The manufacturing industry reinvented its approach to the manufacturing process by managing and measuring it end-to-end. This improved returns on production assets, improved information quality and reduced delivery time, resulting in larger net profits through cost reduction and improved cash flow._x000D_
Today this approach is standard in the manufacturing industry._x000D_
Resource development has many requirements in common with the manufacturing production line. These include: control of the various steps, transparency of the state of the process to various levels of the organisation and the overall efficiency with which the process is executed._x000D_
The authors argue that the introduction of manufacturing execution systems (MES) concepts and technologies to resource development processes will lead to similar improvements in control, transparency and efficiency and could improve profitability and enable staff to work more effectively and make better decisions._x000D_
FORMAL CITATION:Bradley, C, Denton, M, Mundell, S, Rheinlander, M and Broadgate, M, 2009. Reducing costs in resource development - can geologists learn from manufacturers? in Proceedings Seventh International Mining Geology Conference 2009, pp 45-52 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).