Adam McDean
BusinessBasics Australia

Paperless processes are a time and money saver for any organisation, but we have found this is especially true in the mining services industry. The mining sector can make significant gains, through small and manageable changes to their processes, choosing the right systems for their business. Smart choices can lead to huge productivity and efficiency gains.

The very nature of the types of businesses associated with mining means there are often a high percentage of staff that are not working in an office environment. In the past, this has meant paper forms for approvals, timesheets and information has been a necessity, as not all staff had access to computers. Smartphones and tablets have changed this and our clients are eager to embrace this change.

 

A recent example is a mining services client who implemented online timesheets for their workforce (who are predominantly in the field). Their staff are now able to quickly and easily login using their smartphone and enter the hours worked that day, request leave forms, check their sick leave entitlements – everything that used to be done manually and only accessible on paper. The cost to the business to implement was less than $10,000 and through an effective change management process the transition was seamless. In return they have now saved more than eight hours per week of manual data entry, but more than that they have provided a positive cultural change for staff who feel they have better access to information and a more transparent approval process.