A leading mining company based in Australia faced major problems with its production performance planning because it couldn't consolidate production performance data.

Additionally, the company struggled to visualize data for better insights and decision-making, and it couldn't easily test different operating scenarios. It would often take planners a considerable amount of time to adjust plans because they couldn't consolidate all the different data views. The situation also made it difficult to answer business questions such as: How can we manage shutdowns to produce better quality products? How can we maximize volume without compromising quality? What would be the impact in production if we shut down next week?

With the help of TIBCO partner Visagio, the company used the TIBCO Spotfire platform to develop its Planning Consolidation Tool (PCT). The tool became a one-stop-shop for users, providing an ideal way to consolidate data and visualize production performance. With Spotfire software as the foundation, the tool combines plans for product quality improvements, production volume, and maintenance events into a single view. It collects information from multiple systems and applies rich data enhancements within the Spotfire solution. The PCT has three modules:

• The Monthly-Consolidation module shows the production plan for both volume and product quality. Users have visibility into the planned volume for all sites and product types and the planned compositions of blended products.
• The Maintenance module provides powerful visual aids such as a Gantt chart view and event aggregation by significant date to derive insights into maintenance plans.
• The Plant Capacity module provides a simple comparison between planned production and equipment capacity for production, allowing users to visualize metrics like planned production versus potential equipment capacity.

The PCT is highly agile and enables users to quickly modify parameters and instantly analyze results.

Additionally, the PCT has a direct connection to a scenarios database. Users can save plan adjustments and quickly share them with other users who can then load these scenarios onto dashboards to provide input or further iterations. The PCT is equipped with export features, enabling users to easily save plan summaries and all relevant configurations.

With Visagio's help, the mining company used Spotfire analytics to deliver a trusted one-stop-shop that contextualizes information from various production plans and allows users to generate insights into general production performance.

Since the roll-out of the PCT, the mining company has seen major benefits in quality control and a reduction of grade variability.

According to a company representative, "Before the implementation, we did not have an easy way to review the consolidated grades for the asset. By the time we managed to collect all the Excel files, we were already one month into the planning cycle. It was too late to change anything. With the Planning Consolidation Tool, we can get the figures updated two days before starting the month, which gives us enough time to review, trigger the alarms, and propose changes in month two or three to improve the grade profile to optimize the whole supply chain and even avoid fines."

The company can now compile information in a timely manner and enable agility in informing business decisions. With the new solution, the company also achieved value through risk mitigation, decreased losses, and a reduced number of quality-related incidents.

Now there is a lowered risk of creating a substandard plan. The company states, "We are using this tool as risk mitigation to avoid further losses; we are trying to mitigate historical losses by introducing controls." There are also decreased product quality incidents: "One way we can measure improvement on product quality incidents is based on the number of incidents that we encountered over the last two years. Based on the previous consolidation and integration process through the PCT, we will be able to reduce costs incurred from off-spec fines."

After seeing the benefits of the new solution, Visagio partnered with TIBCO to create an Intelligent Mining Spotfire Application that includes typical mining workflows:

• Geology, Drilling, Hauling, Processing
• Notifications, Work Orders
• Health, Safety, Environment

This Intelligent Mining Spotfire Application is now featured on the Spotfire Demo Gallery. This gives Visagio, TIBCO, and other mining companies a view into how Spotfire applications can generate value in the mining industry.