TAMPERE, Finland and
ARMONK, N.Y., April 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Joint clients
of IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, one of
the world's largest premium mining equipment manufacturers, are
tapping the powers of IoT, advanced analytics and artificial
intelligence to realize safety, maintenance, productivity and
operational efficiency.
The mining and rock excavation industry is under growing
pressure to increase the global supply of minerals to meet the
needs and expectations of a rapidly rising world population. This
often requires extracting from increasing greater depths, which can
make it difficult to communicate and act as necessary when
equipment fails or needs to be serviced.
OptiMine® Analytics transforms data into
process improvements via predictive insights and actionable
dashboards embedded into operation management systems. Using
the analytics capabilities from IBM Watson IoT, this information
management solution allows mining companies to combine equipment
and application data from disparate sources in real-time, analyzing
patterns in the data to help improve availability, utilization and
performance.
Through a series of IBM Design Thinking workshops, IBM and
Sandvik work with clients to develop a framework to shape offerings
around data driven productivity and predictive
maintenance. Using the Watson IoT technology, Sandvik and IBM
have jointly created a platform able to comply with the stringent
reliability and security requirements of mining operations.
Predictive maintenance technology leveraging IoT sensor data has
also been introduced as part of this platform.
"Proactively identifying maintenance needs before something
breaks is leading to huge cost and time savings," said Patrick Murphy, president, Rock Drills &
Technologies, Sandvik. "Our award-winning OptiMine® Analytics with
IBM Watson IoT solutions offer our customers a more complete view
of their operations for smarter, safer and more productive
work."
Sandvik and IBM clients such as Petra Diamonds and Barminco are
using IoT to help reduce miner exposure to hostile work
environments and increase safety.
"Our top priority is the safety of our employees and if a
machine fails underground, we need
immediate insight into what is happening in that tunnel," said
Luctor Roode, executive operations at Petra Diamonds. "With the
solution from Sandvik and IBM, we have real-time data that allows
us to immediately identify the root cause of the problem and act
accordingly."
"Leveraging data is become increasingly valuable across the
mining sector. Through analytics, machine learning and AI, we are
seeing new possibilities for increased operational efficiency,"
said Paul Muller, chief executive
officer, Barminco. "Our partnership with Sandvik's OptiMine®
Analytics allows us to fast-track our efforts, leveraging Sandvik's
whole-of-fleet data and innate machine knowledge."
OptiMine® Analytics will also be used by Vedanta Zinc
International's Black Mountain Mining (BMM) operations in
South Africa's Northern Cape
Province, to accelerate data-driven operations for safety,
efficiency and productivity for trucks, loaders and drills.
Additionally, Hindustan Zinc, one of the world's largest integrated
producers of zinc, lead and silver has tapped Sandvik to
implement a major digital transformation at its Sindesar Khurd
Mine, India, to ensure all
required infrastructure and platforms can achieve world-class
mining safety, efficiency and productivity.
"Sensors and tracking systems for asset management is only the
beginning when it comes to how artificial intelligence will disrupt
the mining industry," said Jay
Bellissimo, General Manager, Cognitive Process
Transformation, IBM Global Business Services. "Creating a solution
that turns the data into actionable insights is a delicate matter.
It requires an interdisciplinary effort spanning across mining
technology, software engineering and data science. IBM and Sandvik
are now on course to help transform the mining value chain with the
fusion of cognitive capabilities into miners business and operating
processes."
Sandvik has been delivering solutions in the mining automation
business for decades, with autonomous operations in more than 60
mines on six continents. This footprint is a major asset to the
process optimization solutions in higher and higher demand. For its
part, IBM has been working with leading mining clients to infuse
cognitive capabilities in their business and operating processes,
creating the Cognitive Value Chain for Mining. This
multidisciplinary approach leverages and expands on the concepts of
the fourth industrial revolution by helping miners achieve new
efficiency savings, without having to make large-scale capital
investments.
Sandvik Group
Sandvik is a high-tech and global
engineering group offering products and services that enhance
customer productivity, profitability and safety. We hold
world-leading positions in selected areas – tools and tooling
systems for metal cutting; equipment and tools, service and
technical solutions for the mining industry and rock excavation
within the construction industry; products in advanced stainless
steels and special alloys as well as products for industrial
heating. In 2018, the Group had approximately 42,000 employees and
revenues of about 100 billion SEK in
more than 160 countries within continuing operations.
Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology
Sandvik Mining and
Rock Technology is a business area within the Sandvik Group and a
global leading supplier of equipment and tools, service and
technical solutions for the mining and construction industries.
Application areas include rock drilling, rock cutting, crushing and
screening, loading and hauling, tunneling, quarrying and breaking
and demolition. In 2018, sales were
approximately 43 billion SEK with about 15,000 employees
in continuing operations.
About IBM
For more information about IBM
Services please visit: https://www.ibm.com/services
Contact:
Jeannine Kilbride
1-860-997-6277
jkilbri@us.ibm.com
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sandvik-and-ibm-usher-in-the-fourth-industrial-revolution-to-the-mining-industry-with-ibm-watson-300821186.html
SOURCE IBM