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‘Edge Solutions Enhance OEM Options’ – Article Preview

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Global Mining Review,


Thishen Naidoo, Emerson, Canada, considers why mining operators are relying more heavily on their OEM suppliers to improve uptime and support, and why in response these equipment providers are enlisting edge technologies.

‘Edge Solutions Enhance OEM Options’ – Article Preview

Mining is a long-established industry with many traditional aspects, however this does not mean it enjoys completely stable conditions. In fact, a scarcity of labour, rising OpEx costs, and dynamic market conditions are pushing mining operators to achieve new levels of flexibility and capability.

One way mining operators can do so is to partner more closely with their original equipment manufacturer (OEM) suppliers, urging them to add technologies and capabilities for maximising uptime, delivering superior performance, and enabling new methods of improving responsiveness. Digital transformation, through the application of edge technologies and industrial internet of things (IIoT) solutions, is a fundamental way for OEMs to deliver these capabilities. A better-connected asset is more effective over its lifetime, and the opportunity to employ advanced machine learning and analytics provides new opportunities for optimisation.

Although OEMs are experienced at delivering machinery for specific mining operations, many are still in the early phases of their digital transformation journey to deliver advanced features capable of helping end users coordinate site-wide systems. End users know they can benefit from IIoT and remote connectivity, but they are not always positioned to completely specify which technologies provide the best mix. Indeed, OEMs and end users alike may expect that a custom mixture of hardware, software and networking products are required, and recognise this can involve significant risk and cost.

All those involved, especially the OEMs supplying equipment to the mining industry, may find that a better method is to select the required automation and connectivity products from a coordinated portfolio, supplied by an industry leader with established experience. Proven, ready-to-develop edge solutions reduce the risk and effort needed to deliver rapid results, enabling open system implementations scalable to any size, while maintaining cybersecurity.

Digging into the details

By nature, many goals of an OEM equipment supplier and a mining end user are in alignment. They both want the equipment to perform reliably and be cost-effective, as proven by metrics, such as mean time between failure (MTBF), overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), and energy monitoring. However, sometimes the parties involved pursue objectives that may diverge.

For instance, the mining industry equipment arena is dominated by specialised OEMs using a variety of automation platforms, and often offering limited, or even proprietary, connectivity. These OEMs will inherently focus their efforts on new equipment and their core market.

However, as the industry shifts toward higher levels of autonomy, there is an end user push for more functionality, openness, and connectivity. In part, this is to enable optimisation, scalability and integration within mining operations, but obtaining IIoT and remote connectivity is becoming equally important to support data acquisition, analysis, control, and diagnostics.

Also, while some installations will be new from the ground up, there are many cases where legacy systems must be accommodated, or the existing fleet needs to be upgraded. End users need solutions for all these cases.

This is a preview of an article that was originally published in the November/December 2022 issue of Global Mining Review. The full version can be read here.

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Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/mining/27122022/edge-solutions-enhance-oem-options-article-preview/

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