Established operations are great cash consumers and normally even greater cash generators . A small change in operational performance can make a large difference to the bottom line cash flow especially at marginal operations .
Teviot has a range of management approaches available to clients :
Continuous Improvement processes are employed by good management should be in place throughout the life of the operation and ingrained in its DNA . Teviot’s propriety Dimensions of Excellence is a great Continuous Improvement process for mining businesses.
Cost reduction exercises are best done when there is an obvious imperative that employees can relate to . Prices and profitability falling , costs blowing out or grades falling . It is difficult to get buy-in to a cost reduction programme when the business is making super profits and there is no credible ‘ burning platform’. Winston Churchill said ‘ Never let a good crisis go to waste ‘ and in a mining context good management should never miss the opportunity of a good crisis to go through and remove fat from the business.
Production increase engagements are best undertaken when prices are rising and its clear that there is money to be made by squeezing more out of the business at marginal cost. These can be enormously valuable projects for shareholders . However management should be prepared when opportunity arises and the plans for the next incremental expansion need to be clearly defined so they can be implemented promptly . Some ideas on best practice with these incremental expansion or debottlenecking mining projects can be found here
Continuous Improvement, Cost reduction, Step Change and Incremental expansion are all situations where Teviot is well experience and able to provide business , technical and analytical support :
Strategic Production Planning (not to be confused with Corporate Strategic Planning) is one of Teviot’s most powerful business engagements. SPP is an intervention that revisits the fundamentals of an established mining operation ensures that the main operational performance levers are optimises to keep the operation at the cutting edge and delivering maximum value from the orebody . This includes updating resource models reopening Whittle cutbacks ( open pit) to help definition of next expansion option , Mining fleet change out investigations , new technology and flow sheet improvements , downstreaming activities and contracting out options. Often these
Re-energising existing operations
The most effective improvement tool we used is Dimensions of Excellence – an approach which can be applied to parts of or an entire business , and links seamlessly into personal development targets , incentives and bonuses and employee empowerment
Step change intervention support
Teviot is experienced in the support of Step Change interventions , including initial target setting , performance monitoring and Best Practice peer performance review