Peñasquito’s SisEP Management Operating System Improves Efficiency and Productivity

In its quest for continuous improvement, Peñasquito introduced the SisEP Management Operating System (MOS) enabling personnel to plan, prioritize and monitor activities more accurately. The availability of actionable real-time data significantly streamlined planning, increased efficiency and improved productivity netting the Peñasquito team a Global Excellence Award for Operational Excellence.

Up until a few years ago, Peñasquito was a very reactive operation.  Planning review and execution cycles were sporadic. Meetings lacked structure.  Departmental goals and objectives were not aligned, and performance was not adequately monitored or measured.

Management recognized that dramatic changes were required.  In 2016, a holistic review of all relevant processes was undertaken and a Management Operating System (MOS) was implemented to improve process performance as part of the Peñasquito Excellence Systems (SisEP) initiative. Work in all departments was broken up into small and manageable components to provide short interval control; each task and process was then analyzed to understand the value in order to prioritize the work activities. This process was undertaken across the site – from metallurgy to mine operations, processing and administration – focusing on methods and areas of improvement that would bring the most value to each functional area.

The MOS provided managers with real-time updates, production progress reports and analysis to support planning and decision making, improving productivity in each operating area. Processes, procedures and scheduling can now be analyzed from top to bottom so steps can be taken to eliminate inefficiencies and streamline operations by ensuring that resources, both human and material, are allocated optimally.

Meetings are now smaller, shorter and more focused, with information shared among all relevant stakeholders so everyone knows what their role and responsibilities are and how the goals and objectives will be met.

The Mine Planning MOS, for example, led to agreed-upon commitments being signed off by all stakeholders, with review meetings targeting key metrics involved in the plan. These meetings involve front-line supervisors to reinforce the importance of compliance and to develop supervisor capacity. To automate weekly and daily reports the Peñasquito team uses the automated PowerBI data analysis tool, which saved significant hours enabling employees to focus on high-priority tasks.

The Mine Operations team also redesigned and installed a new Shift Change MOS.  Shift supervisors now receive detailed shift plans that cover priority work to be completed.  Shifts are followed by detailed discussion on previous shift critical KPIs, variance to plan, and proposed actions to rectify variance in upcoming shifts. Modifications to shift changes resulted in a sustained 6% increase in shift change production equating to over $10 million USD in Life of Mine (LOM) Net Present Value (NPV).

In the plant, performance monitoring and analysis quickly identified ineffective production targets and KPIs along with improvement opportunities. As a result, several key KPIs were changed, most notably changing the metric of tonnes per hour (tph) to tonnes per operating hour (tpoh) at the primary crusher to strip out the effects of maintenance and upstream production impacts on performance. The introduction of MOS at the main crusher resulted in a sustained improvement of 1,225 tpoh over pre-implementation rates.

“With the implementation of MOS, we have a stronger link between the mine, plant and dam,” said Jaime Awmack, Plant Manager. “Everyone knows what the objective of the day is, and there’s extensive communication among all collaborators.”

Through the Tactical Planning MOS, over 80 people across the site have been trained in a two-day project management course on how to develop and execute a project, allowing the Peñasquito team to focus on a core selection of projects sponsored by mine leadership. This has aligned the team on the development of project charters and execution plans, ensuring that project value is assessed and monitored.

The renewed focus on continuous improvement, monitoring and analysis have instilled a greater sense of accountability at Peñasquito. The availability of more robust information has led to better decision making at all levels. Improved communications within and between groups has created a culture of constructive problem solving fostering a motivating environment of collaboration.

In addition to the monetary benefits realized from MOS, the system helped stabilize performance leading to improved recovery rates and increased predictability of meeting production guidance.

“For the first time at Peñasquito, our MOS and SisEP tool in combination with PowerBI has enabled our frontline operators to access and act on data in real time while in the pit,” concluded Tim Kahl, General Manager of Operations. “A phenomenal innovation that has empowered our supervisors, united our planning and operations team, and delivered safe and increased production.”