Tired of digging for the gold in your company’s data?
BI tools can uncover the gems
For a mining company seeking sustainable growth and profitability, information is critical. You are already generating a tremendous amount of data from the field and the office, but how quickly and how effectively are you able to access and analyze that data to unlock the actionable insights within? Gaining access to actionable data requires a powerful business intelligence (BI) tool to uncover the gems.
Data mining your mining data
Mining companies run on information. Traditionally, data analysis has been historical in nature — a look back at what’s happened in an effort to identify trends and patterns and identify opportunities for improvement. This type of analysis will remain valuable, but increasingly, mining operations are looking for real-time data to guide and direct decisions “a la minute”.
The right information at the right time is what promotes agile, strategic decision-making, accurate forecasting, and management 
control of mining processes and supply chains. You need rapid accurate to a myriad of information, including up-to-date performance metrics, key performance indicators (KPIs), and profit-and-loss summaries. And the information must span all departments, products, and geographies. With a data analytics or BI application, you can reduce the time spent on data collection, analysis, and reporting and make faster, fact-based decisions.
The digital nerve center
Some of your mining data comes from the field, as IoT processing equipment and sensors are deployed to collect it. Financial and accounting data will come from the accounting or ERP application. Asset and equipment data may come from an equipment maintenance application, while payroll and personnel data may come from an HR management solution.
To be truly useful, we must combine data from all sources, creating an information layer Deloitte refers to as the “digital nerve center.” Bringing together data across the mining value chain improves planning, control, and decision making. BI tools allow the data to be viewed, shared, and studied in the form of traditional reports, KPIs, graphs, and data dashboards.
Smart benefits of business intelligence
While intuitively we know that real-time access to accurate, decision-making data is beneficial to the mining operation, there are many tangible and practical benefits of BI in mining, including:
- Improve collaboration
A single data source across the organization boosts collaboration across departments and locations for more streamlined work processes. - Enhance logistics
BI can help determine areas of great efficiency and those in need of improvement up and down the supply chain. - Smarter procurement
A system that’s data-driven makes it easier to manage and monitor services and spares and helps optimizes a spare parts inventory. BI uncovers the data that makes negotiating price and spend analytics fast and efficient while lowering overall procurement expenses. - Identify cost drivers
BI software can identify which areas are most productive, and which areas are less so, allowing you to focus your energies where it matters most. - Improve stakeholder relations
Not only does BI software help access and uncover mining data, its visual dashboards can be easily understood and shared resulting in more transparency in operations. This makes for better stakeholder engagement and relations. - Competitive advantage
Armed with deep insight into your performance, mines are able to strategically position themselves in a competitive marketplace.
A new dimension in BI
Many modern ERP solutions, like Sage X3 which forms the foundation of Caron Mining Solutions, utilize analytical dimensions. Dimensions can be thought of as “management centers” designed to aggregate accounting information for both analytical and budgetary purposes. Dimensions can fundamentally improve your reporting, making it easier for you to get detailed answers to complex business questions while simplifying your chart of accounts.
Dimensions are integrated into the user interface of Sage’s business intelligence modules, allowing you to draw out and analyze data in ways you never thought possible.
How Caron can help
Today’s fast-paced business environment requires mining industry leaders to tackle operational challenges at a pace and scale previously unseen. Immense opportunities exist for those companies capable of making rapid, informed decisions based on sound analysis and interpretation of data.
Caron Mining Solutions incorporates a robust Business Intelligence (BI) tool, Sage Enterprise Intelligence. What makes Sage Enterprise Intelligence different from other BI tools is that it’s preconfigured to work with your mining ERP, with ready-to-use KPIs and templates that get you up and running more quickly. And while Sage Enterprise Intelligence is designed to work in harmony with Sage 300cloud and Sage X3, that’s not all it can do. Sage Enterprise Intelligence can incorporate data from any number of sources, including spreadsheets and other applications. This allows it to serve as the intelligence hub for your entire operation, uncovering the hidden gems in your mining data and allowing you to capitalize on them.
Caron Mining Solutions is a comprehensive, powerful, and easy-to-use mining industry ERP solution, built on Sage ERP software, that addresses the challenges modern mining operations face. Learn more about Caron Mining Solutions here, or by contacting us here.
