Reaching for the Sky: Using Drones to Propel the Mining Industry Forward

Transcription

1 Reachig for the Sky: Usig Droes to Propel the Miig Idustry Forward Abstract Droes are becomig icreasigly pervasive across idustries. Use of droes i the Metals & Miig (M&M) idustry is curretly cetered o safeguardig huma safety i risky ad hazardous operatios. Cost optimizatio is a area that is yet to be explored. The lack of solutios related to the commercialized use of droes ca be attributed to multiple regulatory hurdles ad techological limitatios, besides the fear of icreasig moetary ivestmets. The paper highlights various use cases ad beefits of deployig droes i the M&M idustry with the help of real world examples. It also discusses the key cosideratios for developig droe solutios ad highlights a framework that ca help M&M compaies determie readiess, mitigate challeges, ad maximize ROI o droe techology ivestmets.

2 Is the Metals & Miig Sector Ready to Embrace Droes? The M&M idustry, which has traditioally stayed away from embracig techological advacemets, is ow bakig o Idustry 4.0 ad associated techologies such as Cloud, Aalytics, AI, ad Iteret of Thigs (IoT) to address a whole gamut of challeges. These iclude macroecoomic factors like price volatility, ecoomic dowtur, supply-demad fluctuatio, striget regulatios, ad evirometal sactios. At the same time, M&M compaies are also lookig to overcome microecoomic hurdles related to hazardous miig coditios to esure the health, safety, ad security of their workforce. Oe solutio to this microecoomic challege that is gaiig promiece i recet times is the use of droes. While deep rooted droe solutios are yet to gai the support of the idustry, may compaies have started usig droes to mitigate the risks arisig out of hazardous workig coditios at the productio sites ad mies. Accordig to recet research, digitizatio i miig will cut dow the umber of miig i fatalities by half by 2020.

3 How ca Droes Trasform the Miig Idustry? While droes offer sigificat applicatios across the differet stages of the M&M value chai, their importace could vary depedig o the compaies' eeds ad the regios of operatios. Figure 1 maps applicatios of droes i the M&M idustry with varyig degrees of importace. I the figure, visual iformatio icludes surveillace, ispectio, ad compliace maagemet. Site plaig icorporates plaig across the site for physical set-ups alog with helpig compay leadership take importat decisios. Site ad surroudig ispectio ivolves detailed aalysis of the geographical regios. Mappig activities iclude 3D/4D mappig across mies ad sites. Droes Metals & Miig Solutios Prospectig Plaig Feasibility & Establishig Miig & Trasport Extractig & processig Marketig & Distributio Mie Closure Visual Iformatio Site Plaig Site & Surroudig Ispectios Mappig Activities (Mies) Real Time iformatio Safety & Security (Hazards Idetificatio) L M H Varyig Degrees of Importace Figure 1: Droe-based solutios across the M&M value chai Some of the key use cases ad real world examples of droe usage i M&M idustry iclude: Improvig safety durig site ispectios: Australia miig compaies use droes o a regular basis to collect iformatio ad collate data poits from areas that are ii iaccessible or hazardous to huma persoel. Automated aerial droes ca help moitor ad map such terrai i a digital format.

4 Eablig cost optimizatio through visual moitorig: Esurig safety compliace at a much cheaper price tag has emerged as oe of the major advatages of droes i the M&M idustry. BHP Billito has bee usig droes i its Queeslad mies. Origially, the droe cameras were iii iteded to esure safety ad security of workers by servig as surveillace agets that esure proper evacuatio before begiig blastig activities. Today, they are beig used by the compay to drive cost-savigs. Replacig plaes with camera-eabled droes has saved the compay AUD 5 millio aually as hirig a droe pilot costs just USD 200 per hour as opposed to hirig a plae for USD 2,000 per hour. Safeguardig equipmet ispectio ad ifrastructure surveillace: Rio Tito, a leadig global miig group, is a avid user of droes. The compay uses them to obtai real time 3-D mappig ad iformatio with respect to equipmet istructios, alog with surveillace data o iv slopes, walls, or crests. The compay is ow plaig to expad the use of droe techology to other busiess aspects such as moitorig geo-techical issues i difficultto-access areas, ad ispectio of log stretches of v ifrastructure such as power ad rail lies. Mitigatig the risk from illegal miig: I Gujarat, Idia, droes with ight visio cameras esure tight surveillace of the Sabarmati river bed, where rampat illegal sad miig vi is erodig the profits of the miig compaies i the regio. Acceleratig data collectio ad boostig operatioal efficiecy: Aglo America, a globally diversified miig busiess, has bee usig a fleet of 10 droes to moitor the progress of work ad stockpiles i their Kumba iro ore vii mies i South Africa. The droes have helped the mie operator collect data that previously would have take weeks to collate, besides deliverig ew iformatio from iaccessible areas that was ot feasible before.

5 What's Delayig Droe Adoptio? Up util ow, most droe solutios have bee desiged to provide oly icremetal beefits. They have failed to accout for opportuity costs. The lack of a stadardized adoptio framework further complicates the situatio for M&M compaies strugglig to defie their uses cases ad develop customized solutios for their value chais. Some miig compaies are apprehesive about the icreased upfrot cost of operatios ad are uwillig to chage status quo. Table 1 summarizes the key issues hiderig large scale adoptio of droes i the M&M sector. Challeges i usig droes i the M&M idustry Varyig rules, regulatios, ad legalities across geographies Impact Lack of stadardized global policies aroud droe usage results i strict vigilace by local law ad eforcemet agecies. Droes have limited flyig capacity, load edurace, ad processig power This has made the droes fiacially uviable, as their flyig time is limited. I additio, their limited processig power prevets extesive real time iformatio gatherig ad decisio-makig. Droes solutios are icompatible with existig solutios Cocers related to public privacy ad safety ad air traffic iterferece Lack of availability of experieced vedors ad readily customizable solutios The existig solutios or the operatig/evirometal coditios may ot be coducive to droe deploymet. This is oe of the mai reasos prevetig most coutries from gratig full or partial permissio curretly droes eed to stay i the lie of sight at all times. Eve if M&M compaies are iterested i deployig droe solutios, the implemetatio may become ifeasible or icompatible due to lack of ecoomies of scale. Table 1: Reasos hamperig large-scale adoptio of droes i the M&M sector All the above challeges or a mix of some of the challeges from above coupled with the crisis for the M & M compaies i terms of commodity prices have posed hurdles. Yet examples & case studies have demostrated that the miig compaies are truly evaluatig optios for embracig the Droes solutio to gai competitive advatages. However, the lack of framework or rather absece of a structured guide have ofte hidered the adoptios except some big ames i the idustry. Thus, the ext sectio would try to preset a exhaustive framework or rather a structured guide, which could help a M&M compay to recosider Droes as a part of their IT ivestmets i the future.

6 Ca V-A-C-A-R-B framework Assess M&M Compaies' Readiess for Droe Adoptio? Leveragig the V-A-C-A-R-B (Validatio across value chai, Aalysis of acceptability, Compatibility check, Availability check, ROI determiatio, ad Beefits realizatio) framework ca help M&M compaies uderstad the implicatios ad impact of droe solutios beforehad, eablig greater profitability ad cost savigs. V-A-C-A-R-B is a qualitative framework (as illustrated i Figure 2) that takes ito cosideratio the differet possibilities of addressig issues, which could prevet M&M compaies from adoptig droe solutios. This framework i cojuctio with the Droe-based solutio-mappig chart could help M&M compaies to determie their compatibility, readiess, ad acceptability of Droe solutio across their value chai. V A C A R B Validatig Droes positioig for solvig issues i M&M compaies Droes are strategic fits i solvig the issues for the M&M compay Droes are compatible with existig solutios, laws & regulatios Availability of the Droes Solutios & Implemetatio Possibilities Droes solutios havig ROI tha preset M&M solutios Beefits realized through Pilot Projects i M&M compaies Validatig the matchig of Droes i M&M value chai Aalyzig the Acceptability Criteria Compatibility check i existig M&M compay Availability Check with respect to M&M compaies ROI (Ecoomic, Social & Evirometal) Deploy Droes Idetifyig issues. Validatig the usage of Droes i visual iformatio, site plaig, ispectios, mappig, real time moitorig, safety & security Applicability across the value chai prospectig, plaig, miig, extractio & closure Acceptace by seior leadership Scalability & commercial viability Droes ehacig KPIs i Safety, Security, Evirometal & Operatioal M&M compay culture & awareess which will help i chage maagemet There should be compatibility check with the respect to the icumbet solutios. The idustry use cases eed to determie the compatibility of Droes Laws & regulatios of the regios of operatios should be compatible First of all there should be vedors sellig Off shelves Droes solutios Secod optio could be presece of Droe implemeters collaboratig with Droe makers Presece of feasible solutios Ecoomic ROI will help the M&M compay to covice o ivestmets Social ROI will help covice the commuity of operatios Evirometal ROI will help covice the regulators & the law makers Meetig the criteria should eable the compay to embrace risks i the hazardous coditios of Metals & Miig Figure 2: V-A-C-A-R-B framework to assess M&M compaies' droe solutio readiess Will Droes Help the Miig Sector Soar ito a Digital future? After weatherig a log-lastig ecoomic dowtur, miig compaies are fially lookig to the future with hope as ecoomic coditios tur favorable ad digital techologies promise uprecedeted processig power. Droes eable high-

7 speed data acquisitio, high level of accuracy ad at the same time provide safety ad security to the workers i hazardous coditios. This makes droes the ideal solutio for icreasig scalability, efficiecy, ad cost-effectiveess i surveyig miig regios. Uderstadably, M&M compaies are eagerly lappig up the digital opportuity - 69% are lookig to itroduce remote operatios of some kid, with 27% lookig at usig umaed droes i the ear future. Accordig to the World Ecoomic Forum, digitizatio could add USD 425 billio of icremetal viii value by 2025, which is early 3-4% of the M&M idustry's curret reveue. M&M players who haress the chage to their advatage ad future-proof their workforce ad processes will be the frotruers i the ew digital reality. I this cotext, Droes act as multi-modal solutios for the M&M players as they ot oly promise cost savigs but also help i esurig safety ad security alog with icreasig effectiveess of the operatios. Refereces i ii iii iv v vi BDO, The Near Future of Miig: Global Predictios, Ja 2018 (accessed Aug 2018), Thermo Fisher, Droes Help Improve Safety at Mie Sites, Jue 2018 (accessed Aug 2018), Droe U, The Importace of Droe Techology i the Metals ad Miig Sector, May 2018 (accessed Aug 2018), Rio Tito, Takig Safety to New Heights, Australia Istitute of Mie Surveyors, Rio Tito to Expad Use of UAS, The Idia Express, Droes with Night Visio lauched for Surveillace Agaist Illegal Miig o Sabarmati River-bed, May 2018 (accessed Aug 2018), vii Aglo America, The Rise of Machies ad the People Behid Them, Mar 2018 (accessed Aug 2018), viii Willis Towers Watso, Digital Diggig The Future of Work i the Miig Idustry, Sep 2017 (accessed Aug 2018), GB/isights/2017/09/miig-risk-review-digital-diggig-the-future-of-work-i-themiig-idustry

8 About The Author Swayambhu Dutta, Research Aalyst, Marketig Trasformatio Research team, TCS Swayambhu Dutta is a research aalyst i the Eergy & Resources (E&R) domai lookig after the North America, ANZ, & MEA geography. He has aroud seve years of experiece spaig across E&R ad Telecom verticals. Curretly, he is workig as a Busiess Aalyst eablig strategic decisios ad deals support for the compay. Swayambhu is a Gold medalist durig his MBA stit i XIM, Bhubaeswar. He is a telecom egieer with deep iterest towards Oil & Gas idustry value chai techologies. Soumya Baerjee, Research Lead of Marketig Trasformatio Research team, TCS Soumya Baerjee is presetly the Research Lead of Marketig Trasformatio Research team i TCS. Soumya is leadig research for Eergy & Resources ad Healthcare verticals ad advisig research activities for Retail, CPG (Cosumer Packaged Goods), ad TTH (Travel, Trasport ad Hospitality) verticals. He is also leadig research for geographies icludig APAC & ANZ, Japa, LATAM, ad MEA. He has over 12 years of cross-idustry experiece. Soumya has completed his MBA from UK, holds a MS degree i computer Sciece, ad is also a B.Tech i Computer Sciece & Egieerig. Cotact Visit the Eergy, Resources ad Utility page o er.marketig@tcs.com Subscribe to TCS White Papers TCS.com RSS: Feedburer: About Tata Cosultacy Services Ltd (TCS) Tata Cosultacy Services is a IT services, cosultig ad busiess solutios orgaizatio that delivers real results to global busiess, esurig a level of certaity o other firm ca match. TCS offers a cosultig-led, itegrated portfolio of IT ad IT-eabled, ifrastructure, egieerig ad assurace services. This is TM delivered through its uique Global Network Delivery Model, recogized as the bechmark of excellece i software developmet. A part of the Tata Group, Idia s largest idustrial coglomerate, TCS has a global footprit ad is listed o the Natioal Stock Exchage ad Bombay Stock Exchage i Idia. For more iformatio, visit us at All cotet / iformatio preset here is the exclusive property of Tata Cosultacy Services Limited (TCS). The cotet / iformatio cotaied here is correct at the time of publishig. No material from here may be copied, modified, reproduced, republished, uploaded, trasmitted, posted or distributed i ay form without prior writte permissio from TCS. Uauthorized use of the cotet / iformatio appearig here may violate copyright, trademark ad other applicable laws, ad could result i crimial or civil pealties. Copyright 2018 Tata Cosultacy Services Limited TCS Desig Services I M I 10 I 18