Operational productivity offering

The client, a global gold producer with major operations in Australia—three underground mines and one open pit—was striving to achieve one of its core strategic objectives: delivering safe, reliable, and cost-effective operations. A key ambition within this strategy was to reduce All-In-Cost (AIC) per unit by 10%.

Despite establishing an Improvement Program (IP) program to support this goal, their Business Process Review (BPR) efforts were falling short. The existing approach, though well-embedded, was plagued by significant limitations:

• Operations worked in silos with no alignment to the broader value chain. 
• Qualitative over quantitative analysis dominated (e.g., SWOT, risk matrices). 
• Initiative overload diluted focus and effort. 
• Unclear delivery paths and poorly defined outcomes. 
• Weak links between KPIs and AIC impact. 
• Low compliance in implementation. 
• Lack of transparency on whether any true value was being generated. 

The client needed a robust, structured, and data-driven way to target value—fast

To support the client challenge, we applied our Value Chain Optimisation (VCO) methodology to restructure an optimised process and tool-set for  the client´s improvement program with an outcome-driven, evidence-based system. Here’s how:

Diagnose & align

• Completed Line Balance and Inventory Analysis to pinpoint Value Chain Constraint Nodes. •Built a calibrated Value Driver Tree (VDT) down to the process and equipment level to identify constraints and levers with the greatest impact on AIC. 

Root cause analysis

• Analysed constraint levers across all nodes to uncover the true root causes of performance variance—not just symptoms. 
• Provided financial clarity on issues like over budget maintenance, inflation effects, and underutilisation. 

Collaborative problem solving

Conducted Idea Generation Sessions (IGS) with cross-site participation to:

• Align on performance realities and root causes. 
• Define and prioritise the highest-impact problems. 
• Generate, evaluate, and prioritise initiatives in context of AIC cost impact. 

Aligned leadership on targets and critical few initiatives

• Quantified initiative value via VDT. 
• Developed and approved Business Critical Initiatives (BCIs) with full charters: owner, sponsor, KPIs, resources, and workplan. 
• Obtained leadership commitment to the program targets

Execution & governance

• Consolidated BCIs into a governed, transparent program of work with s-curve tracking for value release and resource alignment. 
• Embedded a new culture of visibility, accountability, and cross-department alignment.  

 Performance clarity, value realisation, cultural shift.

1. Focus & simplicity: No more initiative overload—5-8 high-impact BCIs annually per operation, laser-focused on the constraint.
2. Impact-driven execution: Each initiative tied to a KPI, measurable value in AIC cost, and tracked progress.
3. Transparency & compliance: Implementation compliance soared, and leadership gained full visibility of progress and value release.
4. Cultural shift: The client developed a sharp awareness of their Value Chain Constraint and what drives its performance. A culture of subordination to the constraint—a cornerstone of Value Chain Optimisation—began to take root.
5. Strategic next step: The groundwork was laid for defining and embedding a tailored Operating Philosophy per site, deepening the VCO maturity curve. 

This case illustrates how OX’s Value Chain Optimisation approach transforms not only how value is identified and delivered—but how organisations think. 

For the client , it wasn’t just about hitting a unit cost number. It was about clarity, confidence, control, and cultural evolution across operations