SAP  is looking towards assisting the mining industry in Africa in order to help counter the range of complex challenges they face through innovative industry-specific technology. This was announced to the SAP Africa Mining Forum, being held in Johannesburg this week in conjunction with SAP Russia. The forum's objectives are to bring together metals and mining companies of all sizes from South Africa and Russia to stimulate fresh thinking and facilitate the sharing of industry expertise and best practices.

Today more than ever, mining companies across the globe are striving to improve their business efficiencies and control costs. The mining industry in Africa presently faces turmoil including challenges around price as well as demand volatility, resulting in it being more cautious in its capital-project decisions and an inclination to engage in cost reduction initiatives.

Dealing with many of these challenges is possible through employing integrated SAP software that enables a digital mining enterprise vision. A digital mining enterprise is a mining organisation that has the capability to orchestrate information systems on-premise and on-demand with ease and confidence. The outcome is increased flexibility, scalability, improved security as well as interoperability of data across multiple devices. This culminates in greater operational efficiency and productivity and the hugely advantageous ability to react in real-time to geological conditions.

Digital mining enterprise is the future of cost effective mining

The unpredictable nature of the mining industry is encouraging many African mining companies to embark upon digital mining initiatives in an effort to create an integrated technology application landscape of seamless information flow. SAP's digital mining enterprise software offers a vast range of pertinent solutions, including the SAP ERP application, the SAP for mining solution, sap's flagship SAP HANA platform and the SAP operations management for mining application.

Understanding the mining business better

Having real-time data available to empower mining organisations is one thing. The ability to translate that data into meaningful information is another. SAP's powerful analyticstools are helping mining companies across the globe identify trends and patterns in areas such as operations and profitability, which can significantly help improve business decisions and contribute towards profitability. By using the in-memory computing technology that the SAP HANA database offers, mining companies are moreover now able to analyse transactional data in near-real time to get instant insight into the business; a key factor for the industry. This revolutionary technology not only speeds up core mining business processes, it can also help simplify IT landscapes, resulting in reduced total cost of ownership and more accurate decision-making than ever before.

"The SAP Best Practices for Mining package incorporates years of experience in the mining industry from across the globe. Mining companies can have SAP in place within a short period with minimal disruption to their daily operations," says Chris Willcocks, head of Energy and Natural Resources Sales South Afric and acting head of Innovation, SAP Africa. "The SAP ERP application and the SAP for Mining solutions portfolio significantly increases organisational efficiency, provides visibility across all business functions, improves strategic planning, operations control, and decision making."

SAP believes that with these solutions, companies can realise a fast return on investment in today's unpredictable environment. Additionally, mining companies can realise their sustainability strategy on safety and environmental compliance and help ensure financial success.

For more information, visit the SAP Newsroom.

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