Over decades and in more than 90 projects, Stratflow has found that most mines can achieve substantially better production within 3-5 months and without spending any capex.
With the billions spent every year on improving mining production, this should not be possible, but in most mines, we see that it is.
It is a mystery worthy of Sherlock Holmes.
Systems Thinker Prof Russell Ackoff handed us the first two clues. One- “We can optimise the entire system, but then all the parts will not be optimised”, and Two-“We can optimise all the parts, but then the system will not be optimised”. Dr Eli Goldratt and TOC add clue number Three. Three- “In any production system, we have only a few constraints ( usually one), which determine the entire system's output.”
Our focus on saving costs and achieving maximum efficiency at every part of our mining system (acting out clue Two) destabilises production flow and increases production variability. This is when we get moving bottlenecks. But think about the logistics of a moving bottleneck. A moving bottleneck means that the slowest process in the chain still has enough capacity to move work to the next part of the process.
In our experience, the average output in a system with moving bottlenecks is at least 20% lower than the capacity of the actual bottleneck in the system. By changing the focus to ensure that the bottleneck never starves or blocks, we can unleash the hidden capacity in our system and deliver outsized results. Over more than 20 years and 90+ projects, we have seen output increases of 10-40%, reduced production variability and improved safety, all while freeing up managerial time and attention.
Below you will find a link to the late Arrie van Niekerk's "three bottle experiment" which illustrates how to unlock the hidden capacity using the flow of water through a bottleneck. Three bottles https://www.stratflow.com.au/videos
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