Glossary

Plain-language definitions of terms we use in our work

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123 of 123 terms

A

Angle of reposeDEM and scanning: The angle a freely poured heap of bulk material forms with the horizontal. It is a quick bench indicator of flow behaviour and a common DEM calibration target.; Used in: Grain flow paths and chute upgrades guided by DEM
APIData and software: Application programming interface. A defined contract that lets one system request data or actions from another without knowing how it works internally.; Used in: Telemetry and monitoring for remote assets, Bridging OT and IT with custom software
Apron feederProcess plants: A heavy-duty feeder built from overlapping steel pans, used to draw coarse, abrasive material out of a bin at a controlled rate.
ArchingBulk materials handling: A stable bridge of material forming across a hopper outlet and stopping flow. Outlet size and hopper wall angle are the usual design defences.; Used in: Grain flow paths and chute upgrades guided by DEM
As-built modelDEM and scanning: A 3D model reflecting what is physically installed rather than what was originally designed. Scanning produces one, and it is the honest starting point for any modification.
Asset management planMaintenance and reliability: A document setting out what will be done to a group of assets over a planning period, when, at what cost and to what level of service. It covers the whole life of the assets, not only their maintenance.; Used in: The asset management plan, and the strategy it comes from, Asset management planning and the system behind it
AvailabilityMaintenance and reliability: The proportion of time an asset is capable of performing its function. Inherent availability considers only maintenance downtime; operational availability includes delays such as waiting for parts or crews.; Used in: ISO 14224, and building an asset hierarchy that holds up, The asset management plan, and the strategy it comes from, Operational readiness for a new plant asset

B

BacklogMaintenance and reliability: Identified work that is not yet complete, usually expressed in crew-weeks. Healthy backlog is known, prioritised and turning over; unhealthy backlog is simply a long list.; Used in: The maintenance job pack, and what has to be in it, Planner, scheduler, long term planner: three different jobs, Planning versus break-in: reading your schedule compliance, Work management and scheduling uplift, Shutdown coordination platform
BackpressureData and software: A mechanism that slows producers when consumers cannot keep up, so a busy system degrades gracefully instead of exhausting memory and collapsing.; Used in: Building software that runs a 24/7 operation
Belt trackingBulk materials handling: Keeping a conveyor belt running centrally on its idlers. Poor tracking causes edge damage, spillage and structural wear, and often traces back to off-centre loading.
BeneficiationMining: The processing steps that raise the grade of run of mine material by separating valuable mineral from waste, typically through crushing, grinding, screening and concentration.
Bill of materials (BOM)Maintenance and reliability: The structured list of spare parts and materials that make up a piece of equipment, linked to its record in the CMMS so planners can kit a job from the equipment rather than searching the catalogue.; Used in: ISO 14224, and building an asset hierarchy that holds up, The maintenance job pack, and what has to be in it, Operational readiness for new assets: methods, standards and the CMMS build
Break-in workMaintenance and reliability: Work added after the weekly schedule is frozen. Some is genuine emergency; the rest is a sign that the schedule is not being protected.; Used in: The maintenance job pack, and what has to be in it, Planner, scheduler, long term planner: three different jobs, Planning versus break-in: reading your schedule compliance, Work management and scheduling uplift, Shutdown coordination platform
Bucket wheel excavatorMining: A continuous digging machine with a rotating wheel of buckets, used in soft rock and overburden removal and on stockyards for reclaiming bulk material.
BucklingMechanical and structural: Sudden sideways failure of a slender member under compression, occurring well below the material's yield strength. Slenderness and restraint decide it.
Bulk materials handlingBulk materials handling: The engineering discipline concerned with moving, storing and controlling bulk solids such as ore, coal and grain, using conveyors, chutes, bins, feeders and stockyard machines.; Used in: Grain flow paths and chute upgrades guided by DEM

C

Calibration (DEM)DEM and scanning: Tuning simulation parameters until the model reproduces measured bench behaviour such as angle of repose and shear response. Without it a DEM result is a plausible animation, not evidence.; Used in: What DEM modelling actually tells you about a transfer chute, Transfer chute redesign guided by DEM modelling
CarrybackBulk materials handling: Material that sticks to the belt past the discharge point and falls off along the return run. It is a housekeeping, dust and roller wear problem, managed with belt cleaners.
Centre of gravityMechanical and structural: The point a body's weight acts through. It governs lifting arrangements, transport stability and restraint design for oversize items.; Used in: Structural design and certification of transport frames
Clash detectionDEM and scanning: Checking a proposed design against the scanned as-built environment to find physical interferences before fabrication rather than during a shutdown.
CMMS and EAMMaintenance and reliability: Computerised maintenance management and enterprise asset management systems: the software holding the asset register, work orders, history and materials. Common examples are SAP PM, Pronto Xi and IBM Maximo.; Used in: ISO 14224, and building an asset hierarchy that holds up, The maintenance job pack, and what has to be in it, The asset management plan, and the strategy it comes from, FMECA: how to run a failure modes, effects and criticality analysis, Condition monitoring: techniques, intervals and building a program that works, Planner, scheduler, long term planner: three different jobs, Operational readiness for new assets: methods, standards and the CMMS build, Predictive maintenance and condition monitoring, Rebuilding asset hierarchies and maintenance master data, Work management and scheduling uplift, Shutdown coordination platform, Operational readiness for a new plant asset
Coefficient of restitutionDEM and scanning: A measure of how much velocity a particle retains after a collision, from zero for perfectly inelastic to one for perfectly elastic. It governs bounce and spread in a DEM model.
Cohesion and adhesionDEM and scanning: Cohesion is the tendency of particles to stick to each other, adhesion the tendency to stick to a surface. Both rise with moisture and drive the build-up that blocks chutes.
ComminutionMining: Size reduction of ore by crushing and grinding. It is usually the largest single consumer of energy on a processing plant, so small efficiency gains matter.
CommissioningMaintenance and reliability: Testing an installed asset system by system to prove it works as designed. It proves the equipment can run, not that the organisation is ready to operate and maintain it.; Used in: Operational readiness for new assets: methods, standards and the CMMS build
Condition monitoringMaintenance and reliability: Measuring indicators such as vibration, temperature, oil condition and ultrasound on operating equipment to detect developing faults early enough to plan the repair.; Used in: The asset management plan, and the strategy it comes from, FMECA: how to run a failure modes, effects and criticality analysis, Condition monitoring: techniques, intervals and building a program that works, Running an asset criticality assessment that holds up, Condition monitoring people actually act on, Predictive maintenance and condition monitoring, Telemetry and monitoring for remote assets
Conformed dimensionData and software: A shared reference table, such as site or asset, used identically across multiple fact tables so figures from different reports can be compared with confidence.; Used in: Automated operations reporting, SQL data platform and ETL optimisation
Contact modelDEM and scanning: The physics used in a DEM simulation to calculate forces when particles touch each other or a surface, ranging from simple elastic springs to formulations that add cohesion.
ConveyorBulk materials handling: A continuous transport system, most commonly a rubber belt on idlers, that moves bulk material between fixed points at high tonnage and low cost per tonne.
CriticalityMaintenance and reliability: A ranking of assets by the consequence of their failure across safety, environment, production and cost. It decides where maintenance and monitoring effort is worth spending.; Used in: ISO 14224, and building an asset hierarchy that holds up, The asset management plan, and the strategy it comes from, FMECA: how to run a failure modes, effects and criticality analysis, Condition monitoring: techniques, intervals and building a program that works, Running an asset criticality assessment that holds up, Reliability centred maintenance, and when criticality-led beats it, Operational readiness for new assets: methods, standards and the CMMS build, Condition monitoring people actually act on, Predictive maintenance and condition monitoring, Rebuilding asset hierarchies and maintenance master data, Reliability engineering and asset strategy program, Operational readiness for a new plant asset, Asset management planning and the system behind it
Cut-off gradeMining: The lowest grade of material that is economic to process. Material below it is treated as waste, so the cut-off drives both mine planning and plant feed.

D

Data historianData and software: A database optimised for storing time-stamped process measurements at high rates over long periods. AVEVA PI System is the most common example in industrial plants.; Used in: Condition monitoring: techniques, intervals and building a program that works, Digital transformation on a working mine site, Building software that runs a 24/7 operation, Predictive maintenance and condition monitoring, Automated operations reporting, Real-time production analytics, Bridging OT and IT with custom software
Data warehouseData and software: A database structured for analysis and reporting rather than transaction processing, holding integrated, historical data from multiple source systems.; Used in: Automated operations reporting, SQL data platform and ETL optimisation
DEM (Discrete Element Method)DEM and scanning: A simulation technique that models bulk material as many individual particles and integrates the contact forces between them, used to predict how material will flow through equipment before it is built.; Used in: What DEM modelling actually tells you about a transfer chute, Transfer chute redesign guided by DEM modelling
Design lifeMechanical and structural: The period a structure or component is designed to perform its function under its expected loads, and the basis for fatigue and corrosion allowances.
Digital twinData and software: A model of a physical asset kept current with operating data, used to test scenarios and predict behaviour. Its value depends entirely on how faithfully it is maintained.
Drill and blastMining: Drilling a pattern of holes, charging them with explosive and firing to fragment rock. Fragmentation quality carries straight through to loading rates, crusher throughput and wear.

E

ETL and ELTData and software: Extract, transform, load. The process of collecting data from source systems, reshaping and validating it, and loading it somewhere it can be analysed. ELT does the transform after loading.; Used in: Automated operations reporting, SQL data platform and ETL optimisation

F

Factor of safetyMechanical and structural: The margin between the load a component can carry and the load it is expected to see, covering variation in material, loading and analysis.; Used in: Structural design and certification of transport frames
Failure modeMaintenance and reliability: The specific event that causes an item to fail, such as a bearing seizing or a seal leaking. It is recorded at the level where a maintenance task can act on it, and it is the unit an FMECA analyses.; Used in: ISO 14224, and building an asset hierarchy that holds up, FMECA: how to run a failure modes, effects and criticality analysis
Failure-finding taskMaintenance and reliability: A scheduled test that checks a protective device still works, used for hidden failures that no monitoring can reveal. The interval comes from how often the device fails and how much risk of an undetected failure the site will accept.; Used in: FMECA: how to run a failure modes, effects and criticality analysis
FatigueMechanical and structural: Progressive cracking under repeated loading at stresses well below yield. It is the usual failure mode in vibrating and cyclically loaded structures such as screens and chutes.; Used in: Structural design and certification of transport frames
FEA (Finite Element Analysis)Mechanical and structural: A numerical method that divides a structure into small elements to calculate stress, deflection and fatigue life, used to verify that a design is fit for purpose before it is built.; Used in: Structural design and certification of transport frames
Flow functionDEM and scanning: The relationship between the consolidating stress applied to a bulk solid and the strength it develops. It is derived from shear cell testing and underpins hopper outlet sizing.
FMECAMaintenance and reliability: Failure modes, effects and criticality analysis. A structured review of how an asset can fail, what each failure causes, and which failures justify a management strategy.; Used in: ISO 14224, and building an asset hierarchy that holds up, The asset management plan, and the strategy it comes from, FMECA: how to run a failure modes, effects and criticality analysis, Condition monitoring: techniques, intervals and building a program that works, Running an asset criticality assessment that holds up, Operational readiness for new assets: methods, standards and the CMMS build, Reliability engineering and asset strategy program
Functional failureMaintenance and reliability: The inability of an item to deliver a function to the standard required, fully or partly. Several different failure modes can cause the same functional failure.; Used in: FMECA: how to run a failure modes, effects and criticality analysis
Functional locationMaintenance and reliability: A position in the plant where equipment is installed, as distinct from the equipment itself. Keeping the two separate lets history follow both the place and the machine.; Used in: ISO 14224, and building an asset hierarchy that holds up, The maintenance job pack, and what has to be in it, The asset management plan, and the strategy it comes from, Operational readiness for new assets: methods, standards and the CMMS build, Master data is boring, until your schedule falls apart, Rebuilding asset hierarchies and maintenance master data, Operational readiness for a new plant asset
Funnel flowBulk materials handling: A discharge pattern where only a central channel of material moves while the rest remains stationary. It causes segregation, first in last out behaviour and ratholing.; Used in: Grain flow paths and chute upgrades guided by DEM

G

GradeMining: The concentration of the valuable component in ore, usually expressed as a percentage or grams per tonne.

H

Haul roadMining: The engineered road network trucks run on. Geometry, surface condition and drainage drive cycle times, fuel burn and tyre life.
Hidden failureMaintenance and reliability: A failure the operating crew cannot see in normal operation, typical of protective devices such as trips, relief valves and standby units. Its consequence is felt only when a second failure occurs, so it has to be found by testing.; Used in: FMECA: how to run a failure modes, effects and criticality analysis
Hood and spoon chuteBulk materials handling: A curved transfer chute design where a hood gathers the discharge stream and a spoon redirects it onto the receiving belt, keeping the stream coherent and reducing impact.
Hopper half angleBulk materials handling: The angle of a hopper wall measured from vertical. Together with wall friction it decides whether the hopper achieves mass flow or funnel flow.
HydrocycloneProcess plants: A static separator that uses centrifugal force in a conical vessel to split a slurry by particle size, commonly used to close a grinding circuit.

I

IdempotencyData and software: The property that performing an operation twice has the same effect as performing it once. It is what makes retrying a failed load safe rather than double-counting.; Used in: Building software that runs a 24/7 operation, SQL data platform and ETL optimisation, Bridging OT and IT with custom software
Impact plateBulk materials handling: A sacrificial wear surface positioned where the material stream strikes the chute, taking the impact energy in place of the chute structure.
Infrared thermographyMaintenance and reliability: Imaging surface temperature with an infrared camera to find abnormal heat, such as loose electrical connections, failing bearings or damaged refractory. Readings need correcting for the surface's emissivity and for reflected heat.; Used in: Condition monitoring: techniques, intervals and building a program that works
Insurance spareMaintenance and reliability: A spare held because failing without it would be severe and a replacement takes a long time to arrive, even though it is rarely used. Large motors, gearboxes and custom castings are typical examples.; Used in: The maintenance job pack, and what has to be in it, Operational readiness for new assets: methods, standards and the CMMS build

J

Jenike shear cellDEM and scanning: The standard bench apparatus for measuring the cohesive strength, internal friction and wall friction of a bulk solid, described in ASTM D6128 and the basis of flow property design.; Used in: Transfer chute redesign guided by DEM modelling
Job planMaintenance and reliability: A reusable description of a maintenance task: its steps, trades, durations, materials, tools, permits and isolations. Called a task list in some systems. Maintenance plans call job plans to generate work orders.; Used in: ISO 14224, and building an asset hierarchy that holds up, The maintenance job pack, and what has to be in it, Operational readiness for new assets: methods, standards and the CMMS build

L

Laser scanning (chute scanning)DEM and scanning: Capturing existing chutes, conveyors and structures as a dense 3D measurement, so modelling and new design work start from the plant as it actually stands.; Used in: What DEM modelling actually tells you about a transfer chute
Level of serviceMaintenance and reliability: What an asset or service must deliver to those who use it, with a measure and a target, such as availability, throughput at specification or response time. Costing a level of service is what lets budget be traded against consequence.; Used in: The asset management plan, and the strategy it comes from, Asset management planning and the system behind it
LineageData and software: The traceable path from a number on a report back to the source records that produced it. It is what makes a figure defensible under audit.; Used in: Rebuilding asset hierarchies and maintenance master data, Automated operations reporting, SQL data platform and ETL optimisation
LinerBulk materials handling: A replaceable wear surface fitted inside chutes and bins. Liner material is chosen for abrasion resistance and for its friction against the specific bulk solid.; Used in: What DEM modelling actually tells you about a transfer chute
Live capacityProcess plants: The portion of a bin or stockpile that will actually flow out under gravity, as opposed to the total volume. Dead capacity is the remainder that stagnates.
Load and haulMining: The excavation and transport cycle, typically excavators or loaders feeding haul trucks. Cycle time is the core productivity measure.
Load caseMechanical and structural: A defined combination of loads a design must withstand, such as operating, transport, lifting or wind. Structures are checked against every credible combination.; Used in: Structural design and certification of transport frames

M

Mass balanceProcess plants: An accounting of material in and out of a process, used to check that measurements are consistent and to find where instruments or assumptions are wrong.; Used in: Real-time production analytics
Mass flowBulk materials handling: A discharge pattern where all the material in a bin is in motion whenever any is drawn off. It gives first in first out behaviour and avoids stagnant zones.; Used in: Transfer chute redesign guided by DEM modelling, Grain flow paths and chute upgrades guided by DEM
Master dataMaintenance and reliability: The reference data describing assets, materials, locations and cost objects. Every work order and cost attaches to it, so errors compound rather than cancel out.; Used in: ISO 14224, and building an asset hierarchy that holds up, The maintenance job pack, and what has to be in it, The asset management plan, and the strategy it comes from, Operational readiness for new assets: methods, standards and the CMMS build, Master data is boring, until your schedule falls apart, Rebuilding asset hierarchies and maintenance master data, Operational readiness for a new plant asset, Asset management planning and the system behind it
Mechanical completionMaintenance and reliability: The project milestone at which construction of a system is finished and its pre-commissioning checks are done, so it can pass from construction to commissioning. It is usually certified system by system rather than for a whole plant.; Used in: Operational readiness for new assets: methods, standards and the CMMS build
Metallurgical accountingProcess plants: The formal reconciliation of tonnes and grade through the plant, producing the recovery and production figures the business reports on.
MQTTData and software: A lightweight publish and subscribe messaging protocol suited to telemetry over constrained or unreliable networks, widely used for remote sensor data.; Used in: Telemetry and monitoring for remote assets
MTBF and MTTRMaintenance and reliability: Mean time between failures and mean time to repair. Together they describe how often an asset fails and how long it takes to restore, and they combine into inherent availability.; Used in: ISO 14224, and building an asset hierarchy that holds up, Reliability centred maintenance, and when criticality-led beats it, Reliability engineering and asset strategy program

N

Non-destructive testing (NDT)Mechanical and structural: Inspection techniques such as ultrasonic, magnetic particle and dye penetrant that find flaws in welds and materials without damaging the component.

O

OEEMaintenance and reliability: Overall equipment effectiveness, the product of availability, performance and quality. It exposes which of the three is actually constraining output.; Used in: Real-time production analytics
Oil analysisMaintenance and reliability: Testing lubricating and hydraulic oil for wear metals, contamination such as dirt and water, and the condition of the oil itself. It shows both how a machine is wearing and, often, why.; Used in: Condition monitoring: techniques, intervals and building a program that works
OPC UAData and software: A vendor-neutral industrial communication standard for exchanging data with control systems and historians securely, without bespoke drivers for each site.; Used in: Building software that runs a 24/7 operation, Real-time production analytics, Telemetry and monitoring for remote assets, Bridging OT and IT with custom software
Operational readinessMaintenance and reliability: Everything that has to be in place for a new or modified asset to be operated safely and maintained properly from handover: people, procedures, approvals, spares, data, strategies and systems. Maintenance readiness is the part concerned with keeping the asset running.; Used in: Operational readiness for new assets: methods, standards and the CMMS build
OverburdenMining: Waste material sitting above the ore body that has to be removed to expose it. The ratio of waste to ore is the strip ratio.

P

P-F intervalMaintenance and reliability: The window between the point a failure first becomes detectable and the point it becomes a functional failure. Inspection frequency has to be shorter than this interval to be useful.; Used in: FMECA: how to run a failure modes, effects and criticality analysis, Condition monitoring: techniques, intervals and building a program that works, Reliability centred maintenance, and when criticality-led beats it, Operational readiness for new assets: methods, standards and the CMMS build, Condition monitoring people actually act on, Predictive maintenance and condition monitoring, Reliability engineering and asset strategy program
P&IDProcess plants: Piping and instrumentation diagram. The schematic showing equipment, piping, valves, instruments and control loops, and the reference drawing for operations and controls work.
Particle scalingDEM and scanning: Representing real fine particles with fewer, larger simulated ones to keep a DEM model computable. It is a legitimate technique that has to be justified rather than hidden.
PartitioningData and software: Splitting a large database table into smaller physical pieces, commonly by date, so queries scan only the relevant portion and maintenance is faster.
Planned maintenance percentageMaintenance and reliability: The share of maintenance labour hours spent on planned work rather than reactive work. It is one of the clearest indicators of maintenance maturity.; Used in: The maintenance job pack, and what has to be in it, Work management and scheduling uplift
PLC, DCS and SCADAData and software: The control layer. Programmable logic controllers and distributed control systems run the plant; SCADA supervises and visualises it. Reporting systems read from this layer, never write to it.; Used in: Telemetry and monitoring for remote assets, Bridging OT and IT with custom software
Point cloudDEM and scanning: The raw output of a 3D scan: millions of measured points in space, later cleaned, registered and converted into surfaces or a model.
Pre-startup safety review (PSSR)Maintenance and reliability: A formal check before hazardous materials or energy are first introduced that an asset matches its design, procedures are in place, hazard review actions are resolved and people are trained. A required element of process safety management in some jurisdictions.; Used in: Operational readiness for new assets: methods, standards and the CMMS build
Predictive maintenanceMaintenance and reliability: Using condition data and analytics to forecast when a failure will occur, so work is done just in time rather than on a fixed calendar or after breakdown.; Used in: Condition monitoring: techniques, intervals and building a program that works, Condition monitoring people actually act on, Predictive maintenance and condition monitoring, Reliability engineering and asset strategy program
Process flow diagram (PFD)Process plants: A simplified schematic of the major equipment and process streams, showing how material moves through the plant without the instrumentation detail of a P&ID.
Punch listMaintenance and reliability: The register of incomplete or defective items found during construction and commissioning, categorised by whether each must be closed before the next milestone or can be carried past it with an owner and a date.; Used in: Operational readiness for new assets: methods, standards and the CMMS build

R

RatholingBulk materials handling: A vertical channel that empties through stationary material in a bin, leaving the surrounding volume stuck in place and cutting live capacity dramatically.; Used in: Grain flow paths and chute upgrades guided by DEM
RCMMaintenance and reliability: Reliability centred maintenance. A structured process for deciding what maintenance each asset needs in its operating context, including run to failure where that is the honest answer.; Used in: The asset management plan, and the strategy it comes from, FMECA: how to run a failure modes, effects and criticality analysis, Condition monitoring: techniques, intervals and building a program that works, Running an asset criticality assessment that holds up, Reliability centred maintenance, and when criticality-led beats it, Operational readiness for new assets: methods, standards and the CMMS build, Reliability engineering and asset strategy program
ReclaimerMining: A stockyard machine that recovers material from a stockpile and feeds it to a conveyor, often paired with a stacker on the same rail.
RecoveryProcess plants: The proportion of valuable mineral in the feed that reports to the final product, expressed as a percentage. Small recovery gains are usually worth large sums.
RegistrationDEM and scanning: Aligning multiple scans taken from different positions into one coordinate system, so the combined point cloud is dimensionally consistent.
Reliability engineeringMaintenance and reliability: The discipline of analysing failure data and operating context to improve availability, informing maintenance strategy, spares holdings and design changes.
Residence timeProcess plants: How long material stays in a vessel or process step. It governs reaction completion, settling and the buffer a circuit has against upsets.
Reverse engineeringDEM and scanning: Recreating accurate drawings and models of existing equipment, commonly from 3D scans, so parts can be manufactured or modified when original documentation is missing.
Risk matrixMaintenance and reliability: A grid that plots the consequence of an event against its likelihood, usually five by five, so each combination carries a score and a band. In maintenance it is the usual way to rank asset criticality, taking the worst consequence across safety, environment, production and cost.; Used in: FMECA: how to run a failure modes, effects and criticality analysis
Risk priority number (RPN)Maintenance and reliability: Severity multiplied by occurrence multiplied by detection, used to rank failure modes in an FMEA. It is simple, but different risks can share the same number, so many methods now rank by severity and criticality first.; Used in: FMECA: how to run a failure modes, effects and criticality analysis
Rock boxBulk materials handling: A chute feature that deliberately traps a bed of material so the incoming stream impacts on rock rather than steel, trading flow control for wear life.
Run of mine (ROM)Mining: Material as it comes from the pit or underground, before any crushing or processing. ROM pads are the buffer between mining and the plant.

S

Schedule complianceMaintenance and reliability: The proportion of work committed to in the frozen weekly schedule that is completed as scheduled. It is only meaningful when the definition is fixed and applied consistently.; Used in: The maintenance job pack, and what has to be in it, Planner, scheduler, long term planner: three different jobs, Master data is boring, until your schedule falls apart, Planning versus break-in: reading your schedule compliance, Work management and scheduling uplift, Shutdown coordination platform
SkirtboardBulk materials handling: The side walls and sealing arrangement at a conveyor loading point that contain the material and settle it onto the belt while limiting dust and spillage.
SlurryProcess plants: A pumpable mixture of solids and liquid. Density and particle size drive pump selection, pipe wear and settling behaviour.
StackerMining: A boom conveyor machine that builds stockpiles in a controlled pattern, managing both storage and blending.
Star schemaData and software: A dimensional modelling pattern with a central fact table of measurements surrounded by dimension tables of context, designed for fast and understandable analysis.; Used in: Automated operations reporting, SQL data platform and ETL optimisation
Strategic asset management plan (SAMP)Maintenance and reliability: The document that converts organisational objectives into asset management objectives and sets the approach for developing asset management plans. ISO 55001 requires one, and it is the level above the asset management plans themselves.; Used in: The asset management plan, and the strategy it comes from, Asset management planning and the system behind it
Surge binProcess plants: A buffer bin between process steps that absorbs variation in feed rate so downstream equipment can run steadily.

T

TailingsMining: The residue left after the valuable mineral has been extracted, usually a slurry pumped to a storage facility. Management is a major safety and environmental obligation.
ThickenerProcess plants: A large settling vessel that concentrates a slurry by allowing solids to settle, recovering water from the overflow for reuse.
ThroughputProcess plants: The rate material passes through a system, usually tonnes per hour. Sustained throughput, not peak, is what determines production.; Used in: Real-time production analytics
Time-series databaseData and software: A database designed for timestamped measurements, with compression and query patterns suited to trends over time. InfluxDB and TimescaleDB are common choices.; Used in: Building software that runs a 24/7 operation, Real-time production analytics, Telemetry and monitoring for remote assets, Bridging OT and IT with custom software
Tool timeMaintenance and reliability: The share of a tradesperson's shift spent actively working on the job, as opposed to travelling, waiting, obtaining parts or attending permits. Also called wrench time in US practice and in the SMRP metrics.; Used in: The maintenance job pack, and what has to be in it, Planner, scheduler, long term planner: three different jobs, Work management and scheduling uplift
TrajectoryBulk materials handling: The path the material stream follows as it leaves a conveyor head pulley. It sets where the stream enters the chute and is the starting point of transfer design.
Transfer chuteBulk materials handling: The structure that guides bulk material from one conveyor to another. Good design controls the stream to limit blockages, spillage, dust, belt wear and degradation.; Used in: What DEM modelling actually tells you about a transfer chute, Transfer chute redesign guided by DEM modelling

U

Ultrasound monitoringMaintenance and reliability: Detecting sound above the range of human hearing to find compressed air and gas leaks, valves passing, electrical discharge and bearing friction. It is widely used on greasing routes, where the technician lubricates until the reading falls.; Used in: Condition monitoring: techniques, intervals and building a program that works

V

Vibration analysisMaintenance and reliability: Measuring and analysing the vibration of machinery, usually at the bearing housings, to detect faults such as imbalance, misalignment, looseness and bearing or gear defects. Overall levels show that something has changed, and the frequency spectrum shows what.; Used in: Condition monitoring: techniques, intervals and building a program that works
Von Mises stressMechanical and structural: A single equivalent stress value combining the stress components at a point, compared against yield strength to judge whether ductile material will deform permanently.

W

Wall friction angleDEM and scanning: The friction between a bulk solid and a specific wall or liner material. It is measured, not assumed, and directly determines the hopper angle needed for mass flow.; Used in: What DEM modelling actually tells you about a transfer chute, Transfer chute redesign guided by DEM modelling
Whole of life costMaintenance and reliability: The total cost of owning an asset across its life, from acquisition through operation, maintenance and renewal to disposal. The cheapest asset to buy is often not the cheapest to own.; Used in: The asset management plan, and the strategy it comes from, Asset management planning and the system behind it

Y

Yield strengthMechanical and structural: The stress at which a material stops behaving elastically and takes permanent deformation. Most structural design keeps working stresses safely below it.; Used in: Structural design and certification of transport frames