Innovation is how ideas and concepts are implemented in real life. – But today, Poland is among the least innovative countries and this has not changed for several years; we have been standing still as a country – said Dariusz Gołębiowski of PZU Lab opening the second day of the Energy 24 Congress in Katowice.
The mining industry is an exception however, being one of the most modern in the world. Today, innovation in the mining industry means robotics, telecommunications, microseismic monitoring, drones, satellite technologies and virtual reality. But without building an innovative organizational structure in a company, without the business dimension, acceptance of errors and primarily – without the available financing of development and implementation, innovations will not succeed. This is what was discussed at Energy24.
– I’d like to emphasize and we should all remember that from the standpoint of our strategy, JSW should mine coal, produce coke and find use for hydrocarbons. This has been, is, and will be our main goal. The innovations that we are working on right now are to enable us to achieve this goal in a way that ensures higher efficiency and work safety for our employees – said Artur Dyczko, Vice-President of the JSW SA Management Board for Strategy and Development, during the conference. - We must be able to secure the company in the longer term against market downturns, we must calculate, analyze and anticipate how today’s investments will affect what we will be doing in 2030. I would like to emphasize once again that all our activities, including the innovations, are means to ensuring safe future for JSW, its employees and their families – added the Vice-President.
As an example of such activities, he cited the purchase of a modern Bolter Miner roadheader system, which should commence operations at JSW in May next year. This is not the end: currently, the company’s mines contain almost 120 km of optical fiber and 115 km radiating cable. The network is being expanded continuously; at the end of Q1 2019 it should consist of almost 300 km optical fiber and 355 km radiating cable, which will be used to monitor machinery and supply huge amounts of data for analysis. – We are committed to dialog; we talk to other mining companies about communication, localization and data analysis. We want the solutions that we eventually select to support the mining process. They will be installed in our mines, coal preparation plants and coking plants and they must work well, because the end game is the economic result – Vice-President Dyczko explained to the participants. This was one of the reasons why why Advicom was established (which will change its name to JSW IT Systems in January), a company to support IT solutions for Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa.
The host of the Congress believes that this approach confirms that the direction of development is correct: – The factor that encourages innovation is the leadership and engagement of the management and supervisory boards; today in the mining industry companies are managed by determined managers – Dariusz Gołębiowski of PZU Lab said in Katowice.
During the second day of the Energy24 Congress, start-ups linked to the Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa Group and other mining companies presented their operations. - We are extending our hand to the startups; the companies such as PGG, KGHM or JSW may benefit from them – said Rafał Gąsior, Director of the Innovation and New Technology Implementation at Polska Grupa Górnicza.
