Capital Equipment News July 2017

SCAN QR CODE TO READ THE LATEST NEWS ONLINE

Local manufacture key to African mining for HMA Group The HMA Group of Australia plans to establish a manufacturing facility to produce wear-solution products to service the metalliferous and coal sectors in sub-Saharan Africa. This was revealed by HMA Group Australasia MD Tony Rogers on a recent visit as part of the launch of HMA South Africa, headed up by GM George Hoffmann, founder of local wear-solutions specialist Uretech. The HMA Group has been appointed as Uretech’s sole international distributor, including South Africa, while the HMA Group’s own broad product range will be made available in Africa for the first time. Established in 1966 as Halley & Mellowes, the HMA Group manufactures, services and sells a range of capital plant equipment to diverse industries. The materials handling, wear solutions, instrumentation and geotechnical divisions of the group will be introduced into the local market, piggybacking on Uretech’s representation in the African mining industry. Rogers explains that Uretech initially fell on the radar of the HMA Group following an exploratory foray into South Africa to test the local business waters. “As we specialise in wear-resistant solutions, we came across Uretech and its polyurethane (PU) product range. PU is an alternative wear solution material not represented in our stable at that time, so we initiated discussions.” The agreement concluded was that the HMA Group would acquire the sales and marketing segments of Uretech, which retains its manufacturing capability and intellectual property rights. Hoffmann was subsequently appointed to oversee the HMA Group’s South African operation, employing its strategically- located sales force. At the outset, HMA South Africa will focus on bulk materials handling, wear solutions, instrumentation, and geotechnics, which are all fully-fledged divisions. With the South African coal-mining sector linked inextricably to power generation, Rogers says this is a particular market it will focus on as well. “Although it was not our initial plan to become involved in the power generation sector, the opportunity just arose, so we are taking it.” b

The HMA Group has garnered extensive global project and technological experience.

that are interconnected digitally, and built on processes enabled by data to deliver responsive and agile operations is critical. According to Emilie Ditton, research director for WW Mining at IDC, more productive, efficient and sustainable ways of extracting value from minerals, while at the same time enabling safe and productive workplaces, is possible. “It is not new that mining companies are placing value on their data, but the transformation that is required is about truly enabling the data; enabling it to control, manage and respond to the operation. Companies must enable processes and decision-making beyond the operational siloes endemic within most mining companies,” says Ditton. “Third platform technologies such as cloud, mobility, analytics and social networking

can enable companies to cut costs, improve productivity and find room for innovation. Couple this with innovation accelerator technologies such as IoT, 3D printing, cognitive processing and next generation security, and these organisations will be able to reinvent their business processes to support agile and dynamic operations,” adds Ditton. A critical component of the transformation is enabling connected and intelligent management of people, material and assets within the execution of the mine plan. Workforce tracking is the current priority with 94% of South African mining companies highlighting this, but this top priority will change to ore tracking and management look forward over the next couple of years. “Many South African mining companies are already working closely with their IT suppliers to improve network connectivity

above and below ground to allow for the deployment of remote sensors that can be used to monitor everything. Ongoing, bringing together ecosystems of suppliers enabling Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities – across OEMs, networking providers, IT services companies and operational technology vendors – will be required to create that capability. The technology capability will change but so will the way that mining companies need to engage in the vendor ecosystem,” she says. Ditton says there is already a willingness for an increased partnering approach with technology suppliers amongst South African mining companies. The momentum behind cloud investment in mining is accelerating, with the number of companies not using the cloud in South Africa declining from 31% to 14% in two years. b