Operating in Minas Gerais since 2000, the company specializes in the extraction, processing, and commercialization of high-quality iron ore. With ambitious plans to double its annual production, the company faces complex challenges that demand strategic, data-driven decisions and highly efficient management. In partnership with EYF, the company set out to enhance its operations and uncover opportunities to improve process performance and scale production.
Beyond the inherent challenges of growth, the company struggled with limited visibility into the root causes of operational issues and the reliability of the data being used. Ongoing pressure to boost productivity and efficiency called for a deep understanding of the entire value chain and its interdependencies. To prevent disruptions caused by failures in critical equipment, a strategic inventory study was essential. Additionally, the capacity and production analysis highlighted the urgency of identifying current inefficiencies and making the necessary adaptations or investments to ensure scalable and resilient operations.
Solutions:
Faced with these challenges, EYF developed a comprehensive scenario analysis solution for the plant, aimed at identifying inefficiencies and uncovering investment opportunities. This approach replaced intuition-based decision-making with data-driven insights and robust analysis. The tailored solution included:
- A tool designed to evaluate key operational variables such as layout, equipment availability, and inventory management.
- Training sessions to equip the company’s team with the knowledge and confidence to use the solution effectively.
- In a second project phase, EYF integrated existing operational data and business logic into the platform, enabling the system to process strategic information, fine-tune planning, and maximize operational efficiency.
Results:
With the development of the solution by EYF, the company achieved significant gains in its operations:
- The company now has a complete solution that facilitates the analysis of different future scenarios and makes it possible to test strategies to optimize production.
- The project was developed in approximately 3.5 months, quickly delivering the expected results.
- Creating a conceptual flow helped stakeholders better understand decision-making and the interconnections between operational processes.
Impact:
The completion of the project provided the company with a robust, data-driven solution to enhance its operational management. By enabling comprehensive scenario analysis, the company was able to evaluate both short- and long-term strategies with greater confidence. This visibility into how different variables impact production helped identify the investments required to double output. The ability to forecast outcomes prior to implementation not only reduced risk, but also ensured more efficient use of available resources and increased confidence in strategic decision-making.