Strategy and growth

Shift to growth

Electrification is a small part of our business today, but we expect it will become a part of most contracts in the future. The electrification of mines is a technology shift that reduces operating costs for customers while substantially increasing their efficiency, sustainability and health and safety.

We lead the market in underground hard rock mining and aim to lead in surface mining as well, by targeting organic growth opportunities and acquisitions. This year we finalized the strategic acquisition of DSI Underground, together with its four joint ventures, and can now offer our customers a complete product portfolio that covers the entire value chain, including systems and solutions for surface mining. DSI Underground is the second largest acquisition ever made by Sandvik and it now forms the new Ground Support Division.

The acquisition of DSI Underground provides us with a technical engineering design team to assist customers with new or non-standard products. The acquisition also expands our footprint, with 22 DSI Underground manufacturing plants around the world that can rapidly adapt products to local needs. In October, we closed another acquisition – Tricon Drilling Solutions, which expands our footprint in Australia and our portfolio of rock tools. Tricon will operate as an independent standalone business unit within our Rock Tools Division.

Digital shift

We lead the industry in the shift to electrification, digitalization and automation through our connected products and solutions. Through digitalization and automation we have the ability to gather data that helps operators and mines with their planning, production or the architecture of the mine. This data supports increased throughput and optimization of work tasks.

Our digital solutions also support the usage of our equipment, such as for remote operation, improving employee safety. Our data support mining fleets by predicting maintenance needs, helping to extend the lifetime of the equipment. Digital monitoring services help mines assess the health of their fleet and reduce the risk of failure.

The acquisition of Deswik, a market-leading and fast-growing mine planning software provider, gives us significant strategic growth possibilities by increasing upstream mining coverage and the ability to offer end-to-end optimization solutions. Deswik will be part of the newly created Digital Mining Technologies Division.