Proceedings,16th IFAC Symposium on

Proceedings,16th IFAC
Information Control Symposium
Problems on
in Manufacturing
Proceedings,16th
Information IFAC Symposium
Control on
Bergamo, Italy, JuneProblems in Manufacturing
11-13, 2018 Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
Proceedings,16th
Information
Bergamo, Italy, IFAC
Control
June Symposium
Problems
11-13, on
in Manufacturing
2018
Information Control
Bergamo, Italy, JuneProblems in Manufacturing
11-13, 2018
Bergamo, Italy, June 11-13, 2018 ScienceDirect
IFAC PapersOnLine 51-11 (2018) 1149–1154
A
A Lean
Lean Implementation
Implementation Framework
Framework for for the
the Mining
Mining Industry
Industry
A Lean Implementation Framework for the Mining Industry
A Lean Implementation
Aziza Seifullina*,Framework forPeter
Ahmet Er*, Simon
Aziza Seifullina*, Ahmet Er*, Simon theNadeem**,
Peter Mining Industry
Nadeem**,
Jose
Aziza Arturo Garza-Reyes**,
Seifullina*, Ahmet Er*, Simon Vikas Kumar***
Peter Nadeem**,
Jose Arturo Garza-Reyes**, Vikas Kumar***
Aziza Seifullina*,
Jose Arturo Ahmet Er*, Simon
Garza-Reyes**, Peter
Vikas Nadeem**,
Kumar***
*University of Warwick,
Jose Arturo Coventry,

Garza-Reyes**, CV4 7AL, Kumar***
Vikas United Kingdom
*University of Warwick,
(e-mail: A.Seifullina@warwick.ac.uk; Coventry, CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
*University
(e-mail: 
of Warwick, Coventry,
A.Seifullina@warwick.ac.uk; CV4A.Er@warwick.ac.uk)
7AL, United Kingdom
A.Er@warwick.ac.uk)
**University
*University
(e-mail: of of Derby, Derby,
Warwick, DE22
Coventry,
A.Seifullina@warwick.ac.uk; CV41GB,
7AL,United
UnitedKingdom
Kingdom
A.Er@warwick.ac.uk)
**University
(e-mail: of Derby, Derby,
S.Nadeem@derby.ac.uk; DE22 1GB, United Kingdom
J.Reyes@derby.ac.uk)
(e-mail: A.Seifullina@warwick.ac.uk;
**University of Derby, Derby,
(e-mail:ofS.Nadeem@derby.ac.uk; DE22 A.Er@warwick.ac.uk)
1GB, United Kingdom
J.Reyes@derby.ac.uk)
*** University
**UniversitytheofWest England,
Derby, Derby,Bristol,
(e-mail:ofS.Nadeem@derby.ac.uk; BS16United
1QY,United
DE22J.Reyes@derby.ac.uk)
1GB, Kingdom,
Kingdom
*** University the West
(e-mail: England, Bristol, BS16 1QY,United
Vikas.Kumar@uwe.ac.uk) Kingdom,
(e-mail:ofS.Nadeem@derby.ac.uk;
*** University the West England, J.Reyes@derby.ac.uk)
Bristol, BS16
(e-mail: Vikas.Kumar@uwe.ac.uk) 1QY,United Kingdom,
*** University of the West England,
(e-mail: Bristol, BS16 1QY,United Kingdom,
Vikas.Kumar@uwe.ac.uk)
(e-mail:
Abstract: The adoption of Lean concepts Vikas.Kumar@uwe.ac.uk)
beyond the manufacturing sector has been increasing recently.
Abstract: The adoption of Lean concepts beyond the manufacturing sector has been increasing recently.
In this line, itsadoptionscope has been expanded to the mining industry under the realisation of the need for
this line,The
Abstract:
In its scope has of been
Lean expanded
concepts beyond the manufacturing
to the mining industry under sector thehas been increasing
realisation of the recently.
need for
productivity
Abstract:
In The
this line, its improvements
adoption of
scope has been and
Lean a leverage
concepts for
beyond efficient
the operations.
manufacturing Limited
sector has research
been exists
increasing regarding
recently.
productivity improvements and expanded
a leveragetofor theefficient
mining operations.
industry under the realisation
Limited research exists of theregarding
need for
Lean
In thisimplementation
productivity line, its scopeinhas
improvements thebeen
mining
and a industrytoin
expanded
leverage a comprehensive
the
for mining operations.
efficient industry andunderstructured way. Thisexists
the realisation
Limited research paper
of therefore
theregarding
need for
Lean implementation in the mining industry in a comprehensive and structured way. This paper therefore
follows
productivity
Lean a systematic
implementation approach
improvementsin the and to areview
mining leverage
industrythe current
in literature
fora comprehensive
efficient to identify
operations.
and Lean implementation
Limited
structured research
way. This exists
paper patterns
regarding
therefore in
follows a systematic approach to review the current literature to identify Lean implementation patterns in
the
Lean mining
follows a sector, itsapproach
implementation
systematic scope, challenges,
in the mining to review and
industrythe limitations.
in The results
a comprehensive
current literature to and reveal
identify the implementation
structured
Lean limited
way. This utilisation
paperpatternsof Lean
therefore in
the mining sector, its scope, challenges, and limitations. The results reveal the limited utilisation of Lean
and
follows
the thatathere is a lack
systematic of coherent
approach to review and theconceptual
current models
literature toresults
toguide
identify theLean
implementation
the implementation of Lean in this
patterns in
and mining
that there sector,
is a its scope,
lack challenges,
of coherent and and limitations.
conceptual Theto
models guidereveal limited utilisation
the implementation of LeanofinLean this
industry.
the
and mining
that Hence,
sector,
there is the
a itsresearch
scope,
lack of proposes
challenges,
coherent and a and
framework
conceptual for
limitations. Lean
Theto
models implementation
results
guide reveal
the theinlimited
the mining
implementation industry.
utilisation
of Lean ofinLean
this
industry. Hence, the research proposes a framework for Lean implementation in the mining industry.
and that there
industry. Hence, is the
a lack of coherent
research proposes anda framework
conceptual for models to
LeanHosting guide the implementation
implementation in Ltd.
the mining ofindustry.
Lean in this
© 2018, IFAC
Keywords: (International
Lean, Lean Federation
Implementation, ofLean
Automatic
Mining, Control)
Mining Industry, by Elsevier
Operational All rights
Improvement. reserved.
industry. Hence, the research proposes a framework for Lean
Keywords: Lean, Lean Implementation, Lean Mining, Mining Industry, Operational Improvement. implementation in the mining industry.
Keywords: Lean, Lean Implementation, Lean Mining, Mining Industry, Operational Improvement.


Keywords:1.Lean, Lean Implementation, Lean Mining, Mining

INTRODUCTION 
operations Industry,
managersOperationalin theImprovement.
mining sector for effective
1. INTRODUCTION 
operations managers in the mining sector for effective
1. INTRODUCTION 
implementation
operations of
managers Lean. in Itthealso intendssector
mining to promote further
for effective
The process of extracting minerals and resources is referred implementation of Lean. It also intends to promote further
1. INTRODUCTION research
operations in this
The process of extracting minerals and resources is referred implementation of Lean. It also intends to promote further area
managers and inindustrial
the sector.
mining sector for effective
to asprocess
The miningof(Pooe and Mathu
extracting minerals 2011).
and The mining
resources is industry
referred research in this area and industrial sector.
to as mining (Pooe and Mathu 2011). The mining industry research implementation
in this area of Lean. It also intends
and industrial sector. to promote further
hasasplayed
The
to process
mining a of
significant
(Pooe and role
extracting Mathu in the
minerals global
and The
2011). economy
resources
mining is (King
referred
industry et The paper is structured as follows: Section 2 presents the
has played a significant role in the global economy (King et research in this area and
The paper is structured as follows: industrial sector.
Section 2 presents the
al.
to
has 2017)
asplayed
mining asince
(Pooeancient
significant and role times
Mathu in the until
2011).
global now;
The economy for instance,
mining industry
(King et Systematic Literature Review (SLR) conducted on Lean
al. 2017) since ancient times until now; for instance, Systematic The paper isLiterature structuredReview as follows: (SLR) Section
conducted2 presents
on Lean the
production
has played
al. 2017) of
asince a modern
significant
ancient computer
roletimes
in theuntil requires
globalnow; more
economy for than
instance, 65
(King et Systematic
within
The the
paper context
is of
structured
Literature the as
Review mining
follows:
(SLR)industry,
Section along
conducted2 withLean
presents
on the
production of a modern computer requires more than 65 within the context of the mining industry, along with the
various
al. 2017)
production minerals
since (Department
of a modern timesof until
ancient computer Energy now;
requires 2017). for Presently,
more instance, methodology
than 65 Systematic
within the context adopted;
Literature of the Section
Review mining (SLR) 3 proposes
industry, alongthe
conducted withLean
on the
various minerals (Department of Energy 2017). Presently, methodology adopted; Section 3 proposes the Lean
more
production
various than 700
of
minerals a mining
modern
(Department companies
computerof are
requires
Energy active more
2017). across
than 100
Presently, 65 framework
within
methodologythe for
contextmining
adopted;of industry.
the mining
Section Finally,
industry,
3 Section
proposes along 4
theprovides
with the
Lean
more than 700 mining companies are active across 100 framework for mining industry. Finally, Section 4 provides
countries
various
more than(ASX
minerals
700 2017).
mining Moreover,
(Department companiesofthe industry
Energy
are activeis aacross
2017). supplier
Presently,
100of framework
the conclusions
methodology for along
adopted;
mining with
Section
industry. the 3limitations
Finally, proposes
Section and
the
4 further
Lean
provides
countries (ASX 2017). Moreover, the industry is a supplier of the conclusions along with the limitations and further
raw
more materials
countries than(ASX700to 2017).
other
mining sectors
Moreover, suchthe
companies as utilities,
are active
industry manufacturing,
is aacross
supplier100 research
of framework
the directions
conclusions for mining derived fromthe
industry. this study.Sectionand
Finally, 4 provides
raw materials
construction,
countries (ASX
to other sectors
electronics,
2017).
such as utilities,
etc.,such
Moreover, andthe attracts
industrythe
manufacturing,
is aattention
supplier of the research directionsalong derivedwith from this limitations
study. further
raw materials to other sectors as utilities, manufacturing,
construction, electronics, etc., and attracts the attention of research directions derived from this study.conclusions along with the limitations and further
society
raw and businesses
materials to other sectorsinetc.,
regards
andasto
such the way
utilities, in which of
manufacturing, it 2. SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE
this study. REVIEW
construction, electronics,
society and businesses in regards attracts
to the way the in which it research 2.
attention directions
SYSTEMATIC derived from LITERATURE REVIEW
operates.and
construction,
society A mining
businesses lifecycle
electronics, in consists
etc., and to
regards of the
5 stages
attracts the (Newman
way attention
in which et
of
it
operates. A mining lifecycle consists of 5 stages (Newman et For the purpose of an in-depth analysis REVIEW 2. SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE of peer reviewed
al. 2010),
society
operates. andnamely:
businesses prospecting,
in regards exploration,
toof the waydevelopment,
in which et it For the 2. SYSTEMATIC
purpose of an in-depth LITERATUREanalysis REVIEW of peer reviewed
al. 2010),A namely:
mining lifecycle
prospecting, consists 5 stages
exploration, (Newman
development, academic publications and official reports, the SLR reviewed
approach
exploitation,
operates.
al. 2010), and reclamation;
A namely:
mining lifecycle
prospecting, and exploration,
consistslastsoffor 10-30development,
5 stages years (King
(Newman et For the purpose
academic publications of anand in-depth
official analysis
reports, of peer
the SLR approach
exploitation, and reclamation; and lasts for 10-30 years (King was For adapted
the
academic purposefrom
publications that
of an followed
in-depth by Garza-Reyes
analysis of peer(2015). The
reviewed
et
al. al. 2017).
2010),
exploitation,
et al. 2017).and
Industry
namely: inputs and
prospecting,
reclamation;
Industry
are exploration,
inputs are lasts
characterised by
for 10-30development,
characterised years
by
variable
(King stages
variable was adapted from that and followed official byreports,
Garza-Reyes the SLR approach
(2015). The
quality of deposits and their gradual depletion (Mudd 2007). academic of
was adapted SLR and
publications
from their
that descriptions
and
followed official are
reports,presented
by Garza-Reyes the SLR in Table
approach
(2015). The1.
exploitation,
et al. 2017). and reclamation;
Industry inputs and
are lasts for 10-30
characterised years
by (King stages
variable of SLR and their descriptions are presented in Table 1.
quality of deposits and their gradual depletion (Mudd 2007). was
stagesadapted
of SLR from
and that
their followed
descriptions by Garza-Reyes
are presented (2015).
in TableThe1.
et al. 2017). Industry inputs are characterised
quality of deposits and their gradual depletion (Mudd 2007). by variable
A study conducted by Damotte and Sharman (2016) 2.1 Scope
stages of formulation
SLR and their descriptions are presented in Table 1.
quality
A study of deposits
conducted and their gradual depletion
by Damotte and Sharman (Mudd 2007). (2016) 2.1 Scope formulation
highlights
A study that global mining
conducted by executives
Damotte and expect
Sharman a growth(2016) of 2.1 Scope formulation
The core essence of the research was to explore the current
highlights that global mining executives expect a growth of 2.1 TheScope formulation
core essence of the research was to explore the current
63%,
A study and 45%
highlights conducted
that of the mining
global respondents
by Damotte were
executives andconfident
Sharman
expect about
a growth(2016)the
of approaches of Lean
63%,
economic and 45%
growth of the
ofthethe respondents
industry were
bywere confident
2018.confident
Consequently, about the
the The core
approaches essence
of Leanof implementation
the research wasin
implementation
the
intothe
miningtheindustry,
explore current
mining industry,
highlights
63%, and that global
45% of mining
respondentsexecutives expect a growth
about of and
the The how
core practitioners
essence of in
the this industrial
research was sector
to may the
explore effectively
current
economic growth of the industry by 2018. Consequently, the approaches of Lean implementation in the mining industry,
industry
63%,
economic andexecutives
45% ofofthe
growth regard
the cost and
respondents
industry by performance
were
2018. confident management
Consequently, about the the and how practitioners in this industrial sector may effectively
implement
approaches Lean.
of Lean With this
implementation scope, inthethe objectives
mining of the
industry,
industry executives regard cost and performance management and how practitioners in thisthisindustrial sector may effectively
as a highexecutives
economic
industry priority,
growth ofin theindustry
the
regard past
cost 67%
and of themConsequently,
byperformance
2018. while nowadays
management the implement
present
and how
Lean. With
research were
practitioners to:
in this
scope, the
industrial sector
objectives
may
of the
effectively
as a high priority, in the past 67% of them while nowadays implement present research Lean.were With to: this scope, the objectives of the
77%
industry(Damotte
executivesand Sharman
regard cost2016).
and Since
performance the industry has
management no  Identify
as
77% a high priority,
(Damotte and in the past2016).
Sharman 67% Since
of them thewhile
industry has no implement
nowadays present
 Identify
Lean.were
current
research
current
With to: thispatterns
research
research
scope,ofthe Lean objectives of the
implementation
patterns of Lean implementation
control
as
77% a high over
(Damotte theand
priority, market
in the prices
Sharman of its
past2016).
67% of product
Sincethem the (Hattingh
while
industry nowadays
has and
no
control over the market prices of its product (Hattingh and  Identify present
in the research
mining
current were
industry; to:
research patterns of Lean implementation
Keys
control 2010),
77% (Damotteover the there
and market is aprices
Sharman strong of push
2016). Since
its totheconstantly
product industry
(Hattingh hasseekno  in
and the mining
Identify
Propose current
a Lean
industry;
research patternsframework
implementation of Lean implementation
for the mining
Keys 2010), there is a strong push to constantly seek in the mining industry;
productivity
control2010),
Keys over the improvements
theremarket is aprices and
strong of itsefficient
product operations
(Hattingh and to  industry.
Propose a Lean implementation framework for the mining
productivity improvements and push efficientto constantly
operationsseek to  industry.
in the mining industry;
Propose a Lean implementation framework for the mining
maximise
Keys 2010),outputs,
productivity there isto a cope
improvements strong with push the complex
to constantly
operationsseek and
to  industry.
maximise outputs, to copeandwith efficient
the complex and Propose a Lean implementation framework for the mining
heterogeneous
productivity
maximise businessto environment
improvements
outputs, copeandwith (Nadeem
efficient et al. 2017).
operations
the complex to 2.2industry.
and Studies location, selection and evaluation
heterogeneous business environment (Nadeem et al. 2017).
Therefore,
maximise
heterogeneous the application
outputs,
business of Leanwith
to environment
cope in mining the operations
(Nadeem complex
et al. 2017). of 2.2 Studies location, selection and evaluation
isand
Therefore, the application of Lean in mining operations is of 2.2 Studies data,
Secondary location, selection
published and evaluation
between 2000-2017, was collected
high importance
heterogeneous
Therefore, and relevance.
business
the application environment
of Lean in mining (Nadeem et al. 2017).
operations is of 2.2 Studies data,
Secondary location, selection
published and evaluation
between 2000-2017, was Industry’
collected
high importance and relevance. using search strings that included ‘Lean in mining
Therefore, the application
high importance and relevance. of Lean in mining operations is of Secondary
using search data, published
strings that between
included 2000-2017,
‘Lean in was Industry’
mining collected
The novelty
high importance of thisand paper is defined by its scope of proposing and
relevance. using ‘Operations
Secondary
search data, improvement
published
strings that between
included in mining
2000-2017,
‘Lean industry’;
in utilising
was Industry’
mining collected
The novelty of this paper is defined by its scope of proposing and ‘Operations improvement in mining industry’; utilising
aThesystematic
novelty of framework to implement
this papertois implement
defined by Lean Lean
its scope principles in
of proposing the Boolean
using search operators
strings (i.e.
that and/or),
included from
‘Lean various
in mining electronic
Industry’
a systematic framework principles in the and ‘Operations improvement in mining
from industry’; utilising
mining
The
amining industry.
novelty
systematic of thisThe
framework paperproposed
to framework
is implement
defined by Lean
its scopemay ofbeproposing
principles used
in by Boolean
the databases
and
operators
mentioned
‘Operations
Boolean operators
(i.e. and/or),
in Table
improvement
(i.e. and/or),1.
in The
mining
from
various electronic
research
various excluded
industry’; any
utilising
electronic
industry. The proposed framework may be used by databases mentioned in Table 1. The research excluded any
amining
systematic framework to implement Lean principles in the Boolean operators
industry. The proposed framework may be used by databases mentioned in Table 1. The research excluded any (i.e. and/or), from various electronic
2405-8963 © 2018,
mining industry.
Copyright 2018 IFACIFAC
The (International
proposed frameworkFederation of may Automatic
be usedControl)
by1169Hosting
databases by Elsevier
mentioned Ltd. in All Table
rights reserved.
1. The research excluded any
Copyright
Peer review©under
2018 responsibility
IFAC 1169Control.
of International Federation of Automatic
Copyright © 2018 IFAC
10.1016/j.ifacol.2018.08.435 1169
Copyright © 2018 IFAC 1169
IFAC INCOM 2018
1150
Bergamo, Italy, June 11-13, 2018 Aziza Seifullina et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 51-11 (2018) 1149–1154

articles with themes not directly related to the mining analytical themes. At this stage, the review went beyond of
industry, e.g. Data mining, CSR, Product design, etc. primary data (Heyvaert et al. 2017) as analytical themes were
highly integrated to the review questions. Thus, they
Table 1. Systematic Literature Review phases generated additional concepts and findings of a subject of the
SLR Phases Method Tools review. This method was appropriate for deployment within
Formulating this study as eventually primary data of the review should be
1 Scope integrated to the conceptual framework of the research.
the scope of
Formulation
research
IEEE Xplore, Elsevier (Science For the purpose to formulate analytical themes in a structural
Electronic Direct), Emerald, Taylor & interrelated manner and aligned with the research objectives,
2 Locating an extended version of the ‘PICO’ model (Boland et al. 2017)
databases Francis, Google Scholar, ISI Web
Studies
of Science, EBSCO was adapted, PICO being; Population (mining industry,
Search period 2000 – 2017 mining businesses), Phenomena of Interest (Lean adaptation),
Definition & Inclusion: Lean, Operations and the Context (Lean adaptation results, outcomes,
use of Improvement, Lean Six Sigma, limitation, etc.), whereas addressing the questions: Who?
3 Study inclusion/ Mining Industry, Mineral Industry. Why? What? How? And When? This core essence of the
Selection exclusion Exclusion: Data mining, CSR,
review reflects research evidence, outcomes, implications and
and criteria Product design and development
Evaluations Definition & Lean in mining Industry, limitations as well as traced patterns for future research. This
use of search Operations improvement in mining allows the reader to easily navigate within the research and
strings industry understand complex phenomena in a conceptually easy way.
Synthesis/
4 Analysis analysis for Table 2. Consolidation of Quality assessment
Thematic Synthesis
and qualitative Assessment Dimensions
Synthesis research No Author/s Quality Relevance Relevance Study
Coding of data NVivo computer software of study to the to the Asses-
5 Reporting Reporting of question focus sment
the Results findings 1 (Ade and Deshpande Low Low Med Low
2012)
2.2.1 Data screening 2 (Boateng‐Okrah and High Low Med Low
Appiah Fening 2012)
The search conducted through the SLR stages shown in Table
3 (Castillo et al. 2015) High High Med Med
1 resulted in 9,877 articles that later underwent 2 screening 4 (Chlebus et al. 2015) High High High High
stages. First screening the title and abstract, and second full 5 (Claassen 2016) High Low High Low
text screening 6 (Duin et al. 2008) Low Low Med Low
(Fig 1). After 9877 Total number of papers found 7 (Dunstan et al. 2006) Med High High Med
the screenings, through 7 electronic databases 8 (Flynn and Vlok 2015) Med Med High Med
a total of 21 9 (Garza-Reyes et al. High Med High Med
145 After First stage screening
articles (see 2016)
Table 2) fell 32 After 2nd stage screening 10 (Helman 2012) Low Med High Low
within the 11 (Indrawati and Med Med High Med
21 After removing duplicates Ridwansyah 2015)
scope of this
research. Fig. 1. Collected articles and screening 12 (Klippel et al. 2008a) Med Med High Med
stages 13 (Klippel et al. 2008b) Low Med High Low
2.2.2 Quality assessment 14 (Mishra et al. 2013) Med Low High Low
15 (Mottola et al. 2011) High Low High Low
The 21 articles were then analysed for their quality and 16 (Nekoufar 2011) Med Low Med Low
relevance using the three dimensions classification proposed 17 (Oware et al. 2015) Med High High Med
by Dresch et al. (2015), see Table 2. 18 (Sanda et al. 2011) High Low Med Low
19 (Wijaya et al. 2009) Low Med Med Low
2.3 Analysis and synthesis 20 (Yingling et al. 2000) Low Med High Low
21 (Zuniga et al. 2015) High Low Med Low
The quality assessment led to a further filtering of the 21
articles, by assessing them based on three dimensions, i.e. 2.4 Reporting and using the results
quality of the study, relevance to the research objectives, and
relevance to the research focus. Only eight research papers, Review of the eight selected papers indicated that differences
i.e. 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, and 17 from Table 2 and highlighted between the automotive and mining industries may pose
in grey, qualified the above quality assessment for further pitfalls (Dunstan et al. 2006), difficulties (Flynn and Vlok
data extraction and thematic synthesis. The approach adapted 2015), challenges and limitations for the adaptation (Castillo
from Heyvaert et al. (2017), permitted a detailed assessment et al. 2015) of Lean in mining sector. However, the
of each study’s characteristics through line-by-line or free intersection of these two sectors and possibility of adopting/
coding using NVivo software, and then grouping them into benefiting from the Lean application in the mining sector is
descriptive themes as clusters of codes. At the next stage, also highlighted by scholars (Chlebus et al. 2015; Flynn and
descriptive themes were arranged into 21 clusters to form Vlok 2015). Thus, the scope of their interaction is realistic.

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 IFAC INCOM 2018
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The mining and automotive sectors intersect, as they typically
comprises of individual and stand-alone business units that
seek improvement methods to pursue reduction of operating
costs, productivity and efficiency (Chlebus et al. 2015),
process optimisation, improve internal communications
(Castillo et al. 2015), meeting targets and plans (Dunstan et
al. 2006), and customers satisfaction (Garza-Reyes et al.
2016). Thus, the analysis of the eight papers indicates the fact
that mining companies aiming to deploy Lean should focus
on the ultimate goals of its principles, i.e. waste elimination.
2.4.1 Lean’s 8 wastes in the mining sector
Based on the fact that mining industry needs to focus on
waste elimination, it becomes ideal to categorise wasteful
activities in the mining industry and their classification as per
Lean’s eight wastes. Table 3 summarises these wastes.
Table 3: Lean’s 8 wastes in Mining Industry
Waste and its occurrence form
Overproduction: (Flynn and Vlok 2015), due to mining
capacity to outstrip ore processing, continuous production with
push system (Dunstan et al. 2006; Chlebus et al. 2015)
Waiting: Inappropriate conditions/working environment, e.g.
lack of ventilation for dust and gases removal (Klippel et al.
2008a), due to unavailability of machines and spare parts
(Chlebus et al. 2015), equipment breakdowns and plant
downtime (Dunstan et al. 2006; Oware et al. 2015), maintenance
downtime and unscheduled shutdowns (Indrawati and
Ridwansyah 2015), equipment failures (Dunstan et al. 2006).
Unnecessary transport and conveyance: Inefficient layout for
transportation (Garza-Reyes et al. 2016), stockpile material
transportation (Indrawati and Ridwansyah 2015), inefficient
movement of extracted ore until it reaches final destination
(Dunstan et al. 2006), long distances (Flynn and Vlok 2015).
Over/ incorrect processing: Performance of tasks by one
employee instead of parallel operations, auxiliary equipment
preparation (e.g. drill sharpening, cleaning operations), process
method (e.g. dry drilling taking more time for processing
compared to wet drilling) (Klippel et al. 2008a), incorrect
processing due to equipment breakdowns or failure (Oware et al.
2015), inefficient use of materials (Indrawati and Ridwansyah
2015), over processing to better grade ore than the customer
willing to pay (Dunstan et al. 2006).
Excess inventory: High inventory of spare parts (Chlebus et al.
2015; Flynn and Vlok 2015), inefficient inventory management
(stockpiles/ shortages) (Dunstan et al. 2006)
Un-necessary Movement: Inefficient location of instruments
(Dunstan et al. 2006; Klippel et al. 2008a), transport material
unavailability, non-compliance of workers (Indrawati and
Ridwansyah 2015), walking of operators (Flynn and Vlok 2015).
Defects: Rework/repair (Dunstan et al. 2006; Oware et al. 2015),
quality of raw materials (Indrawati and Ridwansyah 2015),
equipment failures (e.g. fluid leaks) (Dunstan et al. 2006),
physical material waste (Flynn and Vlok 2015)
People: Unskilled labour (Indrawati and Ridwansyah 2015;
Oware et al. 2015), inefficient shift schedule (Indrawati and
Ridwansyah 2015), absenteeism (Dunstan et al. 2006), incorrect
assignment of people to tasks (Klippel et al. 2008a), improper
communication (Castillo et al. 2015; Flynn and Vlok 2015)
2.4.2 Current Lean approaches in the mining industry
The classification of wasteful activities in the mining sector,
as per Lean (summarised in Table 3), further affirms that a
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systematic approach to waste elimination and promoting a
continuous improvement culture are the key traits and drivers
for Lean implementation in mining industry. The most
significant needs of the industry are associated to the fact that
natural resources are limited, of which many are non-
renewable and hence circular economy elements are not
applicable to the sector. Given these aspects, for businesses in
the mining sector it is crucial to deploy an optimum strategy
for operations in order to generate greater economic benefits.
Typically, Lean experts (academics/consultants) first build a
theoretical foundation for a possibility of adapting Lean in
order to provide practical solutions to specific industry needs.
This is significantly valid for the study of Chlebus et al.
(2015) in which a Lean framework was designed to improve
maintenance operations of a mining company in Poland.
Similarly, Lean maintenance operations improvement
approaches have been tested in a Ghanaian mining company
(Oware et al. 2015). Thus, the studies under review have
shown the development of various theoretical frameworks for
practical utilisation of Lean in mining operations. Since these
studies reported positive outcomes of the adaptation of the
proposed frameworks, it is not an uncommon practice to
develop Lean frameworks based on the literature and theory.
On the other hand, the frameworks are sometimes highly
authentic and closely aligned to organisation’s specific
issues, which make them difficult to be generalised. More
importantly, a few academics in the studies under review paid
close attention to critical-to-satisfaction factors of their
clients. These factors reflect a need for the voice of the
customer (Garza-Reyes et al. 2016) to be captured as
organisational inputs and interpreted for business
improvement. A study by Castillo et al. (2015) clearly shows
that parameters for the study were elaborated in accordance
to the goal, identified by the mining organisation-client.
Thus, these practices demonstrate the customer-oriented
focus of Lean experts on creating Lean adaptation
frameworks. Consequently, this customer-oriented focus of
Lean experts developing Lean frameworks for the mining
industry entails to a diversity of Lean implementation
frameworks. Thus, this research does not specify various
characteristics of each framework proposed by the different
studies under review, but has highlighted common practices
reported to solve mining industry issues.
3. LEAN FRAMEWORK FOR THE MINING INDUSTRY
Despite the fact that the mining industry can benefit from
Lean principles, the industry still lacks a coherent and general
framework to initiate Lean in this sector. Therefore, this
research proposes a Lean implementation framework
applicable to mining companies. The framework consists of
three main phases, namely: ‘Lean initiation’, ‘Lean
implementation’, and ‘Lean sustainability’ (See Fig. 2).
3.1 Lean initiation
The literature revealed that Lean adaptation in the mining
industry is generally initiated by a number of primary
activities, mostly carried as a multilevel analysis of current
state of operations. The authors grouped these into a
sequence of activities:
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Lean
Sustainability
Continuous Improvement
Problem Solving Culture
Lean Implementation
Jidoka
JIT (Just-in-Time)
Visual TPM &
Standardisation
Management QCO
People Empowerment & Teamwork
Lean Initiation
Lean Current
Waste
team State
Identification
formation Evaluation
Fig. 2. Lean Framework for Mining Industry
3.1.1 Lean team formation
Generally, Lean teams consists of company employees and
Lean experts (academics/consultants) (Garza-Reyes et al.
2016). It is crucial to involve people from the mining
company itself as they are familiar with existing operations
and company procedures, instead of only external consultants
who might lack detailed knowledge. Moreover, involving
employees to basic decision-making processes strengthens
the process of building a Lean culture (Dunstan et al. 2006).
Therefore, employees that have sufficient knowledge/
experience should be assigned under the leadership of Lean
experts (Garza-Reyes et al. 2016) and if needed the team
should be trained in Lean principles (Klippel et al. 2008a).
3.1.2 Current state evaluation
The aim of this step is to collect information about value
adding (VA) and non-value adding (NVA) activities by
adopting the Lean principle of value stream identification
(Womack and Jones 2003). Tools such as value stream
mapping (VSM), visual control techniques (Castillo et al.
2015) as well as collecting secondary data such as master
schedule (Dunstan et al. 2006), record of demand and
production, delay surveys, last planner system (Castillo et al.
2015), etc. can be used. VSM will help to streamline
stockpile levels for continuous material flow as well as the
information through earlier mentioned secondary resources
will provide a snapshot of the current state to identify areas
for improvement.
3.1.3 Waste identification
At this stage the team needs to analyse the VA and NVA
activities from the data collected in the previous stage. It is
necessary to specify value to fully utilise Lean (Womack and
Jones, 2003). However, the process of value specification in
mining operations is neither simple nor straight forward as it
cannot be predetermined from the beginning of production
processes due to the fact that production is mostly carried out
in a natural environment. Therefore, the possibility to
predetermine the quality of raw materials being extracted is
minimal. Value in mining industry can be specified through
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process and operations management. Within this scope,
NVAs can be defined as any interruption with negative
impact on operation/ processes, wasteful activities. The Lean
team must focus on delineation of VAs and NVAs in the
operations/process and subsequently identify waste. Some
examples of waste occurrence in the mining industry are
described in Table 3.
Lean tools such as kaizen and brainstorming sessions
(Dunstan et al. 2006; Klippel et al. 2008a), root cause
analysis (Chlebus et al. 2015), cause-and-effect analysis
(Garza-Reyes et al. 2016), Failure Mode Effect Analysis
(FMEA) (Indrawati and Ridwansyah 2015), and others, can
be deployed to facilitate the findings.
3.2 Lean implementation
Once the waste has been identified, the next phase is to begin
implementing Lean and streamlining the processes/
operations. In the mining industry, it would be best to choose
specific areas for pilot projects rather than ubiquitous
implementations over all identified areas for improvements.
In this phase, the central strategy is to build a Lean culture
through trainings to empower people and communication
programmes to enhance team work. Organisations will need
to ensure commitment to the Lean culture (Bevilacqua et al.
2017) and regular practice of people empowerment for
sustainable outputs (Boscari et al. 2016).
There are “no one size fit all strategies” and with diverse
range of elements under Lean thinking, the research proposes
Lean elements that are the most feasible for the mining
industry.
3.2.1 Visual management
Visual management is one of the most useful tool to manage
mining operations in remote locations with wide spread
dispersion of work in open natural environments. It provides
transparency for planning and control (Castillo et al. 2015).
Tools such as shadow boards with equipment locations,
Kamishibai boards indicating work progress, single point
lesson sheets, 5S (sort, set, shine, standardise, and sustain)
(Dunstan et al. 2006) can be adopted at this stage. It is
important to clarify that the role of VSM is not limited to
provide the snapshot of the company but can also assist in
visual management. Therefore, updating VSM regularly is
necessary. A combination of VSM and RFID would further
enhance the organisation’s ability to manage the actual flow
of real data (e.g. monitoring inventory, etc.).
3.2.2 Standardisation
The following most feasible tool for the mining industry is
standardisation. It clarifies the procedures and therefore
enhances team work and improves communication. It also
plays a great role to promote a continuous improvement
culture as it involves challenging current practices through
kaizen meetings and problem-solving sessions. This should
result in the development of baseline procedures to be used
by everyone, which makes the standard immediately
measureable, followed by creativity to improve it (Dunstan et
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al. 2006). Moreover, since mining operations are in
hazardous open work environments, standardisation is even
more necessary to follow set procedures.
3.2.3 TPM/ QCO
Equipment plays a crucial role in mining operations and
failure rate of mining equipment is mainly due to external
variable physical conditions (Chlebus et al. 2015). Total
Productive Maintenance (TPM) and Quick Changeover
(QCO) approaches should be deployed to improve
maintenance services and operations. Chlebus et al. (2015)
suggests a three dimensional approach of: standard
development, autonomous (routine) and planned
maintenance, and improvement of work environment.
Developing standards to record equipment failure is vital for
Lean practices (Oware et al. 2015) and allows to
monitor/measure performance, and to plan for spare parts and
maintenance scheduling; an often neglected area (Chlebus et
al. 2015). Autonomous checks and planned maintenance will
facilitate employees to switch from ‘fire-fighting’ to a
preventive maintenance culture. The “go-and-see” approach
can be adopted to inspect machine performance, tag any
equipment needing attention (Dunstan et al. 2006), etc.
Improvements of work environment in order to adapt TPM
should aim to enhance organisational workplace conditions.
Tools such as 5S can be used (Dunstan et al. 2006). Similarly
“Method of painting” can be used to delineate workplace
areas for transportation paths (Chlebus et al. 2015).
The application of Quick changeover is equally important as
any failure or shutdown can be quickly managed by the
adaptation of QCO and would result in reduced downtime
and efficient use of resources while stabilising the operations.
3.2.4 Just-in-time
TPM and QCO should be followed by Just-in-Time (JIT) and
Jidoka. In the studies reviewed, these two methods have
somehow been neglected by Lean adopters in the mining
industry. The most likely cause for this could be the fact that
JIT requires a highly integrated supply chain. However,
supply chain integration in the mining industry is a complex
process, subsequently making the implementation of JIT an
also complex task. In addition, prior to JIT implementation, it
is strongly suggested to establish/encourage a solid Lean
culture throughout the supply chain by encouraging suppliers,
and also by using other Lean tools such as kanban, etc. within
the operations of the organisation.
3.2.5 Jidoka
Jidoka faces a similar scenario as with the utilisation of JIT.
Its feasibility has not been discussed within the studies
reviewed. Nevertheless, it has a potential application in the
mining industry, provided that technological advancements
are brought to the industry by innovative solutions.
The Lean implementation phase suggests the adoption of 5
Lean tools for the mining industry (see Fig. 2). However, it
should not be considered as a limitation. In this regard, the
framework is flexible to add/remove tools as per convenience
of the users as well as the need/context of the problem.
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3.3 Lean sustainability
Although Lean adaptation in the mining industry is recent, its
positive impact has been observed in the form of production
capacity, workflow improvements, time utilisation (Castillo
et al. 2015), reducing production costs, overall safety
improvements (Chlebus et al. 2015), resource utilisation,
cycle completion times, employee availability (Dunstan et al.
2006), process capability index and shipping time
improvements, cost savings (Garza-Reyes et al. 2016), etc.
It is noteworthy that cultural changes in organisations are
foundational to continuous improvement. Nevertheless, all
these positive outcomes have been observed by organisations
within a short period of time. Thus, Lean sustainability in the
mining industry has not been reported yet and leaves a
research gap to be explored in future. The Lean team(s) are
strongly recommended to build a continuous improvement
culture to bring Lean sustainability.
4. CONCLUSIONS
Lean manufacturing has been greatly appraised and adopted
in a wide range of different businesses and industries. With
its scope not being limited to the automotive industry only
and the potential to be contextualised in other sectors, it can
greatly benefit the mining sector. However, this industry
lacks a specifically adapted frameworks for this sector. This
research is an igniting step and has developed a framework
after systematically reviewing the research in the given area.
The framework is girded in a detailed analysis of current
practices and models. Due to the time constraints the
proposed framework has not been tested. However, this does
not undermine its practical relevance, given the fact that a
thorough study has been conducted prior to its development,
and in a similar way other frameworks have been developed
based upon literature reviews. Testing of this framework,
followed by any amendments would greatly benefit both
further research and its practice in the mining sector.
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