The Australian Coal Mines have spent considerable capital on dragline improvements over the last 2 years. This has included ~20Million dollars on UDD conversions, >15Million dollars on new buckets, boom upgrades, electrical upgrades, etc. This is a natural part of the response of mining companies to technology and replacement programs. Capital expenditure is a normal part of the ongoing success of most companies. There is however, a tendency for some people to rely on the capital alone to provide the ongoing improvements in equipment productivity. Implementing new technology through capital expenditure is only part of the equation in continuous improvement. Paterson, et. al. 2001, recount a mining executive's response to the greatest constraint to his organisation improving productivity as, "Getting people to think!" This paper proposes that the people who should be most challenged by this statement are managers. The whole process of thinking productively must start at the top and work its way through the organisation.
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