Commercial software company Runge Pincock Minarco (RPM) has this month launched its first fully integrated EFM application specifically built for the mining industry, XERAS for Enterprise™.
XERAS for Enterprise™ consolidates financial costing models, reforecasting rapidly and providing full financial drill-down on mine site operational costing models.
It incorporates budgeting and financial modelling software product XERAS ™, which is already used by major mining companies, and integrated it with SAP’s financial and maintenance management modules.
The result is increased financial visibility and cost control, from individual mine sites through to corporate management reporting systems.
Speaking at the product’s launch in Brisbane, RPM’s chief executive officer Richard Mathews said: “The focus of the industry has clearly shifted to driving productivity improvements”.
Matthews explained that the software helps miners maintain shareholder accountability.
Providing “the ability to explain the difference between actual and planned financial results and to predict the financial implications of changes in the mining environment,” he said.
XERAS for Enterprise enables mining companies to see the immediate financial impacts of a change in an operational mine plan, reflecting in real time corporate budgeting and reforecasting systems.
“The conversion of physical attributes of a mine plan into a cost by consumable category was the basis for the original development of XERAS over 20 years ago.
“To see this natural extension in which mining executives now have full financial visibility from the mine site all the way through to the corporate ERP is very satisfying to say the least,” company founder, Dr. Ian Runge said.
Consisting of a centralized platform for conducting analysis and generating different scenarios, the software uses auditable and validated information to bridge the gap between the mine and the boardroom.
It exposes the strengths and weaknesses of the mine plan and provides critical information which management can use to act upon.
“XERAS for Enterprise gives our customers the ability to perform in depth plan vs. actuals analysis. It not only provides variance reporting but also lets you get under the covers so you can truly understand the reasons and underlying logic behind the causes,” Darren Rostron, RPM’s XERAS Product Manager explained.
“It allows you to reforecast dynamically on the go. When unexpected events occur, such as equipment failure, weather events, or a major drop in commodity prices XERAS for Enterprise quickly helps you understand the financial impact on the business and make informed decisions.”
The solution standardises financial costing models, enabling fast consolidation and central control of underlying assumptions.
“The days of manually rolling up financial models into giant spreadsheets are over. Its rapid consolidation of multiple budgets allows operational and financial managers to understand their future financial position across their entire global operations,” Rostron said.
Cost visibility is the key feature XERAS for Enterprise, Rostron explained that management is able to drill down through all the layers of the financial plan, right through to the underlying base assumptions at a particular site if they wished to.
“It makes the crucial job of financial modelling, budgeting and reforecasting much simpler,” he said.
The software goes a long way towards determining why actual costs are different to the original budget or recent reforecast.
“XERAS for Enterprise gives you the power to answer this question quickly and accurately right from your desktop,” Matthews stated.