Capital Equipment News October 2019

DIGITALISATION – PART 2

Sandvik prefers to partner with its customers to help

identify where problem areas are and develop solutions to those specific problems.

A step ahead in the cost- control battle

Knowing what’s going on inside their mission-critical equipment puts operations a step ahead in the productivity and cost-control battle. Can digitalisation provide a breakthrough in heading off small problems while they are still small, running machines as efficiently as possible and keeping unplanned downtime to a minimum? By Munesu Shoko .

T he mining industry is getting a lot of upgrades, and it is not only through better machinery and equipment. As with most sectors, mining is profiting from the digital revolution. How – with the addition of digital technologies in their practices – can mining companies usher in a new age of efficiency and win the productivity and cost-control battle? Niel McCoy, business line manager Automation for Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology Southern Africa, says there is no way one can manage or improve what they don’t know, adding that any form of operational or business improvement is extremely difficult to quantify without data and direct feedback from the operation as changes occur. “Digitalisation enables mine operators to take the roof off their mining operations and get feedback on what is happening in real time. This helps to determine exactly

where the areas of improvement are. The operational team can then make informed decisions on what areas to focus on and see the results immediately when changes are made. In essence, it takes the guesswork out of operational improvements,” says McCoy. Bill Dears, commercial manager, Mining Technology and Solutions at Caterpillar, says as customers continue to look for consistency across their operations, reductions in costs and maximum output from all of their assets, digitalisation can provide the breakthrough they need. “At Caterpillar, we are committed to helping our customers use Cat technologies to achieve those goals. All of the technologies within Cat MineStar Solutions help manage costs, and when operations better manage costs, they become more profitable,” says Dears. McCoy says Sandvik prefers to partner with its customers to help identify where problem areas are and develop solutions to those specific problems. “There is

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