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With the rise of digitalisation and an increasing reliance on technology, it appears that no industry is immune from the need to boost its digital investment.
The global mining and metals sector is no different, and a new survey from management consultancy Accenture highlights the industry’s rapidly growing investment in digital initiatives. The results indicate that digital investment among mining and metals companies in North America has been increasing for the past three years, and this looks set to continue in the years ahead.
More than nine out of 10 mining executives surveyed said they are satisfied with their current level of investment in digital and the business results it has generated, with a third saying they are looking to “significantly increase” their investment efforts.
None of the companies surveyed planned to reduce their digital investment in the next three years.
According to Accenture, this drive in digital investment is borne out of necessity as mining and metals organisations are constantly looking for ways to “disrupt traditional business models” in an attempt to stay competitive and cost efficient.
“Now more than ever, North American metals and mining companies are turning to digital, a new frontier for metals and mining companies to improve operations, productivity and identify growth opportunities,” said Jose J Suarez, managing director of mining (North America) at Accenture.
“We know that mobility devices can be used to track maintenance and reliability – and provide miners with better status updates that result in faster decision-making.”
Mr Suarez also pointed to disruptive trends such as big data analytics as factors behind the increasing shift to digital solutions.
With North America being a global trend-setter for a number of critical industries, it may not be long before we see similar disruptions to mining engineering here in Australia.