Mining operator: -32% maintenance cost in West Africa

The mining industry is one of the most demanding sectors when it comes to maintenance. Sites are often isolated, sometimes hours of driving from the nearest urban center. Working conditions are tough. Heavy equipment operates continuously, and the slightest breakdown can paralyze several weeks of production.

In this context, the digitalization of maintenance hits a major obstacle: connectivity. Classic digital tools, which assume permanent internet access, become unusable in the field. Technicians fall back on paper, pencil, and the memory of the most senior staff.

Four sites in remote areas, unique constraints

The operator was running four mining sites in West Africa. All of them shared the same structural constraints:

• intermittent or entirely absent internet network across most of the sites;
• spare parts supply lead times of four to eight weeks, sometimes more;
• field teams with no digital tooling, used to paper forms;
• weak regulatory traceability, a source of difficulties during audits.

Previous attempts at deploying a CMMS had ended in failure. The tools, designed for connected environments, did not survive the reality of the field. Technicians went back to paper within the first week.

An offline-first mobile approach

MAINTEX approached this project with a strong conviction: success could only come from a tool designed from the start to work without a network. The mobile application had to be 100% operational offline, and automatically sync data as soon as a connection became available again.

This architectural choice structured the entire rollout. Four pillars were worked on in parallel:

1. a mobile application 100% functional offline, with no degradation of features;
2. automatic, transparent synchronization on reconnection, with no manual intervention;
3. anticipation of spare parts stocks thanks to intervention history;
4. complete traceability to meet regulatory audit requirements.

Technicians finally equipped

The most visible change was the regained autonomy of field technicians. For the first time, they had a tool that worked everywhere, all the time, without depending on the network. Intervention forms were filled in on smartphones or tablets, photos attached automatically, and everything synced back at base camp.

Anticipating spare parts stocks transformed supply management. Instead of placing emergency orders with imposed lead times, teams could plan orders in advance, leveraging intervention history.

The offline mobile app was decisive for our teams in remote areas. We now work with the same efficiency as a permanently connected site.

A scalable model

The results speak for themselves. Maintenance cost dropped by 32%, mainly thanks to a reduction in emergency interventions and to stock optimization. Equipment availability reaches 99%, an almost unprecedented level for this type of operation.

Beyond the numbers, the project showed that it was possible to digitize maintenance in the most demanding environments. The model is now being rolled out at other mining sites of the group, and is inspiring similar projects in other extractive industries.