SUPPLY CHAIN OPERATIONS
aspects of leadership . Those ‘ soft ’ skills necessary to manage people are the key to creating high-performing teams , along with providing clear expectations of their role as a front-line leader in a mining operation .
One of the mining industry ' s inherent problems is the boom and bust cycle , which impacts the flow of new mining technical professionals and operational leaders into the sector . As Hewitt put it , the industry is always lagging behind the latest boom or bust cycle . A period of low metal prices means that fewer people are entering the mining field . When the industry inevitably recovers , experienced people aren ' t available to fill essential roles .
" We also see a lag in enrolments in technical programs – mining engineering and other technical fields that support mining ," says Jewson . " There are these bursts of enrollment and interest in mining during good times and then long periods where universities aren ' t churning out a lot of mining engineers . We see the impact today in that there is a real dearth of people with 20-25 years of experience to train the new engineers and the new leaders .
" It ' s further exacerbated by the fact that the older , more experienced leaders in mining are getting close to retirement age and may not have experience with the technology that has become a standard part of modern mines .
" We ' re training our clients ’ young engineers and technical people on what good looks like in mine planning , in terms of interactions with operations and in fleet management systems and other mining technology ."
Typically clients approach Outliers Mining Solutions looking to improve their mine performance – and any improvement program must include coaching for their people and a focus on upskilling their existing workforce . For production gains to be sustained , there must be an investment in people .
" One thing that ' s unique about Outliers is that we provide a high level of continuous improvement and business improvement support ," says Hewitt . " All of our people are subject matter experts and have spent time at mining operations living these roles ."
One of the core service offerings provided by Outliers is rehabilitating and maximising the value from mine technology . Hewitt cites the example of fleet management systems – technology that has been around for 30
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