Mining companies look to IoT to boost competitive advantage

According to research performed by Vanson Bourne, a market research company, for Inmarsat’s 'The Future of IoT in Enterprise’ report, 70 per cent of mining businesses agreed that the Internet of Things (IoT) would give them a significant edge against their competitors.

41 per cent of respondents from 100 large mining companies said that they would use IoT to increase the automation of business processes, while 44 per cent said that it would help them to identify cost saving and efficiency opportunities.

Joe Carr, director of mining at Inmarsat, commented on the findings: “It is no surprise to see that mining businesses are looking to IoT to help them gain a competitive advantage. Mining businesses across the world are under constant pressure to produce the same product at a lower price than their rivals. At the same time, it is becoming harder to find high quality deposits in lower sovereign risk countries.

“This pressure is amplified in developed economies, such as Canada and Australia, where labour costs are much higher than in emerging markets, leaving operators in these territories at a significant competitive disadvantage. These businesses must drive down operating costs and improve productivity to remain competitive, and the most effective way to do this is the adoption of IoT and automation.