As one of the world ’ s largest suppliers of explosives , Orica reaped the benefits of Australia ’ s mining boom as its customers – Australia ’ s mining giants – rushed to meet the world ’ s seemingly insatiable demand for coal , iron ore and other precious commodities . At the time , Orica ’ s customers were primarily focused on security of supply to ensure they could maximise the output from their mines .
As the boom petered out the mining giants shifted their focus to becoming as efficient and competitive as possible , while producing lower volumes to meet waning demand . The flow-on effect of this downturn forced suppliers such as Orica to also refocus their efforts in order to help their mining customers adapt to the new environment , says Steven Lesser – Head of Supply Chain at Orica , Australia , Pacific & Indonesia .
“ We were following our customers ’ performance closely during the mining boom , specifically within the Australian market which was a major benefactor ,” Lesser says . “ With the turn in the mining market we knew the needs of our customers would change and we needed to be prepared to handle that change .
“ First we needed to focus more closely on customer forecasts and how this flowed through our sales and operations planning process . This involves understanding specifically where demand is occurring , so we can more efficiently bring product through the channel without overstocking or having product in the wrong place at the wrong time .”
The next step involved optimising the supply chain by finding efficiencies , taking out costs and reducing the size of the organisation . It also included Orica going back to its own suppliers – from its raw materials to logistics such as transportation – to seek support for adjusting to the subdued market .
Orica has traditionally relied on a rather linear supply chain but the optimisation process also involves making the most of the
66 January 2017