MechChem Africa September-October 2021

Digital platforms , collaboration and the journey towards autonomously run plant

MechChem Africa talks to Multotec Group CEO Thomas Holtz about establishing digital platforms for minerals processing plants and the need for much closer cooperation and collaboration between service and equipment suppliers, to realise the true value of 4IR-technology and autonomous processing. “T he journey towards the au- tonomous plant is not hugely different to the one for driver- less vehicles, but before get- energy in response to changes being experi- enced. Thevalue tohumanbeings and the role they play in creating and using digital plat- forms needs to be highlighted at the starting point of this journey,” says Holtz, adding that the skills and know-howare already available to make the workplace more attractive for everyone. “We need to embrace this journey with the acknowledgment of where the hu- man being fits in,” he say.

ting into that, I think we need to focus on the intent,” suggests Thomas Holtz, CEO of the Multotec Group. “The idea of using technology to replace people, I believe, is the wrong mindset com- pletely. At the outset, I think we must make a case for the human being in this equation. This notion that we can do minerals process- ing without humans doesn’t make any sense to me. Our equipment is often installed in remote areas surrounded by impoverished communities. Employment questions are therefore serious and we must question the role of the human in the digital 4IR environ- ment,” Holtz argues. The real challenge, he believes, is to see our organisations in ecological terms, with a head, heart and hands for thinking, feeling and doing. “Automated solutions may be able to think/analyse and do/respond faster and more consistently than a human can, but this discounts the human ability to feel empathy, connect with others and bring creativity and

technology, and sensors that collect data and the analytics to make sense of the data and provide useful information from it. The ability to share information coming fromeach piece of plant equipment becomes essential, because the whole system is influenced by all the components feeding into it. Shared data then needs to be collectively compiled, analysed and displayed to be of use to plant operators,” he notes. This approach signals the need for col- laboration: “We need partnerships, alliances, a network infrastructure and like-minded people to deliver the initial plant and then to keep the plant operating optimally. This is contrary to our current business model, where each company has an R&D division to develop and test prototypes beforepatenting Thomas Holtz, group chief executive officer at Multotec.

Africa andSouthAfrica are sitting onplant assets that are relatively old, many plants be- ingmore than30 years old, he continues. “We can’t retrofit these old plants completely. We need to start building new plants from the ground up, but we need to start with a dif- ferent mindset. The idea that we can replace an operator with a robot is the wrong way of thinking. Instead, we need to take an over- view of the process flowsheet in its entirety: how plant engineers design the system; and how the equipment suppliers deliver pieces of equipment that can work optimally and seamlessly together to deliver the results required,” he says. “Core technologies involved in 4IR plants include data management, communication

“The value to human beings and the role they play in creating and using digital platforms needs to be highlighted at the starting point of this journey,” says Thomas Holtz.

18 ¦ MechChem Africa • September-October 2021