Volvo pushes automation in Indonesia’s mining industry

After increased productivity with Volvo’s ActiveCare at the Indonesian gold miner Indo Muro Kencana’s (IMK) Kalimantan project, Hendro Sugito, aftermarket director at Indotruck Utama and authorized dealer for Volvo construction equipment, says improvements that could easily be replicated across the industry.

ActiveCare is an artificial intelligence (AI) tool designed by Volvo and implemented in the company’s construction vehicles, that monitors all error codes and alarms transmitted from the machines to the cloud. The algorithm sorts through the data, prioritizing the alerts according to urgency and severity and attributing probable causes.

According to Volvo, this tool helps determine whether immediate intervention is required for an issue or if the service technicians can wait until the next scheduled downtime. The engineers can also remedy small issues before they have the chance to develop into more serious problems.

IMK is one of ActiveCare’s early adopters. In November 2021, IMK connected the country’s largest ever fleet of machines to ActiveCare and currently has 52 articulated haulers and seven crawler excavators fitted with sensors that convey real-time information relating to their production, fuel consumption, health, and even operator skill to the cloud.

Despite concern about potential job loss as a result of increased AI in the workplace, analysts from McKinsey estimate the implementation of Industry 4.0 in Indonesia could generate a net gain of as many as 23 million jobs by 2030, as previous industrial revolutions have shown, as the nature of the work changes, new jobs are created and different skills and education levels are required, typically leading to higher wages.

The Indonesian government, under President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, has developed an integrated roadmap for transforming the country into an Industry 4.0 economy. The strategy includes the launch of numerous initiatives to build skills and increase the speed of adoption by companies.

For more information, visit www.volvoce.com/asia.