AUSDRILL
Founded in 1987 by Ron Sayers with just a single drill rig at Kalgoorlie , Ausdrill has grown to become one of Australia ’ s top 200 companies , listed on the ASX and counting the major mining companies including AngloGold , BHP Billiton , Barrick , Gold Fields and Newmont in its client list . Its rapid growth has been achieved mainly by acquisition , and today the group embraces 19 businesses located across Australia as well as major interests in Africa including a half share , with Barminco , in African Underground Mining Services ( AUMS ).
Ausdrill has been affected in common with the entire mining services sector by the retrenchment in exploration and production following the recent slump in commodity prices . Though Africa has bounced back and Australian gold prices have firmed this year sparking renewed activity , in all its markets Ausdrill is facing greater competition . As Group Contracts and Procurement Manager Ashley Carey puts it , smaller players are desperate for any work to keep them going and are creating a price environment that , though unsustainable , skews the market in the short term .
Carey and his colleague , financial controller Renée Harrold , have taken a lead role in easing the company through some very difficult times and refining its procurement processes and culture to a point where it can take full advantage of the upturn that can ’ t fail to materialise in this notoriously cyclical business . As Carey says : “ The downturn has been a blessing in disguise : it has brought the supply chain to the top of the agenda . Without the downturn we may not have had the traction to drive the changes we ’ ve made over the last two years . Bad times breed good businesses and that is very true in our case .”
A case for refinement With plenty of work around , and the highest standards of customer service , there had not been the incentive to introduce what might be called joined-up thinking . There was very little communication between the businesses in the group , and
56 November 2016