Infosys TechCompass

Mining

Trend 7. Digital twins adoption grows for existing and new mine sites

Digital twins help miners improve mine performance for existing and new mine sites. These virtual models of physical sites create a virtual replica of physical mine site objects. The systems rely on technologies like AR/ VR to model and simulate mine site and activities, which is in turn used for cause-and-effect analysis to better predict and solve operational challenges.

The technology helps miners virtually visualize their supply chain and operations. It boosts operational visibility and real-time management of production, inventory, product pipeline, and deliveries. To augment the AR/VR based tech, autonomous systems are used to speed-up decision-making. It also facilitates fast and efficient integration of information- and operationaltechnology. Backed by cloud-enabled systems, it eases the data flow from mine sites to points of decision making, irrespective of geographic distance between the two.

Infosys' portfolio of mining solutions use AI, IoT, cloud, and extended reality (XR). Infosys digital twin connects physical operations to their digital counterpart. The platform helps miners boost efficiency with IT and OT convergence and provides AI and ML powered business insights. Here, industry 4.0 technologies boost operational efficiency with autonomous hauling, and AR/VR/XR technologies enhance worker safety. Infosys' digital data management framework backs this platform with deep data management expertise, including accelerators, governance best practices, and quality enhancement. Infosys Cloud Migration Framework acts as the backbone to operationalize digital initiatives through real-time site monitoring and optimization solutions.

Mining

Trend 8. Miners turn to smart inventory management and logistics for supply chain optimization

Capabilities like inventory management and logistics are essential for asset-intensive industries such as metals and mining. The same has sustainability imperatives in addition to the core operational performance. To optimize inventory and logistics, a company needs to deal with several variables. Therefore, process and resource companies are partnering with tech and shipping companies to explore even quantum computing solutions that can factor many variables and provide the most optimal routing solutions. However, the technology is still in its infancy and there is much to be explored. In the present day, miners are leveraging IoT-based telematics tracking technology to implement smart inventory and logistics management. In their journey toward digital transformation, it is crucial for miners to implement new technologies collaboratively with reliable partners and trustworthy vendors.

A leading miner partnered with Infosys to develop a custom telematics tracking solution to maximize fleet utilization. With features such as near real-time visibility into performance indicators and assetspecific analytics, the solution helped the mining company improve fleet safety, reduce fuel consumption, and rationalize maintenance costs.

Another major mining company, in association with Infosys, built a sophisticated logistic track and trace solution. This solution has features such as data integration, route planning, and shipping scheduling, along with rich visualization and customization flexibility to work with real-time logistics data.