In 2020, Favendo established an asset tracking solution at Minera Antucoya in Chile with its partner iGO SpA, which optimizes processes with its technical solutions, in order to digitize and optimize data in the “last mile” of the production process.

After almost a year of using Favendo’s hardware & software at the Open Pit Mine in Chile and integrating it with iGO’s platform “igat” to measure productivity & utilization and track assets and people, it’s time to sum up. In an interview, Paulo Mery, Business leader at iGO, gave us an insight into his experience with Favendo’s tracking system and also talked about why he appreciates the cooperation with Favendo so much – despite the time difference between Germany and Chile.

Paulo can you give us a brief impression of what it is like for iGO to work with Favendo’s software?

“First of all, the ease of use of Favendo’s Commander and especially the ease of integration with third-party solutions should be highlighted. The platform allowed us to access and use it very quickly. Integrating Favendo’s technology with iGO’s productivity platform took no more than 2 or 3 weeks, thanks to Favendo’s open API. It was really easy to work with Favendo’s RTLS platform!”

Is there anything you’ve noticed about working with Favendo’s Commander that you’d like to change?

“Well, the only thing that would be really great is to have a Spanish user interface for future projects. So far, only we at iGo have used the Commander and we fortunately have no problems with English. Therefore, we could use the Commander without any problems. In the long term, however, we want to give the workers at Minera Antucoya the opportunity to use Favendo’s technology directly.

The problem is that the people who work in the mines in Chile usually don’t know English very well. This is simply because they often have limited access to education. So a Spanish user interface would be helpful for us.”

What do you appreciate about working with Favendo and were there any initial concerns?

“One thing that really stood out to us was Favendo’s response times. Whether we were in contact with James, Stefan or David, we always got an answer right away. So despite the time difference, we never had the problem of the project being stalled due to poor communication.

Whereby we were initially concerned that this time difference between Germany and Chile would make communication and thus the project more difficult. But the opposite was the truth, because we always managed to keep communication up to date even over a one-day time difference. If one wrote an e-mail in their evening, the other worked on it in their morning and vice versa.”

So why did you choose Favendo, a German company, when the time difference initially caused concern?

“The reputation that German technology has played a role for us in selecting the provider. The employees in the mines in particular attach great importance to technology that works reliably even in difficult environments.

To understand this, it is important to know that the minefields are located at very high altitudes. Most of them are located at an altitude of more than 3500 meters. This makes it extremely difficult for hardware and software components to function properly under these conditions. That’s why we wanted a technology provider that offers the highest quality standards. And what can we say? Favendo’s tracking solution works flawlessly! In one particular case, the hardware was even installed at 3800 meters above sea level and worked without any problems.

To illustrate the whole thing a little more clearly: The highest mountain in Japan, Fujiyama, is 3776.24 m high. On its top you could install Favendo’s technology without any problems and it would work! That’s awesome and almost unique!

Because of this outstanding functionality in high altitude and difficult environments, we will also be doing tests with Favendo’s hardware at 5000 m for another project together in Chile. If this works out, it would be a great opportunity for our partnership!”

We have no more questions, unless you want to add something?

“I just wanted to add, that I for iGO it’s not a small thing that we got a 4 years contract with the mining company here in Chile. And we believe that this is also related to the fact that we work with Favendo as a German company. This helps us enormously to create economic stability in the long term!

Especially since at the beginning of 2020, before the project even came about, we thought that German companies would not pay any attention to inquiries from companies in Chile. After all, we come from a small country, regardless of the cultural and economic conditions. Chile is simply a small, supposedly inconspicuous country. Nobody knows Chile in the context of innovations, technologies or mines and it is not a matter of course for us that we receive a direct answer to our inquiry, which then also results in such a good partnership. We thank you for your trust in us!”

Thanks, Paulo! We can We can only return that. It has really developed a trusting cooperation and even if there may have been initial skepticism, we were able to disprove all doubts and are very happy about the partnership! On a business and especially on a personal level!

We are really delighted to partner with iGO and look forward to all the projects to come! And who knows, maybe Favendo’s RTLS solutions will soon be found on top of Fujiyama … ;-)