IMARC tech stars 2025: Part 5
- 29 July 2025
Many people in mining associate Wabtec with heavy-duty locomotives and massive truck wheel motors. However, thousands of machine operators see the name in their vehicle cabins every day.
Wabtec’s Generation 3 Collision Avoidance System (CAS) has solidified the company’s position as a leader in the fast-growing surface mining CAS market. Developed in strategic partnership with mining and metals major Glencore, the Wabtec’s Gen 3 CAS has been widely deployed at the miner’s Australian and other operations.
Wabtec Digital Mine global commercial director Mitch Tanzer says with its integration into Wabtec Digital Mine’s existing product portfolio, Gen3 CAS has “not only become a cornerstone of the company, but also a reflection of the dedication to operational excellence and safety leadership”.
The US-based group is seeing significant opportunities to build on that mining-market bulwark and there might be more news coming up on that front in the lead up to this year’s International Mining and Resources Conference + Expo (IMARC) in Sydney, where Wabtec is a silver sponsor.
For now, though, Tanzer says the company is intent on growing its presence in a mining CAS market that has evolved and expanded considerably since the Australian-developed Wabtec technology was first introduced about 20 years ago.
“Back then it really was reasonably simple but very, very robust … time-of-flight RF [radio frequency] sensing technology,” he says.
“The second generation started leveraging GNSS [global navigation satellite systems] as a location technology and that was a really important step forward.
“We’re now using very high-accuracy GNSS. We’re leveraging our proprietary vehicle-to-vehicle communications protocol.
“Probably more important than the technology itself, we've really worked hard to deploy a technology that’s user-friendly.
“It has a cleaner, simpler user interface with context-based voice alerts created using the latest human factor design. We’ve replaced beeps-and-buzzer analogue technology with discreet audible warnings. We've done a lot of research on this with the University of Queensland.
“The system alarm is only used when a high-risk incident is likely, which greatly reduces operator-alarm fatigue and minimises risks typically associated with nuisance alarming.
“It means we’re getting a lot of trust in the system.”
All of which is critical given the continuing high rate of mining industry fatalities linked to vehicle interaction control failures. The major mining-company backed Earth Moving Equipment Safety Round Table (EMESRT) puts the level at 30-40% of deaths each year.
Wabtec Digital Mine Technology principal consultant Craig Hoffman, who will present a paper at IMARC 2025 on reducing vehicle interaction risk, says the industry is able to draw from a growing body of knowledge from EMESRT and International Council on Mining and Metals global vehicle interaction control improvement initiatives.
“This enables mining companies, OEMs and technology providers to work together to develop and implement more effective controls and drive the adoption of capable solutions,” he says.
As well as designing a CAS to be agnostic across equipment suppliers and compatible with all machine types, removing further barriers to deployment, Wabtec is keen to universally promote the benefits of the technology and recently put out a white paper on best practice around the world.
“As a vendor we’ve deployed close to 20,000 assets, so we’ve got a lot of experience where we've seen good projects and we’ve seen ones that haven’t gone so smoothly,” Tanzer says.
“Sharing those learnings is highly valuable at an industry level, particularly when the knowledge gained comes from an agnostic angle.”
Tanzer says growth in the overall mining CAS market has been “explosive”. Regulatory controls have accelerated adoption in some jurisdictions. Elsewhere technology-enabled safety and productivity gains are generally getting more airtime, helping to stimulate adoption.
“Most of the customers we work with currently fit into the tier one space,” Tanzer says.
“And that's not a coincidence because we know when tier ones go to market and when they want to solve for a problem around safety they will not compromise on technical and functional performance. That is one of the reasons we feature heavily on tier one mine sites: they really value what we bring to the table. I’d say that’s one of our key differentiators.
“Our primary goal in terms of providing a safety system is safety – that is our number one and the non-negotiable. We must deliver outcomes that enable safer operations,” Tanzer says.
“There is this intrinsic connection to productivity. I think the conclusion you can draw is that a safe site is a productive site.
“That’s something we firmly believe in.”
IMARC is being held at the ICC Sydney from October 21-23, 2025.
