Bridge Mining Process Silos By Thinking ‘Process’ And SIPOCR
As a non-mining professional in the mining industry, I find this post to be intriguing and very relevant to what is being done in the business improvement space. This post by Marcos de Paiva Bueno is about mining education which he sees as being done in silos. Many of the commentators agreed that the silo does not stop at the teaching institutions but is carried on into the field. This appeared to be a culture which is causing mining operations to be in silos which continues to cost the industry dearly.
My hack in accelerated learning in the field (i.e. at the workplace) across different functional departments to overcome such mining process silo culture is to think of any business function as a ‘process’. That is, everything we do in a business, either as main function or sub function, is a process. A process requires understanding. Once you understand a process you will realize that a process has variables and these process variables must be properly controlled. A process has a capacity and that process capacity requires continuous improvement.
Mining is a process comprising many main processes (geology - model ore resources; mining - focus on moving tones effectively and efficiently; and mineral processing - focus on optimising recovery) which are in series, each with its sub processes and shared support processes which can exist in series or parallel configurations.
Each of these mining processes, both main, sub or support, has these five key elements:
1. Requires Understanding
2. Has Variables
3. Variables must be Properly Controlled
4. Process has a Capacity
5. Process Capacity requires Continuous Improvement.
What are the ‘vital/significant few’ variables of Geology to control that will feed or serve as the inputs into the Mining and Mineral Processing Processes?
What are the ‘vital/significant few’ variables of the Mining to control that will feed or serve as outputs of the Mining Process and inputs to the Mineral Processing Process?
Understanding these ‘vital few’ KRAs (key result areas) or variables of these processes is important as these serve as ‘inputs’ and ‘outputs’ in the mining process SIPOCR (supplier input process output customer requirements).
A SIPOCR provides a structured way to discuss the 'process' and get consensus on what it involves before rushing off and drawing process maps.
A mining process SIPOCR will help in the in-house customer-supplier relationships where the customer can draw the required specs and value from the supplier by providing its requirements clearly to the supplier or the supplier knowing the specs of the customer can deliver value accordingly.
In the grander scheme of things, 'Understanding Customer's Voice' is a key practice to 'Operate with Excellence'. These practices will come out of an 'Operating Model'. Every modern organisations would be expected to have an 'Operating Model' which will form a framework around which they will build their sustainable growth and transformational aspirations. This framework can be used by their leaders in their strategy discourse. The key to strategy by discourse is narrative but you must go to that narrative with a framework around which you will build and stake your talk around. An 'Operating Model' provides this framework.
Understanding well the SIPOCR of a process, a good customer can draw much needed value for the business by knowing exactly its specs and demanding the supplier to meet these specs. For example if the Mill knows from history the ore blend ratios to meet its throughput and recovery KRA’s, then it can demand the miner to give it that blend.
Hence, regardless of how the business processes are set up, the fifth element of continuous improvement in a process is there to bridge the silos with a paradigm shift to applying SIPOCR.