Wenco International Mining Systems is featured in the January 2026 issue of International Mining Magazine for SmartCap, the mining industry’s only EEG-based fatigue and alertness monitoring solution. The feature highlights how SmartCap’s scientifically validated approach strengthens operator safety while integrating seamlessly within the broader Hitachi Construction Machinery ecosystem (soon to be renamed LANDCROS Corporation) — connecting fatigue, fleet, asset health, and autonomy data into a unified operational view.
Direct EEG Insights for Proactive Safety
SmartCap remains the only fatigue monitoring system in mining that uses direct EEG measurement to detect real-time changes in operator alertness and fatigue.
“Our EEG-based solution is the only one that can detect a real-time change in a person’s physiology,” said Dr Emily Tetzlaff, Principal Scientist, EHS at Wenco. “It shows not just fatigue, but alertness — allowing sites to act before critical events occur.”
By measuring brainwave activity rather than relying on modelling or camera-based assumptions, SmartCap provides visibility across the full alertness-to-fatigue continuum. This capability allows sites to intervene well before a microsleep event occurs, based on direct physiological measurement rather than interpretation.
Unified Data Across Safety, Fleet, and Asset Health
“Now we have complete interaction and control of the data between FMS, asset health monitoring, and SmartCap,” said Tetzlaff. “That includes one central screen that has fatigue risk management and the alertness monitor as well as the FMS.”
Integrated with Wenco’s Fleet Management System, SmartCap allows sites to view fatigue risk, alertness, equipment health, and productivity data on a single screen—supporting deeper operational insight and correlation across systems. This unified approach enables sites to timestamp and correlate operator alertness with machine productivity, downtime, and maintenance outcomes — providing deeper operational insight across people, machines, and the mine.
Wenco’s commitment to open APIs ensures this integration remains flexible.
“We want customers to be able to use individual elements as layers with other supplier systems if that’s what they want — for example, if they’re using another FMS but want to add fatigue monitoring,” Tetzlaff noted.
Reliable Across Mixed Fleets and Conditions
SmartCap performs consistently across haul trucks, light vehicles, cranes, graders, drills, and even control‑room and AHS operators.
Because it measures physiology directly, SmartCap remains effective underground, in slow‑moving equipment, and in high‑movement roles where camera‑based solutions struggle.
“Most camera-based systems require a certain speed of the vehicle to work properly,” said Tetzlaff. “When it comes to light vehicles or slow-moving equipment, they don’t perform well — but ours works as it moves with the operator.”
The feature underscores Wenco’s commitment to integrating safety, productivity, and operational intelligence through open, interoperable mining technologies, enabling a more data-driven, multimodal approach to mine safety.
📖 Read the full feature in International Mining Magazine | January 2026
💡 Learn more about SmartCap fatigue and alertness monitoring: Safety | SmartCap | Wenco International Mining Systems