Industry 4.0 is driving socio-economic change on a scale and at a pace never seen before. Technological advancements such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and robotic process automation are fundamentally changing the way in which we live and work, especially the way in which operations are handled.
Within this context, leaders in government, business, industry and the state-owned companies (SOCs) are all concerned about the impact that the rapid move to digitisation will have on their organisations. This is particularly true of some major SOCs, which have large legacy systems.
The most pressing question for them is whether they will need to completely replace their ICT infrastructures or whether it is possible to digitise existing systems. The ability to build digital capacity into legacy systems is crucial as the financial and operational implications of having to replace entire systems are enormous.
As a provider of integrated digital technology solutions in major sectors such as rail, mining, defence and telecommunications, Etion is acutely aware of the need for innovative thinking on issues of this nature. It is for this reason that we actively engage with our customers in order to develop and implement the best possible digital solutions to suit their evolving needs.
One of the ways in which we do this is to provide secure digital solutions such as the Solid VPN, which allows travelling defence, enterprise and government organisations to establish secure remote access over a Virtual Private Network.
Adapting to a changing world, we’re combining all our expertise into one, to give you the secure digital solutions that customers are looking for
In the rail sector, for instance, we use IoT technology to collect large volumes of data from the rail operations network, which is then used to effect efficiencies in maintenance management. The technology is enabling rail operators to move away from scheduled maintenance management to needs-based maintenance management, resulting in significant savings.
As mines digitise, solutions that will become key for the sector will include those that optimise material and equipment handling, improve the ability to anticipate failures, and monitor performance in real time. Our solution, Automotive Intelligent Driver gives equipment operators data from a vehicle’s internal systems, together with its own highly accurate sensors, to provide real-time monitoring of location, speed, safety systems and driver behaviour, of all vehicles within an operation.
The biggest benefit for the mine being collision detection and accident notification, instant notification of overloaded vehicles and improved productivity from use of reliable real time data.
In short, Etion is able to work within the framework of its customers’ existing systems and to introduce radical digital innovation through a process of continual improvement. Legacy systems don’t need to be binned and replaced; they can be assessed and appropriately transformed in order to meet the changing needs of customers in a wide range of industries and sectors.
By Teddy Daka, Etion Group CEO