EPISODE 11
Are WE the barrier to innovation
Duration - 39 mins
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A few decades ago, mining companies used to invest in teams that focussed on developing in-house technical expertise. Companies worked hard at maintaining these teams because they stood to directly benefit from any technological solutions they came up with. However over the last couple of decades, things changed. Companies largely out-sourced technical innovation to service providers. This now makes service providers best placed to provide technology solutions to the industry. In our opinion, this outsourcing of intellectual capital has created a structural problem. As companies, we are no longer in-charge. We are now customers.
This structural change now makes service providers the very people we need to listen to. Some of you might disagree with this. But think about it from the whole industry perspective. These issues are bigger than what impacts your company...or even what impacts you. So when it is comes to technical innovation, who is prioritizing it? Who is influencing the outcomes? Who is leading who?
In this episode, we speak to Bruce McDonald from ALS Minerals, a service provider to the mining industry. We wanted to get their perspective, on what challenges they face when they are trying to sell these technologies to mining companies. We learned that service providers are limited by WHAT THEY CAN DO, not what they imagine. Our willingness to take up innovative solutions is the problem. And this is exacerbated by the cyclic nature of our industry. The greatest barrier to innovation in the mining industry... is US...the people that are part of the industry.
This structural change now makes service providers the very people we need to listen to. Some of you might disagree with this. But think about it from the whole industry perspective. These issues are bigger than what impacts your company...or even what impacts you. So when it is comes to technical innovation, who is prioritizing it? Who is influencing the outcomes? Who is leading who?
In this episode, we speak to Bruce McDonald from ALS Minerals, a service provider to the mining industry. We wanted to get their perspective, on what challenges they face when they are trying to sell these technologies to mining companies. We learned that service providers are limited by WHAT THEY CAN DO, not what they imagine. Our willingness to take up innovative solutions is the problem. And this is exacerbated by the cyclic nature of our industry. The greatest barrier to innovation in the mining industry... is US...the people that are part of the industry.