Country Chair for Shell Downstream South Africa, Aluwani Museisi, recently spoke out on the growing relationship between lubrication and the Internet of Things (IoT).
The mining industry in South Africa is not merely evolving thanks to employing the latest technology to deliver high quality lubricants. According to Museisi, Shell’s approach is cutting costs, revolutionising operational efficiency and working towards a more sustainable future.
The mining industry is the cornerstone of South Africa’s economy, but the sector is facing rising challenges, including increasing energy costs and a decline in ore grades. However, digitalisation has become a transformative force, providing innovative solutions that reduce costs, increase uptime and improve efficiency. Among the advancements is lubrication systems that integrate with data analytics and smart sensors for predictive maintenance.
Lubrication is critical to mining machinery for the smooth operation of equipment like drills, haul trucks, crushers and conveyors. Correct lubrication decreases friction, mitigates wear and tear and lengthens equipment lifespan.
However, longstanding lubrication practices usually depend on fixed maintenance routines and manual inspections, which often result in inefficiencies. While over-lubrication increases costs when resources are wasted, under-lubrication causes unscheduled downtime and equipment failure.
Shell Downstream South African is now playing a key role in driving adoption of IoT within the mining sector though its integrated lubricant solutions. Predictive maintenance marks a move from both preventative and reactive approaches to a data-driven proactive strategy. It uses IoT platforms, smart sensors and advanced analytics that let mining operations monitor equipment and lubricant health in real time to predict possible failures before they happen.
