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Tablets and notebooks have become a key element for office collaboration and team productivity as employees are no longer tied to a desk or a physical space and can collaborate and interact with business applications no matter where they are.

Mining companies are no exception to this trend and allow their employees to use mobile devices as a way to increase efficiency and productivity. However, the harsh conditions in which mining companies operate require a more resilient type of device — this is where rugged mobile devices come into play.

What are rugged mobile devices?

Rugged devices are generally categorized in three levels: semi-rugged, fully rugged, and ultra-rugged. The categories indicate how resistant is the device to adverse conditions, like vibration, dust, immersion, and extreme temperatures.

A semi-rugged laptop, for example, might have a thicker case, a gel-mounted hard disk drive, and a spill-resistant keyboard. A fully rugged laptop is designed from the inside out to operate in extreme conditions.

  • Hot/Cold Environments
  • Drop Dangers
  • Shock Dangers
  • Vibration
  • Dust
  • Water

Ruggedized devices can offer mining companies a viable way of unleashing new levels of collaboration and cost optimization by reducing the amount of breakage, repairs, or loss in productivity due to broken devices.

What are the benefits of rugged devices?

Rugged mobile devices are far more resistant than their regular alternatives. A study from Panasonic showed that the failure rate for notebooks is 18%. By the end of the fifth year, a massive 61%of regular notebooks deployed in a professional setting are in need of repair. Tablets and smartphones perform slightly better, with failure rates of 15.7% and 13.9% respectively. Once mobile devices leave the office environment and start to be used in fieldwork, failure rates continue to rise.

Rugged devices had an estimated failure rate of just 3%, so it should come as no surprise that an increasing number of mining companies are turning to rugged technology as a way to increase office productivity and reduce the cost associated with constant maintenance and repairs of IT equipment.

How are rugged computers being used in the field?

Rugged devices are helping mining companies in a huge number of areas, including:

  • Asset Management
  • Data Management (Acquisition and Processing)
  • GPS Tracking
  • Natural Resource Mining Inspections
  • Planning, Procurement, and Project Management
  • Regulatory compliance and reporting
  • Resource and Materials Management

What Pro-Growth IT Services Does Xyber Solutions Offer Mining Companies?