As mining companies seek to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and act to safeguard employees, some have started to relocate around 15–20 percent of their on-site workforce by setting up “control towers” to facilitate remote working (especially for non-frontline roles like subject-matter experts). This is helping the industry develop more resilient, responsive, and flexible operating models suited to an increasingly uncertain environment. Now, however, companies are rapidly advancing their capabilities for remote means of working and collaboration. As expected, executives have a renewed interest in Remote Operating Centers (ROCs) that build on remote working capabilities to unlock additional value, such as enhancing decision making by integrating functions across the value chain. Although not a new concept, ROCs present an opportunity for mining companies to reimagine and reform the ways they operate as remote working becomes imperative to ensuring value and sustainability.
Varied ROC landscape
ROCs harness technology to ensure safe, reliable operations from a centralized location. However, the maturity and sophistication of these collaborative workplaces varies based on the capabilities available within the mining organization. Some companies have implemented cloud-based systems that aggregate site data into a single data lake that can be accessed, analyzed, and visualized for decision support, creating a “room of screens”; other companies manage and actively control plant automation systems, fleet management systems, and remote-controlled machines from the ROC. The most sophisticated companies manage all these functions on a larger geographic scale, covering the value chain from end to end, optimizing post-processed ore logistics and port facilities used by multiple mine sites within a region, with regional parts and supply warehouses monitored across multiple assets for supply-chain optimization. The larger span of control of such operations helps to maximize best-practice benefits across site assets to drive operational improvements such as predictive maintenance among similar mine fleets.
Create the technology backbone of the ROC through technology stack and facilities integration. While technology development is not typically a major pain point, careful consideration must be given to data and systems reliability, location of primary physical storage infrastructure, and design of back-up systems. Software integration at the ROC is as important as integration of human functions. Building a single source of truth is essential to enable the integrated decision making, transparency of information, and accountability needed to improve operations. In addition, a robust cybersecurity approach supported by a cyber-risk management and governance structure is critical to protect the ROC from potential threats. These decisions can impact connectivity, bandwidth, and latency, each of which must be sufficient to enable the ROC to effectively control on-site operations in real-time: for example, adjustment of plant processing parameters or remote control of mobile equipment and process optimization tools, such as machine-learning algorithms.
With the right technology foundation, the ROC can function as the analytical center of excellence, setting data standards, creating and updating analytical optimization models, building analytics capability, and driving partnerships to codevelop solutions aligned with the new planning process for optimizing.
Among other players, VALE ( www.vale.com ), 2nd largest mining company in the world is a Brazilian multinational with strong demand for that.
ANGLO AMERICAN ( https://brasil.angloamerican.com/pt-pt ) also has plenty of mining sites in Brazil and would configure another very interesting case to be addressed.
If your company is interested in participating in business opportunity such as these, we would be more than glad to act as your bridge into Brazil.
The high-level confidence on the executive relationship established along the process was crucial for such agreement to happen, given the fact that it has been signed on July 2004, almost one year before the launch of the satellites itself, on February 2005. That kind of deal known as a pre-launch agreement.
If your company is interested in participating in business opportunity such as these, we would be more than glad to act as your bridge into Brazil.
Always count on the widely respected experience and networking of MEREGE Consulting Partners to reach out to the right people at the right time.
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If your company is interested in to participate on this business opportunity, we would be more than glad to bridge you in.
Also, get the safest and strongest legal advisory through MEREGE Legal & Regulatory team.
Always count on the widely respected experience and networking of MEREGE Consulting Partners to reach out to the right people at the right time.
