Key performance indicators - a tool to assess ICT applications in underground coal mines

Implementing new technologies in industrial operations involves the challenge of measuring the improvements gained from the technology. Nevertheless, it is absolutely essential to assess the technical and economic benefits in objective and comprehensible numbers to create a platform for further management decisions. Underground coal mines are characterized by numerous, quite complex procedures, which make it difficult to determine the specific economic benefit of a new machine, technique, or method. In the OPTI-MINE Project funded by the European Union’s RFCS programme, five underground coal mines applied the latest information and communication technology (ICT) to improve efficiency, mine safety, occupational health, and environmental impacts. An integral part of the project is the assessment of these technologies by using key performance indicators (KPIs). The paper will describe some examples of the selected KPIs and the preliminary findings.