Operational readiness backlog
elimination & SAP master data

For a leading Australian coal miner

Every asset in the mining industry requires a considered approach to operational readiness. Ensuring performance from day one to disposal requires a structured, thorough and competent integration of documentation, personnel, processes and systems.

Because of its specialist nature, in-house teams often struggle to complete operational readiness effectively for diverse asset portfolios.

Labour hire solutions can sometimes help close capacity gaps in the master data space.  However, their capability, sense of ownership and approach to project management varies – which increases total costs to the business.

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Core Asset Co. specialises in operational and asset readiness.

CHALLENGE

One of Australia’s top coal miners* found itself in this difficult situation. The company’s engineering team was struggling to support a wide range of unique critical assets – resulting in a chain reaction that led to:

Gaps in their SAP master data and maintenance strategy

Slipping on legal safety obligations

Increased reactive maintenance and out-of-budget costs

Significant risk and increasing costs

Their inconsistently configured SAP enterprise resource planning system was also not aligned with the company’s requirements or team’s needs.

Core Asset Co. set out to overhaul the miner’s operational readiness process and reduce their backlog over a 12-month project.

Improving asset performance in this situation required:

Gaining a clear understanding of the issues and their root causes

aligned decisions on the best solutions – considering the
unique business context

coordinated actions to deliver results quickly.

SOLUTION

Decide

From its initial review, Core Asset Co. identified two broad areas of improvement – breaking those areas down into
target business value levers:

  • 5

    Operational readiness process – to improve consistency of results
  • 5

    SAP master data backlog reduction – to support maintenance execution and budgeting

Core Asset Co. began by …

taking the time to understand the issues that regularly arise in the client’s asset portfolio. Then, the team began identifying solutions for the underlying problems to prevent new ones from occurring.

Take ownership of the problems to find their root causes

Develop a solution with relevant stakeholders for transparency and buy-in

Show quick wins and a proof-ofapproach to build confidence
within the internal team

Act

Operational readiness process improvement

Core Asset Co. made sure that the proposed solutions could easily and practically integrate into the company’s processes and workflows.

This involved:

  1. Defining and optimising the operational readiness processes
  2. Documenting, validating and work-flowing the new processes – ensuring stakeholders understood their roles and that there were no gaps
  3. Integrated process documentation into the company’s day-to-day operations – to lock in improvements beyond the project’s timeline and key personnel

    SAP master data backlog reduction

    Executing substantial ‘heavy lifting’ operational readiness activities, Core Asset Co. eliminated the asset backlog and brought the process
    back under control.

    This involved:

    1. Portfolio prioritisation
    2. Operational readiness planning for each asset
    3. SAP updates, including:
      1. Functional location (FLOC) updates
      2. Maintenance plan changes
      3. Task lists
      4. Materials and bill of materials (BOM) setup
    4. Testing and validation
    5. Internal stakeholder relationship repair – including work quality verification and sign-off

    THE OUTCOME

    A year later – thanks to Core Asset Co.’s support – the client is in a far more stable position. With a fit-for-purpose process in place, executing operational readiness is part of their day-to-day business activities.

    Fully
    cleared backlog
    of assets requiring critical maintenance

    Updated and reconfigured SAP
     with gaps in master data resolved

    Empowered the client to
    refocus on
    preventative maintenance
    spending less on repairs

    Thanks to their strong results, Core Asset Co. has established a long-term and multi-year partnership with this top coal miner, to support all their operational readiness needs.

    *Anonymised to protect the client’s business

    Get in touch

    Ready to improve your operational readiness and get back on track?
    Speak to Core Asset Co. to transform your asset performance.