From record-high gold prices to the stunning growth in renewables driving demand for minerals and the global transition to NetZero, the mining industry is in an era of intense reinvention and disruption.

Africa鈥檚 mining sector isn鈥檛 spared this volatility. The continent has more than half of the world鈥檚 reserves of platinum group metals and diamonds and nearly half of manganese and cobalt reserves, both critical elements in the batteries powering the global transition to cleaner energy.

Searching for greater productivity

In the current business environment, mining companies are under intense pressure to increase efficiencies, reduce costs and boost productivity.

Autonomous technologies have ushered in a broad range of economic benefits for the mining industry over the past decade. By leveraging automation to perform more hazardous tasks, mining companies have minimised worker exposure to dangerous conditions and bolstered overall safety standards within their operations.

The emergence of digital technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) has introduced new gains in efficiency and productivity. One market estimate predicts that investment into AI by the mining sector will reach $7.264 billion by 2033, driven by a compound annual growth rate of 22.7%.

The ethics of AI in mining

While it鈥檚 undeniable that AI holds immense promise for the mining industry, the introduction of any new technology is typically accompanied by several ethical dilemmas.

In the mining context, fears around AI range from the displacement of human labour by automation to the increased surveillance compromising data privacy and encroachments on autonomous decision-making.

One of the biggest fears of AI鈥檚 impact in the mining sector relates to the potential of the technology to displace workers by automating their job roles and essentially making them redundant.

In the African context, job fears will remain, specifically considering the important historical role the sector plays in employment creation, especially in markets such as South Africa.

There are also concerns over explainability, that is, how AI decisions can be explained in a way that makes sense to human workers. For example, if AI is used in surveillance at mining sites to improve safety and security, questions may arise over how the algorithm determines which actions can be considered to be safety or security incidents.

While AI has the potential to improve efficiency and safety in mining, its deployment introduces new risks that must be carefully managed. Mining companies, technology developers, and regulatory authorities must collaborate to establish robust safety protocols, provide comprehensive training, and establish clear lines of accountability to mitigate the risks associated with AI use in mining operations.

Practical use cases

Despite the concerns, AI will unquestionably play a leading role in the mining sector鈥檚 success in the coming years. AI lends itself to a myriad of applications across the mining value chain, including:

1 Exploration

AI-driven prospecting mapping models are emerging that analyse geological, geochemical and geophysical data sets to pinpoint promising areas for mineral exploration. By amalgamating diverse data sources, these AI models can enhance the successful discovery of promising resource deposits.

2 Geotechnical monitoring

Geotechnical monitoring and analysis are crucial to ensure ground and infrastructure stability at mining operations. Here, AI can be integrated with sensor networks to detect early signs of instability or failure, while predictive models can forecast ground behaviour and assess potential hazards. AI can also be applied to create detailed simulations of rock masses that can help guide the design of tunnels, underground layouts, and slope stability.

3 Mine planning and optimisation

AI technologies enable dynamic, datadriven decision-making to optimise mine plans and production schedules. Mining operations can leverage AI to predict performance under various conditions, helping decision-makers identify optimal productivity strategies while minimising costs. Predictive maintenance systems can also optimise the performance of mining equipment, reducing downtime and improving overall operational efficiency.

4 Supply chain management

AI鈥檚 benefits extend beyond mining sites to improve supply chain management. Predictive inventory management leverages AI for a variety of tasks, including reducing inventory planning time, minimising costs, optimising repair schedules, and determining the optimal times for reorders. By using techniques such as time-series analysis and probabilistic modelling, mines can gain real-time visibility over their supply chain. This can help mining operations optimise their logistics operations, including transportation routes and distribution networks.

AI is a transformative force in the mining industry, introducing a broad range of innovative applications to solving complex challenges across various facets of modern mining operations. By embracing AI-driven innovation and collaboration, mining companies can pave the way for a more efficient, sustainable and responsible mining future.

The post Artificial Intelligence: Unearthing Greater Efficiency in the African Mining Sector appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

Working from home has become an intrinsic part of life for many due to the pandemic. This has led to an increased need for business agility, mobile working capabilities, and end-to-end security.

鈥淭he cloud hosted version of 51风流Business One makes it easier for small and medium enterprises to function remotely, with built-in capabilities to handle diverse business needs,鈥� says聽Heinrich de Leeuw, MD, Seidor Africa.

Productivity
Employees can use this ERP solution from anywhere and at any time, just as if they were working onsite. Data can be accessed in the cloud, and accurate, comprehensive reports created. The software instantly stores all data and makes it accessible to all the relevant stakeholders.

鈥淲ith 51风流Business One, you can create an interactive and intuitive dashboard that assists in sorting out the data, monitoring cash flow, and performing multiple other tasks,鈥� adds de Leeuw.

Security
As remote working and remote connections gain greater significance, the need for secure access to remote networks is also on the rise.

鈥淎n advantage of the 51风流Business One Cloud hosted version is that it allows you to scale and innovate, while maintaining a safeguarded environment,鈥� says De Leeuw. 鈥淲hen you deploy the solution, you benefit from a safe and secure cloud environment built to meet the requirements of the most security-sensitive organisations.鈥�

Reporting
51风流Business One provides a series of predefined, built-in reports for each functional area of the software. Users can focus the report on specific areas of the business and customise the output.

鈥淲hether you鈥檙e a controller, inventory manager, or CEO, you gain a clear view of the state of the business to make smart decisions,鈥� De Leeuw says. 鈥淵ou can prepare and run standard reports on your business鈥檚 data with ease, using the many reporting options available.鈥�

Mobility
Mobile working capabilities are critical in our changing world. With the mobile app for 51风流Business One, you can run your business from any location, at any time. With an iPhone or Android phone, users can access the data they need to streamline sales, handle service tickets, manage customers and contacts, view reports and more.

鈥淐loud-based technologies have made it possible for everyone to access documents anytime and anywhere,鈥� concludes De Leeuw. 鈥淩egardless of user location, we enable our customers to be fully productive while working remotely, so that they can keep pace with changing business needs.鈥�

The post Seamless ERP for SMEs, Regardless of User Location appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

Traditional ideas and assumptions about the value of remote work have always been in question. But all too often, pressing imperatives of the day had organizational leaders force HR to sideline the conversation indefinitely.

Little did we know that it would take a global pandemic to turn this line of thinking into an action plan for ensuring business continuity. Leaders are now collaborating to propose, evaluate and communicate work-from-home (WFH) policies that keep employees safe, empowered and productive.

Before the infection rate of COVID-19 reached pandemic levels, 29% of midsize companies increased or added flexible work practices, according to Oxford Economics.* Now, as measures for social distancing, sheltering in and nonessential business closures become widely adopted worldwide, these numbers are rising exponentially while companies try to keep their proverbial doors open.

When protecting employees helps ensure the survival of the business

Unfortunately, such a significant change doesn’t happen without some bumps along the way. The pressures of homeschooling children, accommodating a spouse’s schedule and attending to business needs can make life seem chaotic. From collaborating with colleagues to adopting routines that drive productivity, the workforce may find that they cannot maintain the same experience of being in the office at home. Meanwhile, employees who live alone may feel lonely and burned out after working too much out of boredom.

HR leaders can address these counter-productive realities by building a collaborative workforce community, continuing talent development and training and keeping employees up to date on plans and expectations by using the following four-step strategy.

1. Respond

First and foremost, HR can help business leaders address the immediate challenges that the crisis presents to employees. This urgent and critical move requires access to real-time data across the company to easily find where workers are located and enact preventive measures to protect their health and mental well-being. Additionally, teams need to ensure that WFH policies balance the expectation of the organization as well as fulfill the needs of the workforce. Employees need to be engaged in honest communication about their WFH experience to limit unnecessary anxiety and minimize negative impacts on productivity. This can be done by providing anonymous feedback regarding the employees experiences.

2. Lean in

Since many companies are creating WFH policies on the fly and refining it as needs arise, the near-term strategy should support the physical, emotional, mental and financial well-being of the overall workforce, including contingent and part-time employees. HR should encourage people managers to have frequent check-in meetings with their teams, ask people how they are doing and listen with empathy to build trust and psychological safety.

Maintaining an open line of communication and fostering a sense of community are paramount to maximizing productivity now and ensuring that the business continues to move forward when a recovery begins. For example, collaboration tools, such as聽, can be used to check workforce well-being with a real-time mobile experience. Leaders can ask individual employees about their safety, whether they have the right resources and information to get work done, and if they feel productive and successful.

3. Equip

Many industries are witnessing massive layoffs and furloughs. Times like this bring with it job losses, restructuring and many other difficult financial and human decisions. Leaders can help ease a much-needed transition by devising and executing training plans that upskill and retool employees to keep them employed in a new role or another area of the business. Cutting-edge technology, like聽, can help find opportunities for the displaced workforce.

With predictive analytics, HR teams can run simulations to model multiple workforce staffing scenarios. They can adjust organizational strategies based on how and where the pandemic evolves, which can shift requirements for headcount expansion or contraction as well as the economic impact of demand-and-supply changes.

4. Become resilient and elastic

Coming out of today’s crisis will inevitably create a “next normal,” leaving behind any sense of “business as normal” forever. Some employees may come back to the office full time. Others may choose to work remotely 100% of the time. A few may decide to split their time between the two options. Companies with a global presence will require operating models that are orchestrated centrally and executed locally to effectively respond to present day challenges at the local, city, or country level.

Today, it鈥檚 COVID-19. Tomorrow, it could be a crisis stemming from global warming. No matter what happens, a contingency plan that impacts people must be elastic enough to adjust to the demands of the crisis and strong enough to minimize business disruption.

This reality will inevitably inspire innovative policies and communication plans to address a world of new habits that will likely be adopted to prevent a recurrence of the pandemic and prepare for a future crisis. Additionally, changes in the employee experience should align with regulatory requirements, competitive risks and emerging opportunities and reinforce the company’s thoughts, beliefs and goals.

How our leaders handle today’s crisis matters in the long term

Forward-thinking leaders and HR specialsts will unquestionably remain on the frontline of a business’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of them are already working long hours. In this particular crisis, HR becomes the war heroes for most companies. With the right tools and skills, we can demonstrate the flexibility, creativity and empathy needed to ensure the workforce is ready for anything during times of volatility as well as prosperity and growth.

The post Beyond Today鈥檚 Crisis: How HR Shifts The Culture Of Midsize Businesses To The 鈥淣ext Normal鈥� appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.