Mining Companies lose millions of dollars every year because:

• Managers and employees do not know the value of lost opportunities (lost tons, poor communications, etc.)
• Excess costs are hidden or buried in the ledger, so cost reduction projects are not focused on the real problem.
• Measurement systems do not reveal hidden capacity, so opportunities to increase production without investing in expansion capital are missed.
• Departments do not work well together to maximize production and minimize cost.
• Management system processes (budget, capital approval, incentive programs, etc.) conflict with process knowledge gained through improvement initiative work.
• Management teams do not manage improvement like they manage day-to-day operations.
• Employees seek other employment due to frustration with the culture or lack of involvement in problem resolution.

I have helped many metals and coal mines improve performance and change their cultures:

• Drilling / Blasting
• Loading / Hauling
• Crushing / Conveying
• Longwall / Continuous Miner / Belts
• Tailings

• Concentrators
• Smelters
• Refineries
• Precious Metals Refining
• Coal Preparation Plant
• Loadout Facilities

• Executive
• Site

• Maintenance
• Purchasing / Warehouse
• Marketing
• Accounting / Reporting
• Engineering
• Environmental

TAP INTO UNUSED CAPACITY AT LITTLE OR NO COST.

Engineers often confirm production capacity based on manufacturers design specs for run rate and an assumed availability/utilization based on historical performance.  Mines use operating hours, run rates and tons produced to measure success, but seldom measure tons lost due to hidden availability/utilization, sub-optimal run rates or lost recovery.

I can show you how to identify, measure and communicate lost tons at every organizational level. 

• A lost ton is worth just as much as a produced ton.
• Lost tons are hidden and are almost always greater than people think.
• At today’s metals prices, millions of dollars are forfeited each month as tons that could have been produced are pushed to the end of mine life or lost forever in tailings.
• Millions of dollars can be added to the bottom line without investing in expansion capital.
• Losses connect with problems and organizational barriers that frustrate the workforce and form the corporate culture:
• A focus on losses changes a reactive culture to a proactive culture.  Managers and employees change what they measure, what they fix, what they talk about and how they respond to problem resolution.
• Employees want to work for a company that cares about what they lose, not just about what they produce.      Employee satisfaction and retention are likely to improve when loss management becomes part of the culture.
  
  
  

PERFORM SURGERY ON YOUR COSTS

By taking a surgical approach to finding and eliminating these problems, cost reduction and improvement can be sustained. Excess costs are probably much larger than you think. I can show you how to find them in all departments. 

• Excess costs connect with the problems that employees face every day.   
• Employees appreciate a focus on problems that “eat their lunch” on a regular basis.
• A focus on reducing costs by eliminating these problems:
  • Improves the productivity of the workforce.  People can perform more of their normal tasks without stopping to fix controllable problems.
  • Improves the bottom line using a common sense approach to cost reduction (remove the waste without impacting value-added spending).
  • Changes a reactive culture to a proactive culture.  Managers and employees change what they measure, what they fix, what they talk about and how they respond to problem resolution.
  • Improves employee satisfaction and retention when managing excess costs becomes part of the culture. Employees want to work for a company that cares about what they waste, not just about the money they make.