For Mining Companies

     

MINExpo is all about helping mines improve performance. With prices creating record margins, profits are huge. So are the losses from tons not produced. How many more tons could you be producing with your current equipment and staff?

We are improvement specialists with 27 years of mining experience. We understand your operating strategies, equipment, production, cost issues and mining culture. We do not invade your properties with huge staffs that have to be educated about mining before they can help you solve problems. Unlike other improvement consultants, we really understand the barriers that prevent you from getting better. Our clients are large and small mining companies with downstream processing facilities (surface, underground, metals, coal, gold, etc.) 

We listen to your concerns and use a common sense approach to solve problems that steal tons, increase costs and create chaos for operators, maintenance technicians, administrative support groups and management teams.

We work with you as a partner to maximize your success. We create a comfort zone for problem solving and teach your people sustainable processes that help you meet goals for improvement, capital avoidance, expansions and culture change.

OUR WORK & EXPERIENCE SUPPORTS YOUR SUCCESS:  

We help you find and capture opportunities to increase efficiency, production and profit.

• Production and Maintenance (surface/underground and fixed plants)
• All Support Functions (Marketing, Purchasing, Warehousing, etc.)
• Management Team Interaction, Management Processes, Leading Improvement

We teach you techniques to address the uncomfortable issues:

• Departments that do not work well with each other.
• Hesitancy to speak up about what really needs to be fixed.
• Fear of asking for what is needed to improve communications and workflow.

We understand workforce issues and their impact on realized benefits:

• Challenges of working short-handed and its impact on improvement.
• Confusion from poor departmental handoffs and communications.
• How execution determines project success and affects culture.
• Expectations causing mixed messages, confusion and lost credibility.

Sustainability is demanded throughout the mining industry. Sustainable Improvement:

• Does not have to cost millions of dollars in consulting fees.
• Has nothing to do with consulting fees or the size of the consulting firm that you work with.
• Is determined by developing a new vision for opportunity that results in lasting changes in behavior and decision-making processes.
  

FUNCTIONAL GROUPS We Have Worked With To Improve Performance:

• Senior Management
• Mine Management
• Production:
  • Drilling / Blasting
  • Dragline
  • Loading
  • Hauling
  • Fueling
  • Longwall
  • CMs
  • Belts – Splicing, Moves
  • Coal Haulage / Loadout
  • Preparation Plant – Chute Plugs, Loadout, Process Control
  • Grinding / Flotation
  • Tailings
  • Smelting
  • Refining
  • Pelletizing
• Maintenance
• Support Functions:
  • Engineering
  • Procurement / Warehouse
  • Marketing
  • Accounting
  • Contract Management
  • Environmental
• Association Boards - Strategic Planning, PR, Best Practice

 

                               


Don't Let This Pretty Face Fool You!  I have 27 years of mining experience 

• CYPRUS AMAX MINERALS - all divisions:
  • Designed/implemented 1st mobile equipment tracking system (Thompson Creek and Kentucky coal operations - some of its elements live on in Modular Mining's system.)
  • Helped develop the first on-line real-time maintenance system.
  • Designed and implemented built the first corporate-wide budgeting system.
    
  • 4 years on-site at the Empire U/G coal mine in Craig, Colorado
  • Saved $1,000,000 as the result of a contract analysis.
  • 2 years in Cyprus's Gold and Exploration Division (Copperstone, Selwyn).
  • 9 years in Cyprus's Metals Division (9 operations, USA and S. America)
  • Helped design and implement Quest 21, a successful continuous improvement program that saved millions of dollars in the late 1990's and kept us in the black when copper prices were hovering at $.60/pound.

• ARIZONA MINING ASSOCIATION - Chaired the Public Relations Committee for 5 years.

• FOUNDED OPTIMIZ CONSULTING in 2000 with the intent of helping many mining companies improve performance.     
  

• SPEAKER - 20 conference and conventions (including MinExpo 2004) about lost opportunities and barriers to improvement.                                                            

         

Your Value Proposition 
11 Reasons to choose me as your improvement consultant/coach or management consultant:

• My Work Ethic:
  
  • I have a reputation for giving 110% to every client and being honest about what needs to be fixed.
  • I encourage frequent communications between all parties; if you work with me, you will feel connected to the process.
  • If I ask for your cooperation or participation, it will be because your role is important to the success of the project.   I will not waste your time.
    
  • I will help you manage expectations, demonstrate progress, build credibility and  drive culture change.
    
• I know where to look and what questions to ask to help you find millions of dollars of hidden value at your operating locations.
• My strong cross-functional experience is a real asset when working with executive/site management teams and operations personnel to solve a variety of problems.
• When we meet, we can get right to work because I already understand mining concepts and processes, industry strategies, cost structures and budgeting/capital approval criteria.
• I can help you maximize performance with your current equipment set before approving expansion capital that might not be needed.
• I use a unique approach to valuing lost opportunity that ties dollars to problems and raises awareness about the value of lost time, lost tons and dollars spent because problems occurred.
• I help you prioritize resources to fix the most important problems.
• I create a comfort zone for managers and employees to talk honestly about what really needs to be fixed.
• Your employees will not feel threatened when I am on-site. I do not invade operations with an army of people that require training before work can begin.
• I help large and small organizations create and implement very successful programs. Strategy and focus is the key, not number of bodies or the size of the fee.     
• My fees are not based on a percent of improvement in revenue or cost. This fee structure tends to drive the wrong behavior and may result in actions that are not in the best interest of a client. The gains are yours to keep - your organization earns them as it gets better at identifying, capturing and sustaining improvement. 

• Customized Improvement Systems (design, implementation, training, execution coaching)
• Improving the Effectiveness of Existing Programs (Six Sigma, Lean, etc.)
• Help with Specific Tools/Methods (key measures, flowcharts, process control, etc.)
• Management System Processes / Execution (budgets, capital approvals, incentive plans, etc.)
• Management Team Coaching (working together more effectively, meeting to solve problems instead of meeting to listen, then go back to work)
• Process Improvement Team Facilitation / Action Plan Execution
• Creating New Processes (especially those that involve multiple departments - mine start-up, other)
• Removing Organizational Barriers between departments (emphasizing, identifying and capturing customer/supplier requirements, spreading process knowledge and the "big picture")