Industry overview
What is shaping mining
Mining operations depend on a social licence from nearby communities as much as on permits. Safety culture, workforce welfare and transparent CSR shape how companies are seen locally and by regulators.
- Community trust can make or break an operation
- Safety culture is measured by behaviour, not policies
- CSR spending is increasingly evaluated for real impact
Client background
A limestone and dolomite mining company, working in Rajasthan. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A limestone and dolomite mining company
- Sector
- Mining
- Team engaged
- IT & Development
- Services
- ERP development, Mobile app development, Accounting & finance consulting
Client challenge
Spare parts and consumables for heavy equipment were purchased by phone and tracked in registers at each mine. Breakdowns were extended while parts were searched for, and duplicate purchases were common.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: bringing procurement and stores under control at a mining operation.
- Define requirements and success criteria the solution would be tested against.
- Deliver a reliable, secure solution the team can run and extend.
Target audience
Scope: Three mines, central workshop.
Audiences we typically reach in mining
Host communitiesMine workers and contractorsLocal leaders and officialsRegulatorsCSR beneficiaries
Geographic coverage
Coverage: Rajasthan. Market: India.
- India
Research methodology
An iterative delivery approach: discovery, design, build and test in short cycles, with the client reviewing each step.
- 1Brief
- 2Process mapping
- 3ERP with mobile stores app
- 4Insight
We mapped procurement and stores processes with mine managers and workshop staff, implemented purchasing and inventory modules, and built a mobile app for storekeepers to record receipts, issues and transfers, working offline at remote pits. Parts were labelled with barcodes and linked to equipment. Workshop mechanics helped define how parts should be labelled and searched, so the system matched how they worked.
ERP developmentMobile app developmentAccounting & finance consulting
Sampling strategy
- Users and stakeholders from every affected team took part in discovery workshops and acceptance testing.
Data collection
- Requirements were gathered through workshops, process walk-throughs and a review of existing systems and data.
Data quality & validation
- Peer code review on every change
- Automated and manual testing
- User-acceptance testing with the client
- Release checklist and rollback plan
Data analysis
- Usage and performance monitoring after launch
- Defect and support-ticket trends
- Process time before and after
Key findings
- Parts availability became visible across mines, transfers replaced many emergency purchases and equipment downtime from missing parts fell noticeably.
- Management could see maintenance spending by machine for the first time.
Linking parts to equipment turned store records into maintenance intelligence.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: linking parts to equipment turned store records into maintenance intelligence.
- Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: parts availability became visible across mines, transfers replaced many emergency purchases and equipment downtime from missing parts fell noticeably.
Business impact
- Purchasing also negotiated better terms by consolidating orders across mines.
Deliverables & next steps
- Deployed solution with documentation and handover
- Support and maintenance plan
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: which CSR programmes make a real difference?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.