Owing to challenges, such as depressed commodity prices, declining revenues, increasing production costs and high energy costs, the African mining industry needs to embrace new solutions based on the Industry 4.0 industrial transformation, states engineering company Bosch mining key account manager Landry Meya.

Such a development would bring growth to the African continent’s mining experts pool, he enthuses.

Modern technology will create opportunities and increase the demand for skilled labour, which would be provided through training and education in the African mining industry, he notes.

“Technological breakthroughs have brought enormous benefits for businesses in all sectors in terms of costs reductions, improved productivity and efficiency.” Meya is, thus, confident that advancements in modern technology will promote investment in education or training development.

Investment in education and training, specifically the development of more highly skilled human resources in Africa, will lead to an improvement in socioeconomic development, he adds, noting that this is the “positive side of modernisation”.

Advantages

Industry 4.0 cannot be prevented, notes Meya, as many challenges are resolved or addressed by this trend.

“Industry 4.0 is already in Africa, but the question is: ‘When will we see the entire industrial transformation taking place in Africa?’ It will take some time to see these changes, but I believe that we will see many major mining companies embrace this transformation within the next five years,” he explains.

Industry 4.0, which is the current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies, includes the Internet of Things and cloud systems. It leads to improved efficiency, safety and security, as well as communication between machines and users to prevent breakdowns to reduce downtime and repair costs dramatically and, thereby, increase the productivity and, ultimately, the profits of mines, says Meya.

He further enthuses that a smarter way of mining – based on Industry 4.0 – will always challenge conventional mining methods, owing to timing (which refers to the pace at which ore is taken out of the ground, transported and processed) playing a key role in the sustainability and productivity of the industry.

Technological advancements or breakthroughs, he notes, have “shaken” the industry into the smart automation of production processes, machine-to-machine interaction, leading to reduced health and safety risks, owing to less human involvement in production processes.

The Bosch Offering

“I do not know a mining company that does not have Bosch products – which can range from power tools, drive controls, hydraulics, automotive components and even thermotechnology and security technology,” Meya declares.

He enthuses that the company has proven solutions for the challenges that the African mining industry faces, with more “avant-garde products and solutions” made available for global mining customers, he adds.

“The mining industry needs new technology and innovation to address challenges such as safety and security, high energy costs, and a decline in productivity.”

Bosch has provided solutions based on hydraulic and modernised drives and controls, gas-based solutions for processed heat, sensor technology for improving energy efficiency and preventive maintenance, as well as off-the-grid security technology using alternative energy sources such as solar.

Hydraulic drive systems, Meya explains, are engineered to perform under severe conditions and provide reliable power to vital mining applications such as feeders and reclaimers owing to their robustness, precise control, reliability and often, he explains, gear boxes are eliminated saving space.

has supplied many mining companies operating in sub-Saharan Africa countries – such as Mozambique, South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo – as well as in West and North Africa.

Meya points out that Africa needs to reinforce regulations on anticollision – which can be machine-to-machine or machine-to-human based, and encompass the movement tracking of employees on site and mobile tracking solutions – and health risk assessments caused by pollution.

Supporting compliance with such regulations, Bosch offers its three-dimensional Surround View multicamera system, which was introduced last year, through which an operator of mining equipment is provided with a 360º view of the area around the equipment to prevent accidents and fatalities on site.

Bosch also developed the Micro-Climate Monitoring System, which was launched in June and is used to address health, awareness, compliance and quality of life on site.