SME strategic committee shares challenges and opportunities in technology innovation and integration

Technology innovation is continuous in the industry; however, the current prevalence of autonomous mines and automated mining activities is only about 10 to 15 years old.1 Although the mining industry was one of the first to trial autonomous technologies, barriers to interoperability have made it difficult to advance certain capabilities.2 With the number and sophistication of technologies continuing to grow, company chief executive officers (CEOs) and others in executive-management positions face decisions about how to best use technology while acknowledging their intersection with productivity, efficiency and safety. To this end, SME’s Industry Innovation Strategic Committee sought to better understand what CEOs and executive managers are paying attention to in the technology innovation space, including challenges and opportunities in the near and more distant future. The committee developed and distributed an online survey in 2023, seeking out SME members with these job titles. This article highlights some of the predominant insights to further explore among SME members. Survey sample The survey, distributed in 2023 and open for approximately four weeks, received 29 individual responses. Even though the Industry Innovation Strategic Committee sought out C-suite managers, the response sample did not necessarily represent this executive group. Specifically, 41 percent (n = 12) identified their company position as being in an executive mining/operations/metallurgy role. The remaining 17 responses contained experiences and observations from consulting (n = 11; 38 percent), and suppliers, government and academia (making up the remaining six responses). However, because the survey introduction clearly explained the purpose of the survey, and the responses were redundant across the entire sample, we believe all individuals had the desired level of expertise in the topics of interest and were included for analysis. Surface and underground metals were the commodities most represented, at more than 50 percent, followed by surface and underground coal, at a little over 20 percent. More than half of the sample represented companies that employed fewer than 25 people, while about 14 percent of respondents represented companies that employed more than 5,000 people. Beyond the demographic questions, the survey questions were designed to be open-ended to glean expert perspectives and forward thinking in this area. Paraphrased, the questions prompted answers to: the greatest challenges facing the respondent’s business and, separately, the mining industry; the biggest innovation opportunities in the respondent’s business and, separately, the mining industry; innovations in mining that the respondent sees as being the most prevalent in five years and why; and how SME could address any of the challenges mentioned. The committee thematically analyzed responses to the three open-ended key questions using qualitative content analysis techniques within NVivo to organize and quantify the prevalence of trends. Considerations to support innovation As noted, respondents were asked to explain the greatest opportunities facing first, their business and second, the mining industry. Given the limited sample, the committee combined responses for these two questions and completed a frequency analysis of the topics shared. An analysis of the sentiments carrying the most weight in the responses revealed words stemming from technology, innovation, comminution, extraction, tailings, automation and customers. A reoccurring innovation discussed was the integration and use of more autonomous equipment, both to help with productivity and to alleviate workforce shortages. Further, advancing the type of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) being used was noted as an opportunity to consider. As one respondent put it, we need to “go from rules-based automation (machines are told what to do and how to do it) to AI-based autonomy (machines determine what needs to be done and how to do it).” In a similar vein, cost-effective use of these new technologies was noted as an opportunity as the industry continues to innovate and use more of these advanced tools. When providing specific examples or processes that could benefit from innovation, a few areas were consistently referenced. One topic often mentioned that could benefit from updated technology platforms was reducing water use via improved reclamation and reuse methods. In the data, several comments overlapped around safety and environmental issues. Another topic was the digitalization of information to help operate complex facilities and remote resources. Finally, when considering opportunities to innovate, respondents often highlighted the need to consistently communicate and engage not only workers in potential solutions, but also customers to improve the perceived benefits and effectiveness of new products. Challenges to consider and address Respondents were also asked to explain the greatest challenges facing first, their business and second, the mining industry. Given the limited sample, we again combined responses to these questions to conduct a frequency analysis of the topics shared. Common topics listed included permitting, water issues, product development and change management. However, the sentiments that carried the most weight in additional tree stem analyses revolved around challenges related to “change,” “changes” and “changing,” indicating that more resources or frameworks are needed to assist with transitions to new technologies. For example, several respondents noted a lack of focus on change management in some capacity, as the industry considers proper implementation and sustainability of new technologies. In some cases, specific process challenges were noted (such as water efficiency, tailings, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations) as they related to change management. Overall, change management was discussed as an important challenge to address, as the ebb and flow of product demand is less predictable based on political climate, environmental climate and the global economy. Another broad challenge noted was the communication, collaboration and partnerships necessary among government, private industry and industry leaders (both domestic and international) to stabilize certainty and decision-making around these emerging topics of interest and influence. Future innovations Finally, respondents were asked what technology innovation(s) they saw as being the most prevalent at a business like theirs five years from now. Many of the respondents qualified their feedback with the notion that five years is a short time frame, both in mining and technology advancement. Aside from potential updates to processing techniques, and new markets to apply these applications, most respondents indicated that not much will change in five years. The graphical word cloud (see figure) represents the word frequency of the common topics listed, giving prominence to those listed more often. The larger texts in orange show general automation and issues around water, new products and control emerging as common topics. Further, a tree stem analysis identified that varying words around technologies, automation, optimization and innovation carried the most weight in the responses. Strategic committee takeaways and next steps Understanding perspectives around the opportunities, challenges and future of technology innovation is important to identify a realistic roadmap and resource allocation. Particularly, one report5 advised against abandoning innovation during difficult times. Even if resources are limited, continuing to focus on research and development can help develop a competitive advantage around automation and analytics in the future. For SME’s Industry Innovation Strategic Committee, the results provided a few key points to consider moving forward. Consideration of change management to complement technology integration. First, feedback from the survey indicates that focusing on emerging technologies and the development and implementation of change management plans to facilitate technology integration is necessary. Companies often have a general change management or management of change process described in their health and safety management system; however, with the inconsistent peppering of automation and AI in the field, there is not an operationalized template available for companies to use or adapt to meet their needs. Generally, other reports have noted the lack of change management plans to help with technology adaptation to reduce the possibility of unintentional risks and harm, communication and education with the workforce about newly integrated technologies to support safety and well-being, and processes to ensure the interoperability of systems to support cost, production and reliance.5 In other words, these changes are not necessarily captured by relocating work between humans and machines — rather, functional changes to work processes are also occurring. Attention to adequate change management may support operations to accommodate subsequent updates to an automated mine system. A subcomponent of change management plans is the availability and use of operational metrics to better understand the role(s) of innovative technologies in the workplace. Several respondents noted that a lack of tools and metrics is hindering the integration of new resources at their operations. Consequently, as change management processes are discussed and operationalized, attention to creating balanced scorecards and other metrics to support technology as an enabler in the field (rather than a solution) may be useful to the industry. Integrated models that consider human factors and an expanded workforce. Overarching barriers were expressed around organizations and workers realizing the true value of new technologies. Because many emerging technologies are already in use and only expanding in design and capabilities, leaders will likely need to transform the way they view their operating models, both at the executive level and in the field to optimize resources. Specifically, at an operational level, leaders should be aware of and leverage any interdependencies that may exist across separately functioning systems. Such coordination may aid decision-making and avoid duplicative processes or efforts. When coordinating interdependent systems to reduce redundancy, leaders should recognize how updated processes either meet or do not meet the needs of the workforce. Specifically, the survey responses indicated that changes in automation, the workforce and the relationship between the two are critical areas to explore. This article has already discussed changes specific to automation and other innovations in technology. However, focusing on the people who need to use or interpret output from technologies cannot be overlooked. Aspects of human-centered design, worker involvement and flexibility are important components to an effective system.6 An example may include a concerted effort to pilot-test new technologies with workers to better predict and understand scenarios that may occur when processes are updated and, if necessary, adapt implementation timelines. Research articles have discussed the importance of communication and leadership during human-centered design considerations.7 However, these case examples have occurred after technology has already been developed and implemented. Both designers and companies may need to be more adaptable to feedback during pilot-testing phases to support workers who have changing functions of their job. Turning attention to the workforce specifically, leaders will likely have to think differently about how new talent is recruited and trained, and how to best engage with workers on and off the job. Anecdotally and within the survey, challenges often include finding “qualified” workers. Again, because no formal change management plan exists for integrating and using new technologies, it may be useful to develop a competency list around automation and AI skills that can be used by companies when recruiting and hiring new workers. Specifically, it is unclear if companies are updating old job descriptions to include new competencies that would be useful in the changing jobs that occur in the field. Establishing an updated competency list and criteria for the workforce could help recruitment efforts — both within and outside the mining-specific fields. It is also important to realize that, even if we can work toward updating and standardizing technological competencies, the workforce is continuing to change and becoming more diverse in different ways across the world, and this may impact what role(s) technology has in the workplace. For example, automation in southwest operations might look completely different from those in the northwest. Further, employees reporting to those mines may not look the same, talk the same or share the same portfolio of experiences. Therefore, it may be important to tailor appropriate initiatives and solutions based on automation maturity models. Conclusion Although the committee identified prevalent trends around change management and the impact on the workforce, other issues emerged that are worth noting for future coordination and collaboration. First, although they showed up in subtle ways in the open-ended feedback, international and political challenges with respect to ownership and reliable collaborations were noted. Moving forward, continuing to collaborate with international entities can only expand an understanding of challenges and opportunities in this evolving area. Finally, with the impendent changes that technology is likely to bring in the future of mining, resilient leadership is critical. Just like workers may need retraining and education as processes become more automated, managers may need retraining and education about how to lead in an Industry 5.0 workplace, manage transdisciplinary teams that are cross-functional, and better measure and manage performance apart from just productivity. SME’s Industry Innovation Strategic Committee has three objectives: (1) provide quality platforms for the transfer of knowledge, (2) expand opportunities for disseminating and presenting innovative research and best practices, and (3) publicize impactful ideas and trends. Based on the feedback from this survey, the committee is focusing on aspects of change management as it relates to automation; how to support the identification and development of key competencies needed to work in industry; and how automation may influence the development of new timelines and metrics for both production and workforce planning. Many of these objectives require collaboration with other committees and partners, and we want to know how to best accomplish these objectives. If you have any feedback about the survey or results, or ideas for advancing this topic, reach out to any of the committee members by email. The following past and current committee members worked on this effort: Jordan Oxborrow (Chair, jordan.oxborrow@proton.me), Emily Haas, Michael Donkor, Dan Palo, Jaye Pickarts, Mick McCaslin, Fangyu Liu, Rajesh Raitani, Jayson Ripke (Board of Directors Representative) and Tara Davis (Staff Liaison, davis@smenet.org). References Guimera S (2015). Mining in the automation age. Symmetry electronics. https://www.symmetryelectronics.com/blog/mining-in-the-automation-age/. Towers-Clark C (2019). The mining industry could strike gold with automation. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/charlestowersclark/2019/10/31/the-mining-industry-could-strike-gold-with-automation/ Lumivero (2023). Nvivo (Version 14) www.lumivero.com. Jackson K, Bazeley P (2019). Qualitative Data Analysis with NVivo. (3rd Edition). Sage Publications. Swart A, Nel J, Muller T, Wing J (2021). The future of work in mining. What will jobs look like in intelligent mining operations? Deloitte Insights. https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/mining-and-metals/future-of-mining-industry.html. Labuhn R, Jacobs R (2020). On the road toward intelligent mining. In Tracking the Trends: Leading from the front. Deloitte Insights (pgs 34-37). https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/insights/us/articles/tracking-the-trends-2020/DI_Tracking-the-trends-2020.pdf. Haas EJ, Cecala AB, Colinet JF (2019). Comparing the implementation of two dust control technologies from a sociotechnical systems perspective. Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration, 36, 709-727.

SME strategic committee shares challenges and opportunities in technology innovation and integration

Authored by: Emily J. Haas, Industry Innovation Strategic Committee

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