Maximising margins in today's competitive international commodity
markets demands superior productivity. This requires more than simply
selecting the best equipment. It requires efficient production and
commercial processes together with management systems recognised as
international best practice. This paper introduces an integrated way of
working that includes management systems for successfully changing
work practices and attitudes, developing managers and increasing
accountability. It provides an improvement methodology that includes
systematic involvement of people in true continuous improvement of
processes for maximising productivity and safety while minimising costs. Even though the principles are proven in all industry sectors
worldwide, they are not always used correctly. This paper provides
examples of traditional performance measurement systems to show how
managers miss opportunities to control and improve both production and
supporting service processes. It also describes the basic methodology for
correct use of the principles and provides examples of correct
implementation of modem systems in mining. The charts from actual mining case studies will be elaborated upon in
the conference presentation. This paper's main aim is to provide
background material for the presentation by introducing integrated
principles for building best practice management systems for superior
productivity and safety - for higher margins.