Operations

From paperwork to performance – boosting maintenance efficiency through digital transformation

June 11, 2025
15 minutes

At a glance:

  • While digital transformation in the mining sector is well underway, many organisations are still grappling with paper-based processes for maintenance.
  • Continual use of paper-based maintenance processes is increasing the disconnect between field and office operations and significantly impacting asset management goals.
  • Moving to digital work execution delivers significant improvements in productivity, responsiveness to repairs, safety compliance and asset uptime.
  • Obzervr helps miners transition to digital work execution with a single integrated platform that manages all aspects of maintenance digitally.
  • Obzervr’s web-based platform and mobile app seamlessly integrates with critical business systems to connect the field with the office in near real-time.
  • Digital transformation of maintenance workflows, forms and processes can take as little as 90 days – providing a fast time to value.

It is well known that organisations within heavy industry are under constant pressure to maximise asset uptime, control costs, improve worker safety, improve quality of data, adhere to stringent compliance and ESG requirements, reduce inventory bloat – phew... the list goes on.

Add to this the fast-changing technology landscape, the vast amounts of operational and asset data available, and the pressure to use both to streamline operations and remain competitive!

When it comes to optimising operations and critical assets, many mining organisations understand the importance of digital transformation and are investing in their ERP or EAM systems to better manage their assets and resourcing.

However, when it comes to asset maintenance, many are still grappling with outdated, paper-based processes that are creating a disconnect between the field and the office. This disconnect, due to the lack of integrated systems and data significantly, hinders an organisation's ability to deliver the right level of information that maintenance workers on the frontline need, and is leaving a wealth of asset, operational and safety data in the field or buried in paperwork.

The impacts of paper-based maintenance processes:

  • Maintenance teams are overwhelmed with paperwork and admin - significantly impacting their productivity
  • Supervisors spend more time reviewing and rekeying work orders than managing teams
  • Technicians are losing tool time and asset repair responsiveness
  • Maintenance work is not standardised across teams, shifts or sites due to document management and inefficient communications
  • Worker safety is compromised due to technicians not having access to the right information at the right time
  • Asset managers struggle to see the full picture about the state of their assets due to limited, delayed or inaccurate data
  • Organisations are losing the wealth of data available from tech-enabled equipment, machinery, and resources in the field
  • Assets repairs are delayed resulting in unexcepted downtime and productivity losses
  • Inventory levels are bloated to accommodate uncertainty; items are unallocated or out of stock.
Smart form digitisation of an equipment prestart check

True digital work execution is more than PDFs in the field

True digital maintenance work execution is more than digitising forms and making them available on mobile – it’s about transforming all paper-based processes, workflows, and job information into fully digital work execution and leveraging the benefits that mobile technology, system integrations, and real-time data can provide.

When maintenance work is managed and executed digitally and seamlessly integrated with other critical business systems, maintenance efficiency is boosted, safety is improved, productivity increases, asset downtime is reduced, and data captured in the field is accessible in near real-time to improve decision-making and responsiveness.

Obzervr’s Digital Work Management Solution is a true end-to-end fieldwork automation and mobility solution that allows maintenance supervisors, planners and technicians to manage all aspects of maintenance in a single integrated platform.

A web-based platform and mobile app, Obzervr seamlessly integrates with an organisation's ERPs, CMMS, and other critical business systems to connect frontline maintenance work and the data they capture in the field - with office systems and operations.  

When paper-based maintenance processes are transformed into full digital work execution, organisations have typically achieved the following results:

Move from paperwork to performance in 90 days

To some, digital transformation of maintenance might sound overwhelming or complicated - especially for mining organisations with multiple systems, disparate data or teams that are more comfortable on tools than technology – but it does not have to be.

Obzervr is a specialist provider of fieldwork automation and mobility solutions for mining. Our Digital Work Management Solution has been built to be a highly configurable and scalable out-of-the box type solution that is supported from configuration and implementation to training and ongoing support.

For organisations, this means that Obzervr:

  • can be configured to align closely with maintenance operations and how your teams already work
  • is intuitive and easy to use - reducing the barriers to adoption or change
  • can scale across sites and regions over time
  • can have additional capabilities integrated as part of your digital transformation journey
  • can be implemented and integrated with business systems within 90 days with limited disruption to operations.

Download our solution infosheet for full details:

[cta-download-solution-infosheet]

While digital transformation can seem daunting – it does not have to be. Choosing the right solution and the right partner will ensure your move from paper to digital work execution will reap significant benefits and a fast time to value.

Keen to learn more? Book a 30 min discovery session with our team. During this session we will discuss what is most important to your organisation, provide an overview of Obzervr’s Digital Work Management Solution, and how our phased 90 day implementation approach makes digital transformation of maintenance easier.

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Learn how Obzervr can boost maintenance efficiency and empower frontline workers with a 30 minute Discovery Session

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