How the mining industry can benefit from APM

In the mining industry, minerals, metals, and mines don’t contain connected technology. Evoking industry 4.0 advantages for this type of industry thus sounds unrealistic and not feasible. In order to increase productivity, improve operations and decrease operating costs, Asset Performance Management (APM) systems allow mining industries to transform their mines into “digital mines”, laying the groundwork for operational excellence and optimized maintenance strategies.

Thanks to deep and broad analysis, as well as complex technological tools, such as RCM, FMEA, RCA, bad actors, best practices recommendations, and others, pave the way for:

• Improved asset availability and reliability
• Reduced downtime and optimized maintenance strategies for each piece of equipment, thus improving the overall production process, which leads to increased productivity and enhanced performance
• Lowered operational, maintenance, and lifecycle costs
• Increased lifetime of assets
• Decreased risks for environmental impacts linked to critical asset failures
• Etc.

In terms of profit gains, an APM system will allow mine operators to verify whether producing more will ultimately lead to higher profits. In fact, intensifying your production also leads to a more demanding maintenance program on your assets in order to ensure reliable functioning and avoid downtimes or failures. Imagine decreasing your production frequency back to normal after some months – you’ll easily lose money by keeping up with the same amount of maintenance operations, if maintenance strategies are not specifically developed for particular assets and updated regularly, according to real-time operating modes.

Sirfull’s PowerMaint™ APM system shows the potential impact of an operating change on equipment reliability and maintenance costs. A toolbox approach enables the simulation of different plant management scenarios with the help of collected (historical and real-time) data, asset criticality, and risk assessment.

For more information, please check out our various modules, or contact us for a free one-to-one demo of our platform.