The year 2024 represents a time of transition for midsize companies in the global mill products and mining sectors, according to exclusive research by SAP Insights. Respondents say artificial intelligence (AI) and partner networks will be keys to growth in 2025 and beyond.

Both industries are operating in the context of economic downturns, a result of supply shortages and sagging production. The mining industry is facing unparalleled challenges; a host of factors worldwide are contributing to supply chain disruption, production constraints, and increased construction and operating costs. Globally, milling has been massively affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine as well as by climate change.

These pressures have created a mixed bag of priorities and challenges for the present and future.

To understand the challenges and priorities of midsize companies—those having between 250 and 1,500 employees—SAP Insights conducted a global study in 2024, comprising 12,003 responses across numerous industries. Of those responses, 204 came from milling product and mining businesses.

In these two sectors, respondents said investing in new technology and software tools is the most important strategy to grow while simultaneously preparing for economic uncertainty. AI topped the list.

Hot topic priorities: The rise of AI

Adopting standard business applications of AI was a top priority for milling and mining respondents (55.4%), as it was for respondents across all industries (53.3%). The only “hot topic” priority to rank higher than AI for all respondents was preparing for cybersecurity threats, at 56.4%.

Milling and mining companies reported seeing AI transforming their businesses in several substantive ways. The top three ways were by enhancing opportunities for training and skills development, creating new business models and revenue streams, and improving customer engagement and experience. With CPG/milling industry giants like General Mills setting the pace, midsize companies want in on the AI action too.

Mining executives are also bullish on the new technology. Mitchell Krebs, CEO of Coeur Mining, a U.S.-based gold-silver miner, told S&P Global Commodity Insights earlier this year that AI plays a huge part in the industry, as part of a broad trend toward predictive technology.

“AI is alive and well in mining—everything that can help us take data and learn from it in a way that's quick and efficient and can lead to better decisions, quicker decisions,” Krebs says.

It’s worth noting that despite the widespread adoption of AI, many business leaders are clearly still concerned about the legal complexities it brings.

About 37% of the milling and mining companies surveyed said they thought the biggest risk of using AI was legal liability; that’s significantly above the 30.5% of all industries’ respondents who shared the same concern.

Regulatory compliance is always a thorn

AI isn’t the only source of legal or regulatory concern; 12.6% of milling and mining respondents said regulatory compliance was their most significant internal challenge, and 36 % of respondents tabbed compliance as one of their top three challenges overall.

It’s a particularly acute concern for midsize millers and miners, compared to other sectors, with about 27% of other industries citing regulatory compliance among their top three challenges.

Much of this concern is likely related to myriad ever-changing rules and regulations that govern how milling and mining companies can run their own field operations.

In the mining industry, at least some concerns likely pertain to how competing companies operate. In the United States, for example, new legislation under consideration could waive the “discovery requirement” for mining on federal land, a development that could lead to bad-faith claim filing. In the milling industry, Canadian companies are monitoring new regulations for on-farm feed milling.

Seeking growth: Broader distribution channels, better data, and streamlined processes

Most survey respondents—across all industries—want to simplify processes. Mills and mines are no different, both in their interest and in the obstacles they cite.

For example, all industries ranked the same top two challenges to business simplification and process improvement: lack of integration between systems affecting decision-making, and disruption or weakness in procurement and supply chain.

Milling and mining company respondents were also in lockstep with other respondents for the top three technologies and tools that will help bring about business simplification and process improvement:

• New and updated analytics products and decision-making tools
• New or updated business software systems
• Systems integration

However, milling and mining companies weighting their growth strategies illustrates some of the sector’s distinct qualities.

These respondents tabbed as their most important business plans for growing their businesses:

• Improving and/or expanding supplier and partner networks
• Focusing on the development and expansion of skills and talent
• Increasing the integration between enterprise systems

While many industries ranked partnerships as a high priority, this is even more important for milling and mining: 50.8% of milling and mining respondents ranked this as their number-one growth priority, compared to 43.1% for all others.

Conversely, only 3.8% of milling and mining respondents chose “creating new products and services” as their top strategy for growth, compared to 9.3% of other companies. This is perhaps not surprising given an industry history of slow product introductions; the name of the game is growing the channel for existing products.

On the skills and talent front, milling and mining are more focused on restructuring the workforce (32.6%) compared to everyone else (19.8%—a considerable gap) as the top priority for improving processes and simplifying work.

Taken together, the data paints a picture of industries that recognize the need for better connections and relationships. Milling product and mining companies are betting that the right skilled workers, given good data and connected systems, can work across silos and boundaries for improved results up and down the supply chain.

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