Digitalisation transformation company Proudfoot states: “When you are ramping up a $5.6 billion mining site investment, you need an operational insurance policy.” Rio Tinto invited Proudfoot to be that insurance policy by co-creating an innovative integrated-planning process (IPP) for its Oyu Tolgoi (OT) mine. Rio Tinto management saw in Proudfoot a consulting partner to help them stay on track and on time.
As underground construction became more complex, OT executives realised the existing project-management approach was not sufficiently robust. “They needed more than a system, they needed a set of tools, meetings, and behaviours to manage the vast number of people and processes, allowing them to coordinate their work from the same integrated plan, safely.”
The project has been so successful that the Management Consultancies Association has named Rio Tinto and Proudfoot a finalist for Best International Project, 2018. “While the MCA Awards are just around the corner, win or lose, the story of this billion-dollar capital project and development site is one of guts and determination for both Proudfoot & Rio Tinto. The real winners are Rio Tinto, its employees and shareholders, and the Mongolian communities affected by the mine. OT will be the world’s largest underground mine, producing copper for the next 100 years.”
“Rio Tinto management chose Proudfoot over 11 other consultancies for this critical project. The scale of OT mandated an innovative management approach to better manage people and processes, keeping construction and development on track.”
“In the Gobi Desert there now exists a mini city with more than 3,000 workers, 90% of whom are Mongolian. Proudfoot worked with them, side-by-side, from the surface to 1.5 km underground to make the project a success. Proudfoot created and implemented a bespoke, state-of-the-art management approach (MOS) to work in conjunction with an integrated planning process (IPP). The IPP optimises the allocation of space, time, and materials across more than 20 practices. It recognises any constraints or conflicts on the schedules and resolves them while prioritising safety. It removes complexity, improves productivity, and creates behaviors that ensure alignment. Ultimately, it frees up supervisors to focus on outcomes rather than processes.”
To date the Proudfoot OT project has delivered:
- An effective, adaptive MOS/IPP for OT that scales up as work progresses – the first such system for an underground mining project of this size
- The safest operation in Rio Tinto’s underground mining divisions.
- Work schedules being made 48 to 72 hours and even one week in advance when the standard for the mining industry is one day.
- MegaMine 2.0 board game to train leaders (about 120 people) that worked so well it was rolled out to the entire workforce of 3000+ people.
- A project that is on time and budget.
This project is helping to transform Mongolia’s economy. Today, the mining industry accounts for nearly 90% of Mongolian exports and contributes about one third of the nation’s GDP. Judging for the award of Best International Project will be April 26th at the MCA Awards in London.