Schneider Electric and AVEVA are powering the unification of operations for Vale, a global natural resources and mining company. The combination of AVEVA and Schneider Electric software, technology and mining domain expertise is providing Vale with the ability to integrate, centralize, and remotely monitor operations across its Mariana and Itabira complexes in Brazil.
Vale ranks among the top five largest mining companies in the world. Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, the world’s leading producer of iron ore, pellets and nickel employs a global workforce of over 170,000 people in 38 countries. The Mariana Complex and Itabira Complex are two of Vale’s major iron ore production sites, located in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Together, the complexes are responsible for more than 75% of the production data from Vale’s Minas Gerais mining operations.
While primarily implemented to improve safety through remote operations, digitalization is critically important to driving efficiency and sustainability in mining. Through the partnership, Vale can unify operations across multiple sites and upgrade its old system to one capable of remotely controlling all the diverse technologies operating across each mining facility. Crucially, the remote management solution enables Vale to have fewer professionals onsite, increasing safety and reducing operational expenditures while also vastly improving energy efficiency, and therefore, sustainability.
Vale chose Schneider Electric and AVEVA for the technological performance and visibility offered by their solutions. These provide an extremely high level of flexibility due to their vendor-agnostic nature, making it easy to integrate disparate technologies across multiple sites.
“We are constantly looking to improve safety, efficiency and sustainability, not just now but also for the future,” said Paulo Henrique Fontes Coura, Senior Automation Leader, Vale. “Schneider Electric and AVEVA have become an integral part of that journey. Rather than simply offering the software, they provided a complete, bespoke end-to-end service helping us optimize at every turn. This included training, support, and advice throughout.”
“The collaboration between our companies has created something much greater than the sum of its parts,” said Gilberto da Cunha Vieira, Electrical and Automation Engineer Leader, Vale. “We are enormously grateful to Schneider Electric and AVEVA for bringing our facilities together.”
Schneider Electric deployed EcoStruxure Control Expert – Asset Link, combining AVEVA System Platform and Schneider Modicon M580, to provide visibility and unify operations for Vale. The technology enables data to be integrated directly into the system, so Vale’s managers have granular insights without having to manually transfer any intelligence. By bringing this data together, Vale can now create a master operations center and remotely manage everything. This greatly improves operational efficiency and means less people are onsite, providing a significant boost to safety.
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