Delivering The New Equation in BHP’s transformation

CLIENT

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INDUSTRY

Mining
OUR ROLE

Helped BHP transform its shared services model into a single operating business

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Delivering The New Equation in BHP’s transformation.
Where human meets digital, BHP has transformed its shared services model into a single operating business, organised by end-to-end processes that connect value chain processes to lift operational productivity and efficiency.

BHP and PwC came together during the pandemic to design and implement an end-to-end solution that will deliver sustained outcomes for over 80,000 BHP employees and contractors globally.

A community of solvers.

“At BHP, productivity for our frontline stems from many connected processes and interfaces that need to work effectively”, says Sundeep Singh, Group Officer - Global Business Services (GBS). The digital GBS represents a significant transformation to BHP’s operating model, aligning teams from finance, human resources to inventory and procurement, and marketing, sales and maritime operations. “The goal was to enhance throughput and lift the capability for process improvement as a connected and data driven organisation, with a trusted provider”, says Angelo Estrera, Global Client Partner at PwC.

A programme team was formed across BHP and PwC and included skills across digital, people and GBS as well as domain expertise. The ambition for the programme was always high and at the outset driving an outside in view played an important part in forming the vision. “Part of our role was to connect BHP with leading global organisations in GBS to understand the art of the possible and to challenge ourselves on the solution and what would work for BHP” says Peter Kurtz, GBS Partner at PwC.

BHP photography from Olympic Dam site

Driving a digital core.
Whether it is producing financial accounts or managing the supply chain process, this work had historically been performed by separate functionally led shared services centre teams globally. This means opportunities could be identified in areas of end-to-end process improvement, such as the interaction of maintenance and supply chain performance to support parts availability and manage working capital.

PwC’s Connected Digital Enterprise.
PwC’s Connected Digital Enterprise (CDE) solution examines end-to-end processes to map and make them even better. “CDE has successfully solved for end-to-end optimisation and intelligent automation”, says Varya Davidson, PwC’s Global Culture, Leadership and Change Capability. At PwC, the core CDE team identifies opportunities, then through transformation projects, brings together an agile team handpicked to conduct sprints that drive transformation with precision and pace. A proven methodology then helps identify, design, deliver, and drive change.

“PwC brought the best of culture, project management and data driven process intelligence capabilities”, says Sundeep, with the collaborative approach further underscored by a focus on flexibility. The team has been adaptive in building plans that embrace a flexible approach to change with people at the heart. Tailored to BHP’s system of work, people, culture, roles, and technology with teams around the world, CDE was used to map and diagnose process variation and waste reduction thereby creating a pipeline of improvement and an ongoing platform for accelerated delivery, also improving frontline safety and productivity.

Sundeep adds, “Through the new approach, we’re working to remove process waste, reduce variation for reliability and automation opportunities to prioritise the frontline customer experience at an operational level”. This means mapping processes from the perspective of the end user, and understanding what it feels like to execute, first-hand.

“Through the new approach, we’re working to remove process waste, reduce variation for reliability and automation opportunities to prioritise the frontline customer experience at an operational level”

Sundeep SinghGroup Officer - Global Business Services (GBS), BHP

“PwC brought the best of culture, project management and data driven process intelligence capabilities.”

Varya Davidson,
PwC’s Global Culture, Leadership and Change Capability

BHP photography from Jimblebar site

Human-led and digitally powered solving for the future.
But it’s not only about process change. It’s about upskilling to new ways of working, adopting new behaviours, and further embedding a culture with digital skills to deliver data-led decisions. “Core capabilities have grown from process engineering to customer experience”, says Varya. “From the beginning, GBS was about working together, not only between BHP and PwC, but between GBS and each function of the business”. The approach would ensure the GBS transformation was driven by people, not the other way around.

Human-led, digitally-powered and working together as a community of solvers, BHP and PwC created a ‘one team’ environment to solve together in real time. This meant engaging functional owners of the business to make it work together and being clear on the scope and mandate for the project. “The implementation functioned on continual collaboration and co-creation,” says Varya.

Adapting to a dynamic environment.
Through challenges of COVID-19, the majority of the project work was achieved virtually with project teams coming together from around the world. Preparation and cultural considerations were key while ‘routine’ and agile meetings helped adapt to the ever-changing environment. To map and diagnose process optimization opportunities, the teams used deep data science and analytics, plus SMEs, delivery squads and shared agile teams to execute necessary process changes. “When engaging with stakeholders, it’s not with presentations, but live demos to actually show them the output”, adds Varya. “This allows people to see what’s possible through proof of concepts and simulation tools”. Process automation tools will provide further support, while citizen ownership tools will help acceleration of improvement pipelines.

BHP photography from South Flank site

Playbooks for the future.

“GBS provides a critical enabler for process transformation”, adds Peter. “With the underlying foundation of our BHP Operating System, our GBS process improvement capabilities are now embedded into our ways of working, providing a critical platform for us to scale operational productivity and efficiency for BHP”, says Sundeep. Playbooks provide in-depth information on how GBS delivers digital transformation, detailing roles, responsibilities, and the ‘wiring’ within them across people and accountabilities.

Solving for sustained outcomes.
“The greater capacity for the GBS team to unlock productivity for our frontline operational Assets better enables the enterprise to unlock its core Purpose. PwC has supported BHP in building this capability”, says Sundeep.

“For client management teams wanting to automate overnight, there needs to be a new way of thinking about technology deployment”, adds Angelo. “Tech and business need to work closer together for faster outcomes, however it’s often hard for large, global organisations to do so. That’s where having the right advisor and approach is key”.

In moving to a digital GBS, “BHP is creating an important sustainable platform for productivity and operating excellence”, says Sundeep. With the implementation continuing over the next three years, “PwC is working with us on building our capabilities, driving value, and creating new possibilities for our future. The relationship is built on a culture of partnership, founded in the capacity to deliver with shared values of respect, integrity, and pursuit of performance at every point in the process”, says Sundeep. With the same outcomes in mind, a focus on long-term collaboration means continuing to build structural foundations, whilst accelerating delivery and value in the near term.

Sundeep added, “Through this work, a new equation has been created for our own organisation— connecting people, processes and data to reliably deliver and lift productivity and thereby enabling our customers across BHP to unlock their full potential”.

BHP photography from Newman site

“The greater capacity for the GBS team to unlock productivity for our frontline operational Assets better enables the enterprise to unlock its core Purpose. PwC has supported BHP in building this capability”.

Sundeep SinghGroup Officer - Global Business Services (GBS), BHP