Successful underground
Micromata is programming the second generation of the geo information system „K+S GeoBASE®“.
Since 2004 the public limited company K+S has been one of our clients. The company which is noted in the MDAX® (WKN: 716200) is a worldwide supplier of fertilizers, plant nurture and salt products for private consumers as well as the agriculture industry and other industries. Potash and magnesium salts are extracted from as deep as 1,500 metres below ground in eleven German mines and further international production facilities. With Micromata’s support K+S plc was able to expand and improve its geo information system „K+S GeoBASE®“ quite considerably.
Prehistory
Already in the late 1980s K+S began to manage all salt mining processes with the help of computers. The previously analogue drawing techniques were transferred into the computer-aided design (CAD) system and knowledge once stored in filing cabinets and clever minds was now kept in databanks.
In the course of time strictly separated computing disciplines (i. e. designs and data) were now linked with one another, which turned K+S into a pioneer of digital information systems for geologie and mine-surveying.
The task
In cooperation with Micromata another milestone was now supposed to be set. The technology of all German and international plants was updated to the same level on the basis of „K+S GeoBASE®“. The total area of the mine Werra itself is larger than the city Munich – that alone reflects the dimension of the project.
The biggest challenge was to carrry over into the second generation the capacity, comfort and security of the system. This was necessary due to the ever-growing data volume as well as the acquisition of international production facilities, which innitially were using different programmes.
The data of each individual national and international site was supposed to be linked together in one central data bank in the headquarters in Kassel. Apart from the implementation of the central data management and security, the data transfer itself needed to be realised in real time rather than during the night as it is done usually.
Another deciding factor was the scalability of the three-dimensional data and its comprehensive integrated search function. In the same instant, the user surface for data entry and data retrieval was supposed to be standardised and simplified in order to avoid costly duplicates or redundant data management respectively.
Graduate engineer Udo Bickhardt, director of the Information Systems Division of the company Data Process Ltd. explains his decision in favour of Micromata as business partner as follows:
„Micromata was known to us as reliable, flexible and competent IT service provider. Plus, the fact that the company’s location is in walking distance from our headquarters made it a feasible choice. There are no standardised applications on the market that would meet our special requirements. In any case, we did not strive for a complete reprogramming of our software, instead we wanted to build on our growing and proven system.“
The Realisation
A project team consisting of representatives of all departments analysed the system, fathomed the optimisation potential and newly implemented the system with strict orientation towards the practical application.
Of particular importance to K+S was the transfer in real time of the high amount of data between the mines and the central data bank. Thanks to optimal comunication and intermediate storage on a proxy server the speed of the data transfer could be increased drastically.
„The Micromata Team understood the requirements of our business, developed their own ideas and adjusted the programming exactly to the practical application. Thanks to this intensive collaboration all goals of „K+S GeoBASE®II“ could be realised in a very short period of time. Now all up-to-date data are available also to the management in an instant. The real time data transfer is particularly valuable for exploration drills, a very time and cost intensive but necessary process in order to determine where exactly and in what way the mining process is best proceeded with." Udo Bickhardt explains: "As a result of this „K+S GeoBASE®“ has been transformed from a mere documentation and planning system into an operative instrument.“
Up until now each drill could only be viewed as one individual diagram. With „K+S GeoBASE® II“ it is now possible to display each individual layer , each drill point with all the related information including the type of rock formation, results of analytical processes or all radar investigations of the immediate environment. In addition to that, these data can be put in relation to that of other drills.
It is possible to generate 3D pictures that give information on the exact location and dispersion of rock formations that can be exhausted.
In this way more than 100 million individual objects are captured, documented and retrieved. Entire digging processes are faciliated and can be planned in a more goal-oriented way. This not only offers economic benefits but also a higher level of security underground with regards to the dangerous accumulations of gas in the rock formation.
Highly functional is also the new user surface. A rich client application with an integrated input mask faciliate the application tremenduously. The data entry is carried out much more securely and effeciently. Of particular interest to users was a convenient preview function, which was integrated alongside other features and functions.
The new system facilitates work drastically. Faulty insertions are minimised with the help of selection menus. „Thanks to a comprehensive search function as well as the new data storage concept valuable time can be saved.“ Achim Ochs, Consultant of Geo Physics for the K+S plc.
The result
Since January 2007 the „K+S GeoBASE®II“ is released and thoroughly tested during its daily applications. During the transistion period both the old and the new system are running parallelly, after which „K+S GeoBASE®II“ will be used on its own. This demonstrates that development is not finished with the release of a software but is a continuous process of improvements. However, already at this moment in time, the K+S AG manages its data in a far simplier, more efficient, and more secure way – as well as uniform!
Graduate engineer Udo Bickhardt, director of the Information Systems Division, is convinced that: „Micromata has done an excellent job whilst standing in close communication with us. The new system is as extensive as necessary and at the same time as lean as possible. It has been developed in a practical way and substantiates the validity of Micromata’s slogan: success can be programmed!"
