psa wp - solutions for the mining industry

Contact Us:

Pronto Solutions Alliance Inc.

E: [email protected]

T: +1 424 213 0401

W: www.psainc.ca

Pronto Solutions Alliance Inc.

(PSA) helps business clients

reach and exceed their potential

through implementation

of Enterprise Resource Planning

software. We are the leading

North American reseller of

award winning Pronto Xi ERP

Business Software.

A comprehensive and integrated solution for the mining industry.

Solutions for the Mining Industry

Miners and explorers alike operate in a continually challenging

environment where cost management and process efficiency

become more important every day due to unpredictable

commodity pricing. Diverse locations, globalization and a

tightening marketplace, where investment is hard to obtain,

provide opportunities and challenges that are unique to the

industry. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Intelligent

Technology are now an essential element for the mining

development lifecycle, and choosing a partner that handles all of

the challenges the industry faces in a real-time manner is a critical

aspect of proving solid support to the organization. The PSA

Mining Solution is a package that rises to these challenges and

has proven success in assisting miners to hit their targets.

Mining is a diverse industry due to the variety of minerals

produced, geographical locations, globalization, production

methodology, statutory and government requirements, as well as

the varied functions of the organizations. Pronto Xi has evolved

to provide endlessly valuable insight into the business. The

effective use of integrated technology, across any of these

disciplines, can have a direct impact upon the financial well-being

of an organization. In today’s environment, miners rely on

software for maintenance planning, inventory management,

financial reports, procurement, process optimization and asset

management; and in many cases this is done through separate

systems without any integration. When several locations (head

offices, sites, exploration camps) and geographies are used, the

lack of integration can prove difficult to manage the expectations

of the organization. A lack of complete integration, enterprise and

ERP software that does not cater to all of these elements in a

single, integrated, real-time system is a downfall that should be

avoided.

The solution for working through many of these industry

challenges is access to a tool that helps employees perform their

roles with optimum performance. The tool offered should be

accessible to staff in real time, in any geographical location and

in any type of role. The further the tools are embedded into the

organization; the more chance the organization has of being

successful. ERP, Cost Management and Intelligence Technology

provide all of this functionality. Pronto Xi provides a solution that

excels in cost management, reporting, intelligence, supply chain

Solutions for the Mining Industry PRONTO SOLUTIONS ALLIANCE INC.

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and enterprise asset management, which other packages can’t provide on their own.

Ramesys Global involves the operations of the organization into building accurate cost

models to remove the burden of modelling from financial users and improve the

management process of budgeting and measuring actuals

PSA has developed an integrated platform that services the mining industry in a way that

provides all users with rapid access to information through secure and user-friendly

interfaces, ultimately improving the way individual responsibilities are performed and KPIs

are reached.

Mining organizations operate more efficiently, continuously improving and developing

with the assistance of a dedicated technology platform. The functionality behind the PSA

Mining Solution is proven to assist even in the most challenging of operating

environments.

Key Elements to Success

Enterprise Resource Planning—ERP is now an essential aspect of the mining

organization’s decision-making process. understanding the success levels of performance

is impossible to do without such software. ERP integrates all elements of the mining

organization into a platform that improves decision-making and promotes cohesion

between business units that would not exist in a technology-segregated environment.

Profitability and Cost Management—Cost management is more than just budgeting and

is critical to managing a successful mining organization, especially during periods of low

commodity prices. In order to effectively manage costs, there needs to be more

information available to users when holding departments accountable for their costs. In

order to develop mining-specific cost models, information should be sourced from all

areas of the organization, as opposed to simply holding the accounting team responsible

for compiling budget estimates.

The purpose of cost modelling is to encourage and enable better cost management

practices throughout the business. The tenet underlying the success of the PSA approach

is our Production Driven cost model. The basic principle of the Lean and Operational

Excellence process requires that production activities are the driver of the majority of costs,

and only if you can define the cost/production relationships can you truly assign

accountability and cost-control mechanisms.

Technology—Through the use of varied technology it is possible to unite all of the

information sources of a mine site into one referenceable source. Technology allows for

information to be extracted from multiple source systems to display critical KPI information

in one location for simplified decision-making. Consolidated information from varied

systems allows for real-time information to be analyzed as there is no recurring

preparation required. Technology makes information available at all times for users in any

location, allowing all members of the organization to continually monitor the success of

the operations.

Dynamic

• ERP Scalability—Pronto Xi ERP software offers flexible deployment options that

enable mining companies to gradually expand their ERP and reduce upfront software

and implementation costs. Mining companies can stage their investment with

financial implementation and turn on functionality as their mining operations grow

through the exploration, mining and production phases.

• Respond to Demand—Keep up with both internal and external demand through an

enterprise solution that adapts to change with the business. Handle a rapid change

in transacting with a system that allows for processes to keep up with unexpected

surges in activity.

• Adapt to Process Changes and Keep Up-To-Date with Reporting

Requirements—It is common for the processes of a mining organization to change

quickly due to cost cutting, efficiency measures and transitioning from construction

into production. It is common that after implementation a process may need to be

reworked to ft the needs of the business, and Pronto Xi is built to adapt to such

changes by allowing the primary functionality to be adjusted as required.

Relate Business Statistics to Budgets—With Material, Contractor and Workshop labour

usages linked to Production’s physical activities, production plan changes and price

changes are flowed through to the budget in minutes so that the information comes from

realistic sources instead of accounting estimates.

Stay Current with Versions through Safe Upgrading Methodology—Technology

changes all the time and enterprise software is no exception. To ensure the most benefit

possible is in use, a regular upgrade methodology is essential. All aspects of the PSA

Mining Solution are upgrade proof including all software modifications. Our maintenance

program covers the costs of upgrades, and any bugs that may be experienced, to help

make transitioning to new releases as seamless and as risk free as possible.

Report and Cost Manage on Any System—Regardless of your existing enterprise

application, the PSA cost management tool, Ramesys, is integrated with numerous

packages that operate within the mining industry, and drives the ability to accurately

measure performance, forecast cost and make decisions based upon real industry

information that makes sense to users of all disciplines. Ramesys can be tied to any ERP

package and provide rapid cost management that is not available through the use of ERP.

Turnkey Familiar User Experience—Web-based access to all applications, with the look

and feel of Microsoft Office or Internet Explorer, allows users to feel at home using the

PSA suite of tools. New users can adapt quickly to the visual experience of the software,

resulting in rapid user adoption.


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Best Practice Embedded Processes, Reporting and Data on Deployment—When

implementing new software there is always a push from generic vendors to implement

every feature individually and develop information and processes from scratch. With the

PSA turn-key solution, each installation comes with the option of streamlining the

installation by taking on process, reports and data from our best-practice organizations.

Reporting suites for all modules are available to provide users with fast access to relevant

information and to provide inspiration to clients who may not completely understand what

information is required. Select from industry-utilized GL account structures and proven

processes to remove effort and minimize cost in implementing a comprehensive mine

management solution.

Custom Tailor the Package to Your Own Organization—A solution is a value-add

component of an organization that needs to readily meet all of the needs of operating in

a mining environment. The PSA Mining Solution can be completely tailored to the needs

of any mining-related organization. It is common that shortcomings in software force an

organization to operate in a very specific way to meet the needs of the software, which

may not necessarily meet the best practices of the industry or solve any specific problems.

This can be avoided by using a proven solution.

Custom Code Ready for Company-Specific Needs—The unique challenges presented in

the modern mining industry often present specific problems that cannot be solved by

conventional processes, such as third-world users, complex foreign tax initiatives, changing

government requirements and one-off projects. Customizing any of the elements of the

PSA Mining Solution provides a well-supported and efficient way to create company-

specific protocols to provide further advantage over competitors. It is possible to modify

any element of the software to completely mold the solution to the needs of even the

most demanding business processes.

Allow Users to See and Visualize Information Their Own Way—Everybody has a

preference to how they do their work and how they impact the company. The PSA Mining

Solution allows users to develop their own templates and reports to visualize information

in any way they feel necessary to perform their responsibilities. At the corporate level, it is

possible to develop different formats for different business units. For example, you can

format the details of the general ledger in a summarized fashion for operational staff but

only show the details for accounting staff. The opportunity to display information is endless

and enables organizations to empower their employees to analyze their information with

ease.


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Accountable cost owners are the ones that build and maintain the budget and forecast models. Accountants are no longer required to compile and

validate data from multiple operational users.

Key Functional Elements

User Experience

• Front-end software that is easy to navigate through either a Web-based URL or a thin client.

• Interfaces that reflect the normal operating environment of the user’s operating system.

• Two-way interfaces with Microsoft Excel to ensure those with a proficiency for data manipulation in Excel are able to perform in

an interchangeable manner.

• Operate seamlessly over limited bandwidth; perfect for remote operations.

• Customizable.

• Users have the ability to edit their own menus and terminology, providing the power to enhance their everyday experience.

• Manipulate data and reports and save templates to be able to quickly and easily access

• information in the most relevant way for each responsibility type.

• Build upgrade proof custom programming, reports and screen modifications with ease

Business Intelligence

• Integrate with Microsoft Office with the touch of a button.

• Web-based reporting that brings everybody within the organization into the reporting of the organization. Embed business

intelligence into emails and intranets to give all employees continual access to information.

• Accessibility to offline reporting.

• PDF/Excel compatibility for every report within the suite.

Forecasting and Budgeting

• With Material, Contractor and Workshop labour usages linked to Production physical activities, production plan changes and

price changes are flowed through the budget quickly.

• All the modelling assumptions are completely visible to, and managed by, the person responsible for spending the budget,

which results in a greater understanding of the company’s performance.

• Since the relationships between cost and the physical statistics that drive these costs are locked into PSA templates, updating

budgets and forecasts is a quick and easy process.


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Financial Management

General Ledger

• Take a proven off-the-shelf example or design a completely unique chart with up to 32 characters and 8 segments that can

adapt to any mining organization.

• Consolidate endless entities seamlessly and automatically to reduce month-end processing time and improve consolidated

visibility.

• Automated GL postings for all modules and ledgers to promote accuracy for all user data entry through an intelligence

interface.

• Intercompany postings occur seamlessly between companies within the company structure with automatic reconciliation

occurring nightly and identifying any cause of imbalance.

• Budget management for up to 36 budgets and forecasts that integrates with Microsoft Excel for rapid budget export and

import, and full visibility of budgets against actuals.

Accounts Payable

• Effortlessly produce electronic or cheque payment for thousands of vendors and invoices through an intuitive payment process.

• Store vital information against all vendors for reporting and identification purposes.

• Transact in endless currencies and produce automatic online banking payments for any bank in the world.

Forecasting and Budgeting

• With Material, Contractor and Workshop labour usages linked to Production physical activities, production plan changes and

price changes are flowed through the budget quickly.

• All the modelling assumptions are completely visible to, and managed by, the person responsible for spending the budget,

which results in a greater understanding of the company’s performance.

• Since the relationships between cost and the physical statistics that drive these costs are locked into PSA templates, updating

budgets and forecasts is a quick and easy process

Fixed Asset Management

• Capital Asset register with comprehensive information storage to assist in tracking and identifying assets.

• Asset tracking system for the movement of assets and ability to continually review physical locations.

• Depreciation for all globally accepted depreciation methods, with up to 20 regimes available


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International

• Currency proof international system with room for up to 20 operating currencies and endless transaction currencies to stand up

to even the most globalized organization.

• Report using multiple base currencies when operating in countries with unique currency statutory requirements.

• Operate seamlessly with minimal bandwidth at full capacity from anywhere in the world, even mining and exploration sites with

limited Internet connectivity.

Procurement

• Automated Reorder Replenishment based upon company-defined variables to expedite the ordering process. Generate

purchase orders and RFQs based upon numerous parameters that give the purchasing department the ability to easily fill the

demand of the operations.

• Enhance purchasing department’s ability to support procurement policies and processes.

• Robust internal requisitioning system to facilitate the procurement of non-catalogued items.

• Approval matrix based upon organizational hierarchy and spending limits to add control to the ordering process with an

automated acknowledgement system for continual communication between requestors and purchasers.

Warehouse Management

• Control over outbound inventory with picking slip management that directs costs to the general ledger, projects and work

orders automatically. Add approval levels to ensure inventory is properly reviewed prior to releasing it into operations.

• Metrics.

• Location management for tracking inventory to each bin location, to improve accuracy and add control over inventory. Use bar

codes to track items and locations electronically.

Catalogue Management

• Central control.

• Categorization.


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Human Resource Budgeting

• Develop Labour model(s) based on a bottom-up design principle using components directly available from the organization’s

HR system—that is, positions and applicable allowances.

• Provide reporting that will allow the following:

Summary cost view of Labour Costs for import to RAMESYS Financials scenario.

Analysis of labour costs at both detailed individual position and allowance cost levels and at summary levels (e.g.,

department).

Comparison of actual labour costs to budget and forecast.

• Ensure sensitivity of the data is protected and controllable.

•

EAM Budgeting

• Embedding of consistent, repeatable business planning and cost-improvement processes.

• Improved accuracy and confidence: significantly improved quality of data used for planning, reporting and cost management.

• Improved cost control: cost reductions are the outcome of improved cost understanding and management challenge.

Elimination of high-level cost assumptions.

• Significant reduction in turnaround times and effort required in planning and reporting cycles.

• Much greater transparency of decision-making information. All budget numbers are able to be challenged as the underlying

assumptions are totally transparent.

•

Alert Intelligence

• Alert users or groups of users to any change in data through SMS, Email, Fax or on-screen notifications.

• Develop customized workflows to improve efficiency and minimize manual navigation by tying processes together seamlessly.

• Protect your organization with hidden alerts when critical information within the system changes such as bank details or wages

and benefits.

•

Data Intelligence

• A robust and wizard-driven data analysis tool for quick access to data listings. Empower users to extract relevant data from the

system to assist with the decision-making process. This is the perfect tool for reconciliation.


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Security

• Control over user access to the level of specific functions and the ability to develop customized organization-specific user access

profiles to improve internal control and segregation of duties.

• Audit everything that happens within the system for full visibility into the transactions and master data changes that occur.

• User-specific menus to improve productivity by removing any unnecessary processes and streamlining the users’ thought

process when selecting functionality.

Financial Compliances & Internal Control

• Optimize financial operations through a powerful array of finance modules to cover all complexities arising from operating in

international, multicurrency and multi-entity organizations.

• Adhere to the strictest of internal control with the ability to modify user access at the function level, creating a completely

segregated environment where required.

• Complete audit visibility over every field within the ERP.

Tenement Management

• Tracking and allocating costs to tenements.

• Detailed budget management, with the ability to measure costs across tenement Types, Locations and an endless array of user-

definable analysis codes.

• Integrate all tenement costing into the GL immediately to provide robust reporting and timely information for exploration-

focused companies.

• IFRS-compliant reporting processes.

Reporting Distribution

• Create user or business unit-specific reporting profiles and automatically distribute reports on any schedule (Monthly, Daily,

Weekly, EOM, etc.).

Document Transmission

• Never produce physical documentation again. With built-in documentation transmission for any document, automatically send

purchase orders to all vendors electronically, or forward remittances to thousands of vendors through one process.

psa wp - solutions for the mining industry

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