WipWare would like to welcome Andrew Palangio to the team as one of our Technical Specialists. Andrew was born and raised in North Bay and  a supporter of the community. He graduated from the University of Ottawa with a Honours BA and has excellent experience in sound and lighting. Andrew has worked for the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum, Electronic Language Communications Ltd, and North Bay’s own Capitol Centre. His experience brings a new perspective and knowledge to the team. He is looking forward to discovering new things at WipWare Inc. and exploring an international business network while living in hometown North Bay.

Welcome to WipWare and the Tech Team!!!

We look forward to working with you.

Mining with AI – What does the future hold for industries like mining and implementing new technology to this sector? Deloitte and Norcat have collaborated to explore the future in mining. The article: “Future of Mining with AI: Building the first steps towards an insight-driven organization” explores this area where the majority of mines still use legacy technology.

As is often the case with new technology, implementation can be difficult, time‑consuming and ultimately more costly than anticipated. The challenges faced are not only technical challenges, but people and environmental factors as well.

What are some of challenges in implementing new technology to the mining sector? Tom Palangio, President of WipWare was asked for his insight on this topic. He is an explosives application specialist and more than 40 years in the explosives industry. Tom has pioneered the use of new technology and experienced the difficulty of introducing new ideas to the mining industry.

INDUSTRY CULTURE – Tom Palangio

Mining was traditionally perceived as a risky undertaking with uncertain grades, investment volatility and variable metal prices so every opportunity to reduce risk and stay with the proven methods of operation was encouraged. This risk aversion stifled innovation opportunities and many major operations avoided taking the lead in proving empirical performance of new technologies because the up‑front costs and the potential failure or risks involved with bleeding edge innovations was considered unwise. WipWare’s approach was to focus on improving the daily experience of frontline workers—including shifting from entirely trial and error practices of the past, where employees attempting to predict the crusher gap often increased equipment downtime. Relying on neural networks, WipWare provides real time material sizing data throughout the mining process that enables automated process control, which improve workers’ abilities to anticipate disruptions in their operations and cut costs through less downtime and extended equipment life.” (Page 7)

Click on the link to download the report: Future in Mining with AI

As an industry leader in fragmentation analysis, WipWare has been recognized internationally for its expertise in fragmentation and explosives technology.

In the Summer 2018 edition of Mining Life and Exploration News, SAMSSA was interviewed on their role in promoting Northern Ontario businesses for the mining sector and related clients. For 15 years, the Sudbury Area Supply and Services Association (SAMSSA) has been a major advocate for the Northern Ontario innovative supply and services sector.

Our company was mentioned in the Summer 2018 edition of Mining Life and Exploration News as a major contributor to innovation/leadership globally. A proud member of SAMSSA, we continue to innovate and improve our products to stay current and provide the best fragmentation analysis systems and software on the market.

From the article, WipWare was mentioned as an innovative company who “invented optical granulometry at the University of Waterloo more than 30 years ago with the creation of WIEP (Waterloo Image Enhancement Process), later renamed WipFrag. The commercial introduction of WipFrag in 1986 positioned the company as the industry leader in optical granulometry of fragmented material”.

WipWare continues to improve their systems and software to help companies save millions of dollars by preventing equipment down-time, improving productivity, enhancing personnel health and safety and optimizing processes.

For more information on our products and services, visit our website at www.wipware.com

At the CIM 2018 in Vancouver, President of WipWare, Tom Palangio sat down with Jerrod Downey of Crownsmen Partners. They discussed Automatic Real-Time Fragmentation Analysis and the changes that technology is bringing to the mining industry.

How WipWare got its Name

One of the questions frequently asked is how the name WipWare came about. The WIP stands for Waterloo Image Process – take a picture of broken material and get engineering data from it. Tom and some Waterloo colleagues developed the technology that WipWare uses today in their WipFrag real-time fragmentation analysis software. 

Before technology like WipFrag, you’d look at a blast and have to visually try to determine if it was good. Another method was to stop the belt and take a manual sample. Then, wait for the sieve results which could take hours, even days. So, by the time the results came back, they weren’t actionable and this was an ineffective method. With WipWare’s fragmentation analysis systems and software, you get real-time results immediately to make quantitative decisions to improve your processes. 

Cutting Edge Technology

In the past, “it has been difficult to introduce new technology into a traditional business”. The mining industry “hasn’t always been receptive to change”. With remote sensing, robotics and automation becoming common technology, WipWare’s real-time fragmentation analysis systems and software is on the cutting edge of this new technology.

Now, the mining industry is becoming more receptive to automatic processes. Tom explains, “Our technology allows you to measure material in real-time. If you’re off spec, you can adjust it and it’s not disruptive”.  Imaging, computer and sensor technology has really improved. Tom states, “We thought creating the data…was a reason for being…but it’s getting the data to the people that can act on it”.

Mobile Device Compatibility

Two years ago, WipWare decided to integrate the technology onto mobile devices and introduced WipFrag iOS. There were over 5000 downloads in 18 months and WipFrag iOS is now available through the App Store.

The mining industry is not the only industry that our technology can be utilized. Other industries include medicine, agriculture, chemical industry and the explosives industry just to name a few – anywhere that you have materials and want to detect contamination.

The applications are numerous and it’s always exciting to find new applications for WipWare technology.

Janice Leuschen interviewed Tom Palangio, President of WipWare for The Canadian Mining Journal in their February/March edition located under the Sudbury Innovation Cluster section on Innovation and Commercialization.

In the article, Tom speaks about WipWare’s WipFrag software and the ability to measure a blast. “For us to be able to measure it in real time, actually opened a whole bunch of doors to the automated process.”

He believes that the market for new products and services for mines is opening. “NOW IS THE TIME”.

It has been difficult, in the past, to get mining companies to look at new technologies to improve their processes. The Commercialization gap has makes it challenging for inventors to convince mines to use their new inventions. 

In the mid-1990’s, Tom paired WipFrag software with his consulting services. This provided a great opportunity to show the mining industry how the software works giving tangible results. Due to an agreement with his former employer, Tom was not allowed to sell his WipFrag software domestically. As a result, Tom travelled extensively throughout Panama, Peru, Chile, South Africa and Australia. The international mining industry is more receptive to new innovations and technology. 

In 1998, Tom started selling domestically and has continued, to this day, to expand into the North American market. 

You can read more on this interview on page 49-51 for the full article.

WipWare is pleased to announce that we have signed an agreement with Haver & Boecker OHG in Oelde, Germany to handle our products. Haver & Boecker is a leading manufacturer in processing, storage, mixing packing, filling, palletizing and loading systems. The company’s mission is to deliver the best of these technologies to the marketplace.
See their website here: Haver & Boecker Canada

“One of their divisions, W.S. Tyler is renowned for their standards in screen media and it is a complementary and natural fit to be working together to characterize materials,” says Tom Palangio, President of WipWare.

The company founded by Carl Haver and Eduard Boecker in 1887 has been producing products for quarries, sand and gravel, fertilizers, paint, powder coating, chemical and pharmaceutical companies and the food industry – Haver & Boecker analytical equipment is used in almost all areas of industry.