The Synergy Post

The mining industry’s biggest partner – ERP systems

I have been doing a lot of research lately on the mining industry and how beneficial and actually crucial it is the have the proper ERP system in place to assist in the everyday running of a mine and eventually to grow your business and to show a return on your investment. Mining is one of the most demanding industries out there and if not run properly it can leave communities devastated and thousands of people with no income.

ERP systems have been designed out of necessity as there was a need for a system to assist in the planning and running of big organisations such as the mining industry. Even as early as the 70’s was there a need for an enterprise resource planning system. Obviously have there been a lot of systems designed that made the processes of running a business easier, but only a mere ten years ago did the concept of ERP systems arise.

When starting your business are there a lot of factors to take into account such as financials, production, human resources and customer relationship management. All these departments play a crucial part in any business.  

Following will be some of my findings of what to look for in the perfect ERP system specifically aimed at the mining industry. Disclaimer: findings of a blogger, researcher and sometimes a mad man and not that of a mining mogul.

FINANCIALS

The most important factor when starting a business is the financials. A lot of money has been injected and probably a lot of investors took the leap of faith of investing in you and your mining venture. It is important that an ERP system can handle your mine’s financials. Financial accounting, creditor’s accounting, payment management, cost accounting and investment accounting are just some of the functions that an ERP system should be capable of handling.

PRODUCTION PLANNING AND PRODUCTION

After year one when the mine is up and running it is important to start looking at production to increase the revenue of the mine and also keep the investors happy. Work schedule management, technical data configuration, linking to weighing scales, cost calculation, quality assurance and capacity planning should be on top of your production wish list.

MATERIAL REQUIREMENT

All ERP systems should consist of a material requirement module that can assist in the categorising, arrangement and rearrangement of materials for certain production lines, a benefit is that these modules can be set up well into the future, this will be beneficial for companies to plan a whole years production in advance and even further if the need arises. These requirement modules can be customised in any way the user sees fit for him or her to execute the task efficiently.

SALES AND DISTRIBUTION

At this stage things are looking up and it shows that the mine is starting to show a return on investment and that the mine is ready to start selling its produce. ERP systems have sales and distribution software included that can assist in the managing of sales and taking care of distribution schedules to ensure these products get delivered to the promised destinations. Also look out for capabilities such as setting up of contracts, offers, order entries, delivery and shipping planning and invoicing.

WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT

Warehouse management goes hand in hand with a mine’s production planning. Warehouses need to communicate with the production department in setting up inventories to keep track of what stock enters and leaves the warehouses. This in turn will trigger certain production notifications. Management of locations, workload analysis, preparing of orders and tracking of operations will be key functions that will help in running your warehouses successfully.

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM)

CRM is a complete customer management system that will ensure open communication channels between all your clients and suppliers. And for the more adventurous people out there can CRM systems be used to run marketing campaigns and drip marketing campaigns.

HR

Human resources are essential in any major corporation, this will help you keep tabs on all your employees and also take the stress out of managing their pay rolls. Clocking in and out of staff is easily manageable. Training schedules can be set up and talent management can be tracked.

There you have it, a complete system that ensures transparency throughout all of your business processes. Most importantly, the right ERP system can and should show a return on your investment and this system itself is an investment as it can grow with your business.

I can safely say that I know a bit more about the mining industry and how crucial it is to have an ERP system tailor made to you and your company’s specific needs. Luckily do I not know enough yet to start my own mining company, but I am willing to offer my consulting services to any unsuspecting victim.