March 25, 2024

Conducting Remote Inspections & Audits In Mining Industry

As an aftereffect of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the mining industry is also reimagining its mining operational model and enabling "remote working" facilities to its workers. McKinsey reports that mining companies have begun to relocate 15-20% of their onsite workforce to the remote work model.The emergence of digital inspection technologies is vital for implementing remote working and workforce safety. Market reports show that the global market for digital inspection tools is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.2% to $27.84 billion by the year 2023. For the mining industry, remote inspections can potentially save up to $500,000 each day and improve effectiveness by 80%.Can a Frontline Workforce Productivity platform enable remote inspections and audits – and reduce travel costs - for mining companies? Let us discuss how.

6 Ways of Conducting Remote Mining Inspections and Audits

Here is how a Frontline Workforce Productivity platform can help in conducting remote inspections and audits in mining companies:

Enabling remote collaborations.

Thanks to digital tools, remote inspections can be performed by expert technicians for offsite mining sites. On its part, remote collaboration provides real-time visibility and reduces the costs of traveling to distant mining facilities.Through the workforce productivity platform, step-by-step instructions (in digital format) can also be conveyed for effective mining inspections and audits.

Increasing machine uptime.

As in any manufacturing industry, machine downtime in the mining sector can cost up to $180,000 through production losses. "Traditional" corrective maintenance techniques can add to operational costs – along with the cost of traveling to mining sites.In the remote working mode, machine uptime can be improved through issue resolution provided by remote expertise.

Verifying safety compliance measures using remote audits.

There is an increasing emphasis on workforce safety in the mining sector. Mining companies need to comply with safety regulations for their frontline operators.Remote audits, enabled by digital technologies like Augmented Reality (AR), provide complete visibility on whether safety regulations are being followed. Further, there is documented proof for auditors to verify if all the necessary safety actions and procedures have been executed.

Managing process deviations.

To address the root cause of mining-related problems, inspection personnel need to look into any process deviations and their enabling factors. Through remote inspections, mining business experts can troubleshoot any process deviation and minimize its business impact.

Ensuring on-time inspections and audits.

The growing number of mining incidents and the importance of safety practices means mining companies need to perform regular inspections and audits on time every time. Delayed inspections can add to operational costs and inefficiencies.Remote inspections and audits are an efficient mode of ensuring that these processes are completed on time and that all the best practices have been implemented. For example, guided workflows (in digital format) can be a useful aid for mining operators.

Leveraging data insights.

Using a centralized data platform, mining companies can now leverage data-driven strategies including measuring key metrics & KPIs, obtaining real-time data analytics using IoT sensors in mining equipment, and using vision analytics in mining inspections. Further, mining companies can improve their predictive maintenance operations through data insights indicating process deviations and anomalies. Adding to this, valuable data insights can be stored using data collection tools for future training and reporting purposes.

Conclusion

In these pandemic times, remote inspections and audits are valuable assets in the mining industry for improving productivity and reducing travel-related costs and efforts.With its Frontline Workforce Productivity platform, Atheer has enabled mining companies to overcome multiple pain points including conducting mining inspections, surveys, and audits. By partnering with Atheer, you can empower your frontline workforce with customized industry solutions in AR-based video assistance, chat and group messaging, work instructions, business processes, learning and training, and document sharing. Need help in implementing remote inspections and audits? Connect with us today.

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