KNOWLEDGE BASE To meet this challenge, businesses must go beyond hiring for technical shortages and begin investing in structured, ongoing training to ensure their workforce can operate, maintain, and evolve with modern technologies. According to H&P reports, ensuring the right digital skills are embedded across the sector is key to supporting safety, productivity, and sustainable growth. Upskilling your workforce is vital for the success and safety of your business. Effectively training your staff in digitalisation can give them the confidence they need to fulfil their competencies. With 22% of mines not actively training employees on digitalisation, the difficulties of the skills shortage are heightened. David Marshall, Marketing Manager at Welding Alloys, a leading expert in cladding and hard facing applications, says: “The skills shortage is disruptive to many industries, including the mining sector. The digital skills gap is proving especially prevalent due to the disruption of industry productivity. “With a skills shortage spanning all job roles, a new workforce might not always have the needed digital skills to perform. Ensuring you’ve got the right training in place for the use of technology in mining is vital for the success of your business and the safety of your employees.” While focused on the mining industry, this comment reflects wider pressures faced by any field undergoing digital transformation - including the hydraulics and pneumatics sector, where new technologies are being layered onto legacy systems. Whether operating autonomous machines, managing smart hydraulics, or conducting diagnostics through digital sensors, technicians now require both mechanical and digital fluency. The expanding role of technology in industry Artificial intelligence, automation, and augmented reality are no longer niche; they are becoming foundational tools in industries reliant on machinery and maintenance. In mining, predictive maintenance—powered by big data and risk modelling—is now widely used to forecast equipment failure and enhance safety. These same principles apply to hydraulic and pneumatic systems, which are critical components in heavy industry. Not only can you use drones and sensors to provide greater safety measures, but you can also use this information and the scope of your projects to better understand the risks which can occur. Welding Alloys, for example, has previously seen Hardplate wear liners installed with wear sensors by KW Chile. These wear sensors meant the company could monitor the wear rate on a chute conveyor belt used in a large underground mine in South America without requiring physical intervention. By integrating AI-driven predictive maintenance, companies can foresee potential breakdowns before they occur, reducing downtime and waste. This proactive approach lowers costs and aligns with sustainability goals by optimising resource usage. However, if businesses don’t have the right engineers who can work with AI to achieve these outcomes, they may be forced to rely on different—and perhaps outdated—safety measures. Having team members with the right digital knowledge to implement AI into operations can significantly improve the safety and security of workers, projects, and the business overall. Cybersecurity and connected workers As connected systems become more prevalent, cybersecurity is gaining importance across all sectors—including those reliant on SCADA, PLCs, or IIoTenabled fluid power networks. According to projections, asset cybersecurity will see a 75% adoption rate in mining technology by 2025. However, the digital skills gap could be causing security issues as human error comes into play. Not only can the lack of understanding around these technologies cause problems for access, but it can also make initiative security measures ineffective – putting your assets and information at risk. David Marshall adds: “Developing the digital skills of your workforce also includes their cybersecurity awareness. Through courses and upskilling, you’ll be in a better position to ensure that these asset protection technologies are being used at their best.” Equally significant is the growth of connected worker technology. This includes wearable devices such as smart glasses or helmets that provide real-time data, allowing employees to respond proactively to hazards or system changes—capabilities that are especially valuable during the inspection and repair of hydraulic and pneumatic equipment. 30 HYDRAULICS & PNEUMATICS July/August 2025 www.hpmag.co.uk Bridging the digital skills gap In many industries including mining and those dependent on hydraulics and pneumatics, technology is advancing more rapidly than the skills available to support it. As operations become increasingly digitalised, companies face a widening skills gap, particularly in areas like automation, data analysis, and smart maintenance. H&P reports.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ0NzM=