People-Centered Approach Essential for Technology ROI
Industry leaders at the Society for Automation, Instrumentation, Mechatronics and Computer Engineering’s (SAIMC) 2025 Summit emphasized that technology investments must be paired with skilled personnel to deliver maximum value in production environments, according to conference reports. Three presenters from leading industrial organizations stressed that without proper human integration, technological capabilities remain underutilized across manufacturing and mining sectors.
Strategic Integration Across Operations
Technology integration specialist Andy Sherring, cofounder and CEO of NextGenOpX, highlighted the critical gap between technology deployment and realized benefits during his keynote address. Sources indicate he emphasized that “technological capabilities do not provide their full benefit unless their use is properly optimized” through alignment with organizational strategy.
Analysts suggest that fragmentation in operations often prevents individual improvements from propagating across organizations. Sherring noted that short-term fixes frequently fail to create systemic change, with teams returning to previous challenges once immediate issues are addressed. The report states that companies must create enabling platforms for technology through integrated management processes, transparent information systems, and collaborative environments.
Staff Turnover Impacts Operational Stability
High staff turnover presents a significant challenge to maintaining process control effectiveness, according to Sasol Secunda Operations lead control engineer Bernhard Meister. During his technical briefing, he highlighted how turnover disrupts the fabric of skilled personnel within organizations.
Sherring reinforced this concern, stating that “with high staff turnover, the fabric of skilled people in an organisation is lost”, creating integration gaps that undermine technological investments. The report suggests companies must systematize skills transfer as an integrated component of operations rather than treating training as separate from core business functions.
Digital Maturity Journey Requires Cultural Shift
Companies should avoid complacency regarding their digital transformation progress, according to summit presentations. Sherring outlined a digital maturity scale ranging from reactive operations as the lowest rank to fully integrated technology adoption as the highest. Reports indicate most South African manufacturing and mining companies remain in early systematic adoption phases.
“It is a transformation journey,” Sherring stated, according to conference sources. “It is tough to shift industries, which operate in highly complex and regulated environments, towards greater digital maturity.” The transformation requires years of consistent effort with proper foundational approaches, analysts suggest.
Mining Industry Faces Technology Adoption Challenges
Dagan le Roux, business development manager at Innomotics, highlighted stark contrasts in technology adoption during his Mining 4.0 presentation. He noted that while one of Tesla’s Gigafactories produces a vehicle every 45 seconds using AI-driven automation, many mining companies still rely on spreadsheets for planning operations.
Le Roux indicated that fewer than 30% of mines have adopted technologies like wearables, autonomous vehicles, and artificial intelligence. The report states this slow adoption stems from integration challenges with existing systems, maintenance requirements, and insufficient staff training. Approximately 70% of change initiatives fail in mining due to disconnects between technology investment and people investment, according to his analysis.
Collaborative Design and Digital Standards
To bridge the gap between digital intention and execution, Le Roux recommended creating champions at every organizational level and co-designing solutions with end-users. “Senior management, middle management and employees need to feel that they are part of introducing a new technology,” he stated, according to summit reports.
He separately called for industry collaboration on digital infrastructure standards, suggesting the mining sector needs defined standards for digital infrastructure and collaborative implementation to advance industry-wide progress. This approach mirrors developments in other sectors where global environmental challenges and healthcare diagnostics are driving technological integration, though industrial applications face unique operational constraints.
Training Integration and Governance
Strong governance and integrated training systems are essential for sustainable technology adoption, according to summit presentations. Sherring emphasized that training often represents a weakness during organizational change, with education needing alignment with operational requirements and strategic objectives.
“This is the big shift needed to leverage the full value of technology,” he stated, according to conference sources. “People in the productive industries are very good at achieving the goals they focus on, but gaps appear in areas that they do not focus on.” The approach contrasts with trends in other industries where workforce reductions sometimes accompany technological implementation without sufficient retraining investment.
Future Outlook for Industrial Technology
SAIMC COO Gerhard Greeff opened the conference by highlighting the organization’s rebranding and renewed focus on supporting processing companies and manufacturing users in digital development. He warned that without technological adoption, South African industries risk becoming uncompetitive globally, potentially leading to further company withdrawals from the country.
The consensus among presenters indicated that successful implementation of mechatronics and automation systems requires balancing technological capability with human expertise and process optimization. As industries worldwide face increasing pressure to modernize, the human element remains central to deriving value from technological investments, according to summit analysis.
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