Abstract
M.Phil. (Engineering Management)
Abstract; In modern mining, it is imperative to have a real-time flow of information between the enterprise level and shop floor systems. The gaps that exist between these spheres make it difficult for managers to have timely information for optimum decision making. A mining company needs instantaneous visibility on production, quality, cycle times, machine status, and other important operational variables to achieve optimum and effective operations. The flow of information only within various business systems in an organisation is not sufficient in today’s world. An organisation should be able to share some information with business partners such as suppliers and customers to gain competitive advantage. Tracking products from raw material status, through various stages of production, up to finished goods is pivotal for Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). A product should be smart enough to know such things about itself as constituents, recipe, time of manufacturing, production lines, machines, quality, and destination. This study investigates the possibilities, protocols, and benefits, of Industry 4.0 implementation in the mining sector. The key focus of this research includes the evaluation of the impact of Cyber Physical Systems (CPS), Internet of Things (IoT), Industrial IoT (IIoT), and Big Data at the Mine. With the implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies at a Mine, the integration of fragmented shop floor and the enterprise level systems enables seamless communication in delivering optimum operations. This research demonstrates Industry 4.0 technologies as the mechanisms for integrating business systems and processes. The methods researched are deployed using Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) process at a uranium mining company in Namibia to integrate the manufacturing systems, plant systems, business partners’ systems, and SAP ERP. The results are thoroughly analysed and validated to introduce a smart Mine with real-time visibility of the overall mining status. The research further presents the results of integrated Mine architecture, reports, KPIs, and automated workflows. The results prove the viability of industry 4.0 with all teams having full visibility on integrated KPIs that drive cross-functional delivery. The operations teams, management teams, executives, and the CEO have real time visibility and control of all aspects of the facilities via real time data.