A high-profile report on technology in the mining sector has identified two of the best investments for mining companies committed to digital transformation. Tech investment in optimised scheduling and short interval control will drive operational excellence.
According to McKinsey & Company’s 2018 report, Behind the mining productivity upswing: Technology-enabled transformation, mining is reaping the benefits of technological change, and productivity is on the rise.
Technology must form part of a holistic approach to transformation. Tech should extend across every facet of a mining organisation. Companies who invest in tech without a broad, organisation-wide strategy often fail to see the improvements they expect.
“There is no technological silver bullet that companies can buy to achieve their goals,” it states. Instead, transformation depends on the success of three interdependent engines, described below:
1. Harnessing tech
Harnessing digital, analytics and automation technology across an organisation drives productivity, safety, customer satisfaction, and supply chain management.
New technologies help mining companies in many ways, including:
- Throughput and recovery improvement using data and advanced analytics to inform decisions and improve processes.
- Maintenance optimisation to occur when needed rather than on a fixed schedule, using sensors and machine learning. Mobile systems help by giving maintenance workers the info they need while they’re on the job.
- Reduced operating costs through the use of robotics and autonomous machines.
- Boosting productivity by coordinating activities. In underground mining, this has always been a challenge. WiFi or 5G wireless tech on mobile devices allows supervisors to communicate with work teams in real time and adapt plans using short interval control to suit conditions.
2. Adapting management systems
When mining operations implement new technologies, employee operations and behaviour must evolve. New tools, insights and ways of working must be embedded into the culture.
Sometimes, organisational structures must change too. Traditional siloed teams typically lead to “slow and inferior decision making. Each team sees only its part of the whole”. When problems inevitable arise, siloed teams hinder collaboration and cooperation. Critically, these teams remain isolated from the data that drives innovation.
3. Overhauling culture and capabilities
Breaking ingrained habits is the third part of the puzzle. Mining companies must manage a change in mindset, behaviours and capabilities. Managers can achieve this formally or by modelling desired behaviour. Operations should train, retrain and upskill employees, while expanding capability to fill new roles as technologies are harnessed.
The role of better scheduling and control
The report lists optimised scheduling and control as a high-ROI use-case for companies pursuing tech-enabled transformation.
CiteOps and short interval control systems are tech solutions that act across all of McKinsey and Company’s “three engines for change”:
- Harness mobile technology and analytics to support productivity, transparency, safety and decision-making.
- Transform employee collaboration by giving teams real-time access to a single plan and tracking progress. This breaks down silos, allows adjustments necessary and holds people accountable.
- Shift behaviours and mindsets of teams and supervisors through a system based on commitment, trust and accountability.
When supervisors communicate with teams in real time to “react and adapt to changing conditions” an underground mine can function like a modern, sophisticated open-pit operation. Short interval control allows companies to “examine where decisions are made, and by whom.” Teams are empowered to make “informed, data-driven decisions, quickly and safely”.
CiteOps is a product central to the practical digital transformation of the mining industry. We can help you optimise productivity and boost safety at your operation.
