FERREXPO

Two Proudfoot sr . executives discuss the Covid driven surge in demand and how they ’ re helping clients meet digital and operational change to achieve hard-results while focusing on people .

JJ Van Pletzen and Jon Wylie are veteran mining experts at Proudfoot . They have almost sixty years ’ experience between them .

Van Pletzen says they ’ ve come a long way . ‘ Our focus is far more about people now , aligning company operating systems with strategy and bringing all that together in a digital world .’

Wylie agrees . ‘ The challenge in the digital world is to put people at the centre of any company strategy . Change happens on an individual basis .’

to meet growing demand . That stretches an organisation and that requires new skills and systems to meet those demands .’

Proudfoot specializes in helping clients focus on adopting technology and optimising that through the right operating model while engaging people – all the stakeholders . Making the most of work processes across the entire value chain and identifying and releasing the hidden millions in the operation .

‘ When Jon talks about digital transformation , it ’ s all about helping clients humanize this process in addition to optimizing . That ’ s down to the way you manage . And , of course , you have to optimise before you digitise ,’ says Van Pletzen .

‘ Many think there is resistance to change in a business . There isn ’ t . There is resistance to how change is being led and created .’

Global mining faces huge geographical and cultural challenges and the pandemic has meant solutions to those challenges and the changes needed have been accelerated with once unimaginable speed .

Wylie sites Proudfoot ’ s work with the Ukrainian based iron ore mining company Ferrexpo as a good example of how the obstacles of a Covid / climate change age are being met .

‘ In a Covid world we are seeing pent-up consumer demand ,’ says Wylie . This is sparking significant growth . ‘ Mining companies such as Ferrexpo , providing raw materials , will be going through that demand cycle .’

There is a surge in new capital projects … a move to build new mines and expand capacity

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