter a Ton Mile Per Hour

Limit I Check My TMPH demand on the tires to see
if I might have trouble

I Can Get My Cost Per Ton for

Moving My Material

It Shows You The Impact of Changing

the Number of Trucks for
One Loader
This will help me
Decide whether
I want to try a
Different fleet size
For this job.

It Gives Me Results in Terms of

Fuel Consumption