For over 115 years, the Dickinson Group of Companies (DGC) has been a trusted force in industrial innovation across Sub-Saharan Africa. Today, through its DGC Africa operations, the company is tackling one of the mining and industrial sector’s most urgent challenges: how to maintain, manage, and future-proof high-value assets amid growing operational complexity and volatility.
Headquartered in Kitwe, Zambia, DGC Africa is expanding its regional footprint by delivering performance-focused services that improve plant reliability, accelerate engineering innovation, and transform the industrial workforce. Central to this mission is the launch of DGC SmartAsset Intelligence, an AI-powered reliability platform that’s redefining asset integrity in Africa’s industrial sector.
Tackling Operational Challenges in Harsh Industrial Environments
Mining operations in Sub-Saharan Africa face some of the world’s most extreme industrial conditions. Infrastructure is constantly under threat from high temperatures, abrasive materials, corrosive processes, and unstable power supply. Compounded by ageing assets, fragmented maintenance systems, and supply chain constraints, these challenges lead to unplanned outages, reduced equipment lifespan, and spiralling costs.
DGC Africa’s integrated asset integrity framework directly addresses these pressures. By combining structural reliability engineering, risk-based inspections, shutdown services, refurbishments, and digital diagnostics, the company helps mining and industrial operators reduce failure risks, extend asset life, and stabilise performance.
From Reactive to Predictive: A Digital Shift in Maintenance
Many industrial operations still rely on reactive or calendar-based maintenance approaches—strategies that are increasingly out of step with today’s performance demands. DGC SmartAsset Intelligence changes the game by embedding AI directly into reliability workflows, enabling continuous condition monitoring through live plant data.
This platform delivers a new standard of operational intelligence:
- Real-time condition monitoring using IoT sensors and SCADA integration
- AI-driven anomaly detection to flag failure patterns before they escalate
- Predictive maintenance planning to prioritise interventions and maximise uptime
- CMMS integration for seamless execution and data-backed decision-making
For mining companies under pressure to increase uptime, cut costs, and meet ESG goals, predictive maintenance is no longer a luxury—it’s a strategic imperative.
A Holistic Approach: DGC Africa’s Integrated Reliability Model
DGC Africa offers a full-spectrum asset integrity solution tailored to each client’s operational context:
- Assessment & Benchmarking
Each project begins with an in-depth diagnostic of maintenance maturity and asset health, forming the foundation for a customised roadmap to reliability. - Digital Enablement & Condition Monitoring
Using thermography, vibration analysis, and IoT-enabled sensors, DGC enables real-time visibility of equipment performance, feeding insights into CMMS platforms for streamlined planning. - Shutdown & Maintenance Execution
From mechanical overhauls to refractory work, DGC manages safe and efficient shutdowns aligned with production schedules. - Engineering Innovation & Retrofits
With technologies like 3D scanning, reverse engineering, and custom component redesign, the company modernises ageing infrastructure while controlling capital expenditure. - Continuous Optimisation & Advisory
Through failure mode analyses and post-project performance reviews, clients gain strategic insights to drive long-term improvement.
What makes DGC SmartAsset Intelligence unique is its scalability and practicality. Solutions are tailored to each site’s digital maturity and infrastructure readiness, ensuring that transformation efforts deliver measurable business value.
Regional Expertise, Global Standards
With a growing presence in Zambia and planned expansion across Sub-Saharan Africa, DGC Africa blends global engineering standards with deep regional insight. This locally embedded model delivers distinct advantages:
- Rapid deployment of multidisciplinary, site-ready teams
- Strong understanding of regional operating conditions and compliance frameworks
- Longstanding relationships with regulators, communities, and suppliers
- Proven familiarity with site layouts and historical operational challenges
This combination ensures that solutions are not only technically sound, but logistically viable and locally relevant.
Driving the Future with AI: A Strategic Partnership with Falkonry
To strengthen its digital reliability offering, DGC Africa is partnering with Falkonry, a global leader in time series AI for industrial environments. Falkonry’s platform extracts insights from vast volumes of operational data, helping engineers and plant managers make faster, more informed decisions.
By integrating Falkonry’s AI into DGC’s SmartAsset Intelligence platform, clients gain:
- Enhanced failure prediction and root cause analysis
- Advanced anomaly detection for early warning and risk mitigation
- A more intuitive, user-friendly interface for real-time decision support
This partnership isn’t just about advanced tools—it’s about embedding AI into daily workflows, creating smarter, more resilient operations across asset classes, plants, and regions.
A Strategic Partner for Resilient Growth
In a sector where downtime can cost millions and reliability is a competitive edge, DGC Africa offers more than just services. It delivers:
- A strategic partner committed to local impact
- A proven path to performance through intelligent reliability frameworks
- A vision for industrial resilience, powered by data, expertise, and innovation
As Sub-Saharan Africa’s mining and industrial sectors accelerate toward digital transformation, DGC Africa stands ready to lead that journey—empowering safer, smarter, and more sustainable operations from the ground up.
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