RPM launches EFM for the mining industry

Launched with the support of global ERP powerhouse SAP AG (SAP), XERAS for Enterprise seamlessly integrates SAP’s Financial and Maintenance Management modules with the financial modelling capabilities of XERAS. This integration allows for unprecedented levels of financial visibility and cost control, from individual mine sites through to corporate management reporting systems.

Speaking at the product’s launch in Brisbane, Australia, RPM’s Chief Executive Officer Richard Mathews said, “The focus of the industry has clearly shifted to driving productivity improvements. Across our global client base we are seeing a growing demand from Boards and senior management for increased visibility, control and predictability of capital and operating cost structures. The ability to explain the difference between actual and planned financial results and to predict the financial implications of changes in the mining environment is of critical importance to our customers.”

Mr. Mathews went on to say, “We’ve listened to what our customers have been telling us and specifically asking for. They wanted us to take the visibility they get at an operational level from our market leading XERAS product and extend it across the Enterprise and we have done that with SAP.”

“Our relationship with SAP makes perfect sense given our almost identical customer base in the industry. This product has been a long time in the making and we are thrilled to bring it to market now. Never before has a complex mining company had the ability to see the immediate financial impacts of a change in an operational mine plan reflected in real time in a corporate budgeting and reforecasting systems.”

XERAS for Enterprise represents the first of RPM’s technology products to take the strategic step forward into the enterprise environment. XERAS for Enterprise follows closely behind the successful launch of RPM’s enterprise enabled XERAS 8.0 last week.

Commenting on this milestone, Board member and company founder, Dr. Ian Runge said, “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.”

With a centralised platform for conducting analysis and generating different scenarios using auditable and validated information, XERAS for Enterprise bridges 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 provides many new significant business benefits which Darren Rostron, RPM’s XERAS Product Manager explains.

“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.

“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.

“XERAS for Enterprise 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.

“The improved cost visibility provided by XERAS for Enterprise means that senior management are 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 want.

“It makes the crucial job of financial modelling, budgeting and reforecasting much simpler. With XERAS for Enterprise, it’s easier for financial managers to make decisions with confidence.

“Having a single source of truth for financial planning is paramount in today’s mining environment. We endeavor to provide better access to information for technical and operational decision-making, which in turn delivers more efficient mining and certainty for key stakeholders.”

Mr. Mathews concluded by saying, “One of the most frequently asked questions in mining today is why actual costs are different to the original budget or the recent reforecast. XERAS for Enterprise gives you the power to answer this question quickly and accurately right from your desktop.”

“If you want to consolidate all your financial costing models at the push of a button, reforecast rapidly and have full financial drill-down to your operational costing models, XERAS for Enterprise is the perfect solution for you.”