SURFACE AUTOMATION
Cat 793F autonomous trucks
at the loading face
Proven to pay off
Surface truck automation has matured in Western
Australia, is gathering pace in the Canadian oil sands,
and is under consideration elsewhere, while in other
equipment areas autonomy is also proving its benefits.
Paul Moore looks at recent progress
here is no doubt that surface automation
is gathering pace in implementation and
investment. A recent survey by the World
Economic Forum found that 82% of executives in
the mining industry plan to increase
investments in digital technology within the next
three years, and nearly a third (28%) expect
those contributions to be significant.
A recent article by Autonomous Solutions, Inc
(ASI), one of the leading OEM-agnostic
suppliers of autonomy solutions in surface
mining, states: “This widespread commitment to
data visualisation, cybersecurity, robotics, and
automation will have profound implications for
what is a $402 billion industry. It is very likely
that organisations who move swiftly to adopt
and implement these new technologies will
emerge as market leaders with significantly
reduced costs and overheads.”
The same report found that early adopters
may see an EBITA difference of nearly 70%
compared to their laggard counterparts. “This
stark contrast can be attributed to vast
increases in operational efficiency. Companies
that embrace robotics and automation will lower
administrative costs, prolong equipment life,
and be able to make better on the scene
decisions.”
“There is also an increase in productivity
associated with technologies like Robotic
Process Automation (RPA). RPA takes many of
the repetitive tasks that are associated with a
large knowledge workforce and mimic these
activities through software to free up human
counterparts for more