WHEN it comes to natural resources, Australia is considered the 'Lucky Country'. It has the world's largest known economic resources of bauxite, iron ore, lead, zinc, silver, uranium, industrial diamonds and mineral sands.
Turning any resource into a profitable mining business involves an ever growing range of finely tuned processes and techniques.
One such technique popular in Australia and overseas mines is the use of the Six Sigma philosophy of quality measurement.
The Six Sigma philosophy uses facts, data and statistical analysis to manage, improve and reinvent business processes, often saving millions of dollars.
MINITAB is the leading package used to meet the standards of Six Sigma philosophy.
Used by mining companies all over Australia and New Zealand, MINITAB is recognised as presenting and helping analyse statistical data to help organisations minimise business or product 'defects'.
MINITAB offers a range of tools for graphical analyses, collecting powerful statistics, quality analyses with potential for a range of individually designed uses.
MINITAB puts advanced statistics within reach of every person, even if they are not a statistician. The program does all the work without the need for complex training.
As an asset heavy industry, mining companies rely on the effective use of expensive equipment, often operational 24 hours a day.
Sophisticated processes using MINITAB and Six Sigma can help a company control maintenance and equipment use to ensure operations are running effectively.
Like Six Sigma, MINITAB is used to predict and prevent defects that could affect efficiency before they happen. When a process is identified for improvement, a map or flow chart of the process is created. Data is collected, characterised and studied for trends and potential sources of variation are identified and chartered.
The use of control charts help monitor the improvements with implementation processes, while documenting changes and the cost benefit analyses.
MINITAB is one of the world's leading developers of statistical analysis packages, offering accurate and easy to use tools for quality improvement and general statistics.
It is the preferred software for businesses of all sizes and is used in more than 80 countries throughout the world.
Ceanet Pty Ltd distributes MINITAB within Australia and New Zealand.