Business Process Mapping for Canadian Mining Client
Turning pain points into user-friendly and cost saving opportunities.
Project Overview
Mine site alignment on all warehousing and inventory management processes.
The client (unnamed due to Non-Disclosure Agreements) is a leading Canadian resource company in the mining and mineral development space with operations in Western Canada and internationally. They had recently undergone a site-wide system implementation which resulted in significant financial and usability challenges, as well as confusion towards the correct business procedures to follow for tasks that had been impacted by the implementation.
The goal of this project was to provide a single source of truth for all warehousing and inventory management processes for the client, allowing users to have confidence performing their roles and standardization across task performance for more effective operational reporting. In addition, we would drive the creation of critical procedures that have not yet been standardized and documented, such as the returns and obsolescence process.
By achieving these objectives, the client would have visibility into their warehousing and inventory management processes with opportunities to address critical pain points. This project consisted of the following phases:
The Problem
Current processes were inefficient and non-standardized.
The client was experiencing challenges in their warehouse processes due to an earlier system implementation that did not fully meet user and business needs. These challenges were resulting in significant financial impacts and a lack of visibility into their inventory management processes.
How might we help the client gain confidence in their business processes while identifying opportunities for cost savings?
The Solution
Document warehouse processes to identify pain points and opportunities.
Our project consisted of the following key objectives:
Develop detailed Warehousing and Inventory Management process maps
Define the process and governance structure for Returns and Obsolescence
Conduct data analysis on re-order points to achieve inventory reduction savings
Identify user and system pain points for all processes and recommend opportunities based on industry best practices
My role:
Develop process maps for 12 Warehouse and Inventory Management processes, incorporating recommendations for best practices
Review and refine all process maps with key client stakeholders, gathering pain points through user interviews
Support the development of the Returns and Obsolescence process to ensure alignment across all processes
Develop the governance structure for the Returns and Obsolescence process and obtain sign-off from client leadership
Problem Definition
Existing documentation was incomplete and out of date.
To familiarize myself with the client's existing processes and procedures, I gathered as much data as possible from our client stakeholders and reviewed all documented pain points, root causes, and recommendations from a previous phase of work.
My team connected with key warehouse and inventory management stakeholders to align on project timelines and establish a weekly meeting cadence to review deliverables.
Through preliminary background research, I identified that:
There was no documentation of the end-to-end flow of activities to identify how each process connects to other processes and the various teams involved.
Existing process documentation was out of date and did not contain enough detail.
There were 12 key processes in the Warehousing and Inventory Management space that required detailed documentation.
User Research
User interviews revealed challenges involving people, processes, technology, and data.
To get a deeper understanding of the client's business operations, the team and I took a two-week trip to the client's primary mine site in Western Canada to conduct user interviews and observations on how day-to-day tasks were being performed. Additionally, we met with key stakeholders to review and refine each process.
Over the course of two weeks, we identified 55 user pain points across the 12 defined processes. Each of which fell into one of 4 categories:
Documentation
12 processes containing 55 pain points were mapped.
The process for "Receive Materials" is illustrated below:
Process Creation
A clear process for managing obsolete materials was defined.
In addition to the numerous pain points from existing warehouse processes, proper management of inventory was a key challenge for the client. The lack of visibility into inventory levels combined with improper methods of ordering had caused roughly $10 million worth of unused materials to be ordered over the last year alone.
Through detailed analysis of the client's inventory, the team identified $13 million in inventory reduction savings through a process to manage obsolete items. After numerous cross-functional design workshops with stakeholders from Finance, Procurement, and Warehouse teams, I led the development of a recommended future state RASCI for the Returns process which clearly stated the roles and responsibilities of every stakeholder involved.
Illustrative Partial RASCI Deliverable:
Recommendations
4 recommendations were provided to optimize system performance and user experience.
Upon finalizing the 12 process maps and further discussions with the client on their most critical pain points, we proposed 4 key recommendations that addresses each of the 4 categories of user pain points:
Visual of recommendations
Next Steps
Alignment across the client's international mine sites.
Due to the success of this project and the deep understanding of the client's business operations obtained by the Accenture team, the client wanted us to continue with our learnings to further align processes across their Canadian and international mine sites.
The next phase of this project included preparation for and facilitation of a week-long in-person workshop in Vancouver consisting of 20+ stakeholders from various parts of the organization, including warehousing, inventory management, finance, and more to identify process gaps between mine sites and to develop a roadmap for closing these gaps while aligning with industry best practices.
Conclusion
Understanding the user is critical in designing sustainable systems.
This project underscored the critical role that user-centered design plays in understanding and improving complex systems in any industry. Through user interviews and direct engagement with stakeholders, we gained deep insight into the pain points, workarounds, and needs that existed within the current process. Applying empathy allowed us to move beyond surface-level observations and truly understand the human experience behind the workflows.
By aligning these insights with core UX design principles such as usability, accessibility, and efficiency, we were able to map the business process in a way that reflected both organizational goals and user realities. This holistic understanding of the system, coupled with a clear picture of how users interact within it, laid a strong foundation for identifying design opportunities, streamlining operations, and ultimately enhancing user satisfaction.
In consulting roles, it’s often easy to focus solely on technical or business outcomes. However, this project reaffirmed that integrating UX methodologies, particularly empathy and user research, into process design leads to more effective, sustainable solutions that truly resonate with users.
