Miners must keep pace: Deloitte
MINING companies have begun to adopt key technologies to help them adapt in a changing market, but are still lagging behind other industries, according to Deloitte’s Tracking the Trends 2019.
According to the report, released on 29 January, many miners had already begun exploring and investing in analytics and artificial intelligence (AI), but had not kept up with the automotive and manufacturing industries in their efforts to digitalise supply chains.
It stated that while miners tended to digitalise discrete pieces of equipment such as trucks and trains – they had not extended these efforts across the entire supply chain, from pit to port.
“As a result, the data they generate from the technology they have installed exists in a vacuum – hampering their capacity to generate true insights that could otherwise enable them to reduce inventory costs through just-in-time procurement, enhance asset utilisation rates, and improve their production outcomes by making their Engineering, Procurement and Construction relationships more dynamic and responsive,” the report stated.
“In essence, a supply chain paradox exists; although most mining executives agree that the supply chain is a top priority for digital transformation investments, supply chain leaders are generally not consulted when it comes to making decisions about those investments.
“As a result, supply chain improvements remain incremental rather than delivering innovations designed to optimise operations.”
Deloitte National mining leader for Australia Ian Sanders said miners also needed to go beyond technology in their ability to adapt in an ever-changing market.
“Disruption and volatility has become the new normal,” Mr Sanders said.
“Australian mining companies must not only adapt to the disruption of industry from a technical viewpoint, but the disruption being brought about by changing community standards and attitudes towards mining.”