The reach of Deswik’s mine planning and design solutions is set to extend deeper underground with Deswik.Apps, a suite of apps that will enable operators to access critical, task-specific data on a tablet or mobile device while offline working in underground operations, the software provider says.

The apps, the vision of MineOps Director, Joanna Martyr, were conceived from real world mining experience where she identified an opportunity to digitise the way in which mine operators executed their daily tasks. The MineOps mission was born with a suite of applications that would enable data to be presented in a way that promoted good decision making and improved mining operations, Deswik said.

Adam White, CTO at Deswik, said: “As Deswik moves its products further into the mine operations market, acquiring these apps from MineOps Software, which align with our product strategy, made sense. We currently have two tablet apps, one of which was co-developed with MineOps Software, so it was a logical investment for the business. MineOps Software have a great range of products, which integrate well with our own software.

“I believe we have an exciting future ahead by extending our existing systems directly to the operators in the field and further supporting the digitization efforts of our customers.”

While most mining companies have successfully adopted software-based mine design, survey, geology and planning solutions over the last three decades, there is a lack of digital continuity when it comes to transferring this information into the field and capturing the downstream production data, according to Deswik. For many sites, paper-based tools are still used to communicate between the production planners and operators and capture the metrics from all shift activities.

“With the launch of Apps, Deswik’s underground metals and underground coal customers will benefit from an integrated digital solution that extends right into the hands of the operators themselves,” the company said. “The inefficiencies associated with the paper-based way of operating will be eliminated and the operators at the ‘coal face’ will be able to make better, faster decisions with a customised view of the technical data piece required to execute the job.”

For Martyr the alignment of MineOps vision with Deswik’s plans to develop a more comprehensive and integrated suite of tools made the acquisition and the team’s transition to Deswik an easy choice to make.

“We are excited to be a part of the Deswik team,” she said. “With MineOps software we enjoyed building apps that solve real business problems, that people love to use. The move to Deswik allows us to continue to do this with a far greater reach and the benefits of knowledge in a well-respected and established company.”