Industry articles

Digital Innovation Movement

In the mining and resources industry alone, we are seeing an influx of real-time solutions, and with them comes the next generation of analytics and decision support. Digital Transformation Initiative: Mining and Metals says that these solutions allow the "Leveraging algorithms and artificial intelligence to process data from sources within and beyond the traditional value chain, in order to provide real-time decision support and future projections." These data-driven processes takes the human emotion out of decision making. Whether it be automation and robotics or a digitally enabled workforce, these embedded innovations are driving excellence across many industries. They are simplifying what has traditionally been the complicated and limiting factors of industries.

The undercurrent of industry practices are being changed. The ecosystems that keep these industries working are being revolutionized by the 5th industrial revolution.

These real-time solutions can be seen in many different areas across many different regions and within several industries. In November of 2019 news spread that Pike River had been using robotics to enter the drift and investigate the explosion that killed 29 much-loved miners. In the process, giving the families some closure and making more sense as to what went so terribly wrong. These military robots are providing an ongoing investigation with a single source of truth and empowering an industry with data and facts to ensure it never happens again.

We have also seen 3D printing come to life as well as smart sensors helping to identify such things as methane levels and fatigue levels. Remote Operation Centres (ROC's) are another aspect of this revolution as well as IT/OT convergence, advanced analytics, and simulation modeling.

It's not surprising that AI and real-time solutions are taking data-driven industries to unprecedented places with the ability to make decisions in real-time with the guidance of analytics and data. It's changing the way industries work and ensuring that maintenance mitigation is done in real-time to avoid longer breakdowns in the future. Data and analytics are also enabling departments like Commerical and Marketing to get a better understanding of their customers and change their processes in accordance with what is needed to sustain valued relationships.