Implementation of PI System at Buenaventura Mining Company.

Lima, Peru

Compañía de Minas Buenaventura

Lima, Peru

In early 2018, Compañía de Minas Buenaventura assigned PIPER Solutions to analyze, design, and implement AVEVA PI System™ across its five main mining units in Peru: Uchucchacua, Tambomayo, Orcopampa, Coimolache, and the Río Seco plant. The project integrated more than a dozen control systems from different vendors (Siemens, Schneider, Wonderware, ABB, Rockwell) into a unified architecture, with 28 configured interfaces, hierarchical models aligned to SAP PM, and a corporate server in Lima to centralize the metallurgical balance — moving Buenaventura toward a fully digitalized, real-time monitored operation.

Unifying Fragmented Data Across 5 Mining Units and Multiple Control Systems

The initial data-gathering effort revealed a fragmented ecosystem of data sources across the Mine, Plant, Maintenance, and Laboratory areas at each unit:

  • Diverse control systems: Siemens (WinCC, PCS7), Schneider (PME), Wonderware, ABB, Rockwell, PLCs, SQL databases, and Kepserver, operating without a common communication standard.
  • Isolated, non-historized signals, with equipment running for years without any digital record of its performance.
  • Visualization limited to the control room, with HMI interfaces restricted to a limited number of signals and no remote access.
  • Manual production calculations, such as equipment run-hour counters, logged on paper.
  • No standard linking plant and maintenance, with no relationship between operational signals and the asset structure defined in SAP PM.
  • Decentralized information across units, with no single point consolidating operational data from the five units or the lab assay data needed for the metallurgical balance.

A Unified PI System™ Architecture, Per Unit and Corporate-Wide

PIPER designed and deployed a PI System™ architecture tailored to each unit’s communication reality, with local installations and corporate centralization in Lima.

Architecture design

  • A PI System™ architecture designed around each unit’s specific communication requirements, integrating every identified data source based on the required PI interface type: Modbus for skip PLCs in the Mine area, OPC DA for SCADA systems in the Plant area, and RDBMS for relational databases in Laboratory and Energy.

PI System installation

  • Installation and configuration of PI Data Archive, PI AF, and PI Vision at each mining unit, optimizing response times and reducing information latency, with storage capacity sized for 5 years of data.
  • 28 interfaces (API Nodes) configured to collect data from all identified sources.
  • Hierarchical models in PI AF aligned to the structure defined in SAP PM, with calculations built in PI Analytics and automated notifications for critical signals via PI Notifications.

Mine

  • Development of production calculations for underground mines: ore and waste extraction by shaft, Skip counts per hour, shift, and month.
  • Monitoring of hoisting winches: bearing temperature, lubrication motors, reset status, and run-hour counters — equipment that had gone unrecorded for years.
  • PI Vision dashboards showing real-time Skip location, ore and waste production, energy, and run hours, accessible from multiple devices.
  • Operational reports in PI DataLink for ore extraction and Skips per hour.

Plant

  • Mapping of plant signals into the PI AF tree, aligned to the SAP PM standard.
  • Mapping of crushing, grinding, flotation, and tailings processes, with tonnage calculations by shift and daily totals.
  • Automated reports in PI DataLink, including Daily and Monthly Reports with tonnage and assay grades.
  • PI Vision displays for crushing, grinding, flotation, and tailings, plus monitoring of bearing temperature, lubrication motors, and run hours.
  • Integration of ION energy meters into PI System, incorporated into the PI AF hierarchical model.
  • A general Plant Operations dashboard, integrating mine production, lab assay grades, energy, and their trends.

Lima (Corporate)

  • PI to PI interfaces to centralize production information from all plants on a corporate server in Lima, and distribute lab assay grades back out to each unit.
  • An HTML interface on the corporate server connecting to metal price websites, enabling metallurgical balance calculations.
  • Correction of automated signals showing erroneous or unused data.
  • Training delivered at each mining unit, with PI DataLink and PI Vision courses to build user self-sufficiency.

Measurable Impact on Buenaventura’s Digitalization

  • 5 mining units integrated (Uchucchacua, Tambomayo, Orcopampa, Coimolache, Río Seco) under a common PI System™ architecture.
  • 28 interfaces configured, spanning Modbus, OPC DA, and RDBMS to collect data from Mine, Plant, Laboratory, and Energy.
  • Hierarchical models in PI AF aligned to SAP PM, standardizing the relationship between operational signals and asset structure.
  • Equipment with no historical record for years (such as hoisting winches) monitored in real time for the first time.
  • Centralized metallurgical balance on a corporate server in Lima, integrating production, lab assay grades, and metal prices.
  • Correction of erroneous data signals, improving overall system data quality.
  • Staff trained in PI DataLink and PI Vision at each mining unit, achieving operational self-sufficiency.

Por Qué Importa

  • Operational visibility from anywhere: real-time monitoring of mine and plant production from multiple devices, eliminating dependence on the control room.
  • Elimination of manual paper records, with automated run-hour and production calculations.
  • Standardization between operations and maintenance, thanks to aligning the PI AF model with SAP PM.
  • An integrated view of the entire value chain: from ore extraction to lab assay grades and the metallurgical balance, in a single corporate dashboard.
  • Recovered value from previously invisible assets, by historizing equipment for the first time that had operated with no digital record at all.
  • Centralized decision-making, with data from all five units consolidated in Lima for corporate management.
  • Self-sufficient local teams, thanks to training in visualization and reporting tools.
  • A solid foundation for continued digitalization at Buenaventura, laying the groundwork for future advanced analytics and data-driven decision-making.

Proyectos

Impulsamos la innovación con soluciones que transforman la eficiencia operativa, el monitoreo inteligente y la gestión en tiempo real de procesos clave.

Minería

Actualización de PIPER View 2026 en Compañía Minera Antapaccay

Compañía Minera Antapaccay S.A. completó la actualización a PIPER View 2026 mediante una metodología de aislamiento de entorno y pruebas en paralelo, garantizando una transición sin interrupciones críticas en sus servicios de visualización e inteligencia operacional. El proyecto incorporó nuevas capacidades como un panel de observabilidad del sistema, exportación de dashboards a PDF bajo estándares de impresión, diseño responsive y un inspector de consultas para auditoría de datos — con compatibilidad retroactiva total y cero retrabajo sobre los dashboards existentes.

Espinar, Cusco, Perú

Minería

Implementación de la Plataforma de Inteligencia Operacional PIPER en la Mina de Oro Séguéla

Implementación de la Plataforma de Inteligencia Operacional PIPER en la Mina de Oro Séguéla de Fortuna Mining, para automatizar la recopilación, contextualización y generación de informes de datos provenientes de las operaciones de planta, laboratorio y mina. La solución integró múltiples sistemas operacionales mediante APIs personalizadas, automatizó los reportes diarios de producción y proporcionó visibilidad en tiempo real del desempeño operativo a través de dashboards centralizados y herramientas analíticas avanzadas.

Solución Implementada

PIPER Operational Platform

  • PIPER Collector
  • PIPER Historian
  • PIPER Modeler
  • PIPER View
  • Operational APIs
  • Interface Monitoring & Notifications

Woroba, Costa de Marfil

Energía

Implementación de la Plataforma de Inteligencia Operacional PIPER en la Central Termoeléctrica Puerto Bravo

PIPER Solutions implementó la Plataforma de Inteligencia Operacional PIPER en la Central Termoeléctrica Puerto Bravo de Samay S.A.C. para centralizar, historizar y contextualizar los datos operativos provenientes del sistema de control GE Mark VIe. El proyecto incluyó la integración de más de 4,000 señales de proceso, el desarrollo de un modelo operacional estandarizado, dashboards operativos en tiempo real y la integración con Active Directory. Esta implementación estableció una base sólida para la inteligencia operacional, la optimización de procesos y futuras iniciativas de analítica avanzada, mejorando la visibilidad y la toma de decisiones en toda la operación.

Arequipa, Perú

Minería

Implementación de PIPER Downtimes para la Gestión Inteligente de Tiempos de Inactividad en Ambatovy

PIPER Downtimes le dio a una operación industrial multi-planta visibilidad en tiempo real sobre 40 plantas, 120 procesos y casi 60,000 equipos — eliminando el registro manual de eventos y logrando una reducción del 3% en el downtime no planificado.

Antananarivo, Madagascar