Eltirus

Eltirus founder Steve Franklin explains why the quarry industry needs to foster and encourage innovation.

While we take it for granted now, the wheel, the printing press, steam engine, internal combustion engine, electricity, air travel and computers have all changed our lives in profound ways. Each of these technologies took someone (or a group) to think differently, try different things, fail plenty of times in the process, but ultimately come up with a new or better idea and then sell others on it.

Improving the bottom line
Increasing business viability is critical. It is unfortunate that at this time, making a profit seems to be equated with misadventure, price gouging and other “reprehensible” activities on behalf of business leaders, often called to question in Senate hearings and the like.

The cold hard fact of the matter is that this (and all) countries need strong, viable, productive and innovative businesses to help provide the standard of living we aspire to, to enable us to care for the less fortunate in our community and be able to afford the transition to a decarbonised society.

So, what does this look like in practice?

To increase the viability of any organisation, there are only a few ways to achieve it.

One way is to increase selling prices. This results in market inflation and is workable to the degree that others also increase their prices. In a commodity type market, prices can only be moved so far before restricting sales.

There is a huge ecosystem of innovators in mining. Image: Eltirus

The second way to be more productive, by increasing the utilisation of resources or by innovating and doing things more efficiently.

Ultimately, there is only so far that you can go with pushing people and equipment to produce, after all there are only so many hours in the day.

Examples of innovation of the past include the move from 35t dump trucks to 60t units, resulting in one operator doing the work of two. This innovation required a considerable rethink of quarry design, fixed plant configuration and loading tool matching and took some time to become common.

At the same time, manufacturers came up with innovative technologies to reduce fuel consumption. The first 60t haul trucks (1996) burned around 50l/hr, while the current generation trucks use around 32l/hr. This change occurred through improvement in diesel engine technology that increased their efficiency.

Productivity improvement
We don’t generally hear much discussion about productivity improvement in Australia, probably with the exception of from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). Philip Lowe, the former governor, often emphasised the importance of productivity improvement for Australia’s economic growth, specifically:

Investment in infrastructure: investing in infrastructure can significantly boost productivity by improving connectivity and efficiency.

Innovation and risk-taking: The need for a culture that promotes innovation and is willing to take risks. This is crucial for driving productivity growth and adapting to demographic changes.

Education and skills development: Enhancing the education system and ensuring that the workforce has the necessary skills to productivity.

The industry’s best option to improve overall productivity is to innovate. Image: Eltirus

Lowe’s insights suggest that a multifaceted approach, involving infrastructure, innovation, and education, is essential for sustained productivity growth.

If you are interested in this subject, it is worth taking a read of the RBA report from September 2023, Recent Trends in Australian Productivity.

“Like other advanced economies, Australia’s trend productivity growth has slowed in recent decades. From the 1990s to mid-2000s, productivity growth averaged 2.1 per cent, with the economy benefiting from deregulation and pro-competition policy reforms, the rapid uptake of new digital technologies and strong global productivity growth throughout this period. This led to a sustained period of strong income growth. Since then, average productivity growth has fallen, averaging just 1.2 per cent over the 2010s. This decline has occurred across the market sector, rather than being driven by a particular industry,” the report said.

Unless we can do something about labour productivity (difficult given the current political environment), our only real option to improve overall productivity is to innovate.

Innovation
The theme of both the New Zealand and Australian Quarry Conferences in 2024 was innovation and it is becoming a more topical subject generally.

You might be aware that in March 2023, the Australian Productivity Commission released the Advancing Prosperity report, emphasising the critical role of innovation in driving productivity and economic growth. It’s a big report and I don’t suggest you read it all. They suggested the following focus areas to consider:

Diffusion of innovation: The importance of spreading innovative practices and technologies across all sectors of the economy, not just within leading firms. This approach, termed “Innovation for the 98 per cent,” aims to ensure that smaller businesses and public services also benefit from new ideas and technologies.

Digital technology and data: The identification that digital technology and data are major drivers of productivity and that enhancing the secure use of data and digital tools can lead to significant economic gains, improve service delivery, and support regional and remote communities.

Take the time to listen to, support and work with the innovators outside of your business. Image: Eltirus

Collaboration and networks: Collaboration between businesses, research institutions, and government bodies is seen as vital for fostering innovation and that it is vital that we create networks that facilitate the sharing of knowledge and resources.

Policy and regulatory environment: Putting in place a conducive policy and regulatory environment that supports innovation. This includes reducing barriers to competition, improving the business environment for private investment, and ensuring efficient public investment.

Workforce adaptability: Building an adaptable workforce through education, migration, and occupational licensing reforms to support innovation and productivity growth.

Application
So, what does it mean in practice? Each year, the International Mining and Resources Conference is held in Sydney. This year they are expecting 9000 delegates and some 500 exhibitors. In short, it brings the best and brightest in what is arguably the best mining technology country together to talk technology and innovation. The breadth of technology is breathtaking and if you haven’t been to this show before, it is well worth going.

At the 2022 conference, the Group Procurement Manager for BHP, noted how vibrant and valuable these suppliers and innovators in Australia were and how important he thought it was for BHP to support and foster innovation through this ecosystem.

This is pretty novel thinking in Australia unfortunately.

If we go back to the Advancing Prosperity report, there are two interesting graphs – the first showing how much innovation that is being put into use is new to Australia, but not the rest of the world. It is a measly 3.3 per cent for processes and 7.4 per cent for products.

And where do the innovation ideas come from? In most cases, it is the company itself – there isn’t that much looking outside and negligible support for R&D enterprises.

I think that it is very easy for companies who focus nearly entirely innovating internally to get caught in an echo chamber where they stop looking externally and focus on “proving” what they are doing is as good as it gets.

Despite the huge ecosystem of innovators in mining, the same cannot be said for the construction materials industry in Australia which would be lucky to have more than a dozen truly innovative companies working on smart stuff.

Innovation is important. In fact, it’s very important. We have to innovate and do things differently if we want to drive down costs and increase output. The technologies and ideas are often already known, but there has to be a willingness to look outside of your organisation, to try new things, knowing that they may not work out and be relentless is working to innovate and improve.

But can I also make this ask – please take the time to listen to, support and work with the innovators outside of your business – they are there out of a passion to change things and improve the businesses that they work with.

At the end of the day, I think we all have similar goals – a safer, more inclusive, productive and environmentally friendly industry that people want to be a part of and feel valued for doing so.

This article originally published on the Quarry Magazine website – click here to view the full original article.

To find out more, contact Steve Franklin on +61 474 183 939 or steve.franklin@eltirus.com