Digging Deep for Performance Data

About Shaft SinkersShaft Sinkers Holdings plc specialices in the sinking of particularly

deep and wide vertical and decline shafts, as well as the develop-

ment of underground infrastructure, used in mining and hydro-

power applications. The company has grown significantly over the

past few years, and in December 2010 listed on the London Stock

Exchange.

Shaft Sinker’s technology can also be used for underground road

and railway access, underground storage caverns and underground

nuclear waste disposal. In the past, the group has successfully

completed major shaft sinking projects on every continent on the

planet.

Project BackgroundShaft Sinkers required a dashboard for top executives which would

provide an overview of progress at the various shafts currently

being excavated. This dshboard would be saved on a central server

and distributed via email.

To obtain information about the various shafts, Shaft Sinkers were

originally collating Excel sheets from all the shafts on a monthly

basis and this data was being uploaded to a central Microsoft

Access database manually.

The company needed to automate the process of capturing data

from the shafts so that more time could be given to analysis and

evaluation. It was decided that a dashboard based on this captured

data would provide a visual overview for the executives that would

allow them to make operational decisions quickly.

Client:

Industry: Mining

Solution:

Microsoft SQL Server

SAP BusinessObjects

Business Intelligence 4.0

Implemented by:

No of Users: 10

Location: South Africa

DECISION INC.SAP BusinessObjects and Microsoft SQL | Customer Success Story | Shaft Sinkers

www.decisioninc.co.za

Better Decisions, Faster

Solution Overview

SolutionASYST Intelligence (now part of Decision Inc.) moved Shaft

Sinker’s historical data to a Microsoft SQL database and created

an automated ETL process to collect new data from all of Shaft

Sinker’s sites in South Africa. This process was facilitated using

MS SQL Integration Services, which took data from multiple tabs

in spreadsheets loaded into a specific FTP location.

A dashboard was created using SAP Crystal Reports with

embedded SAP Dashboard components, providing a visual

overview of various KPIs, such as cubic metres excavated

against target . As Crystal Reports was the main technology

used, the dashboard could be scheduled and emailed to users,

as well as printed easily.

“ASYST Intelligence (now part of Decision Inc.) has many years

of experience designing solutions that consolidate and manage

data from multiple sources and multiple locations. For Shaft

Sinkers data collection process we used the SAP ETL tool, which

supports complex data integration. We were able to streamline

the monthly data collection process and provide an overview of

the company performance via a dashboard in SAP

BusinessObjects Edge,” said Paul Morgan Director and General

Manager: Platforms of Decision Inc.

DECISION INC.SAP BusinessObjects and Microsoft SQL | Customer Success Story | Shaft Sinkers

www.decisioninc.co.za

Better Decisions, Faster

The Key Benefits• No manual loading of the worksheets from the various shafts - the process has been automated via ETL,

reducing potential data capture error

• Time saving – reduced time from loading of data to availability of information for decision making.

• A monthly dashboard provides senior management with a consolidated overview of the business performance

which previously had not been possible.

• Automated publication of the reports to a central server for easy access

About Decision Inc. Decision Inc.’s foundation is built in technology but what makes us unique is our understanding of effective

decision making. We represent leading global technology brands and are experts in the implementation, support

and execution of these technologies.

Decision Inc. merges the experience of 3 leading business intelligence organisations, BusinessIntelligent, ASYST

Intelligence and the Microsoft Productivity division of Digiquill, a Cyest company.

“Focused on quality and safety, the Shaft Sinkers Group has been at the forefront of technical know- how in the mining industry since 1961. Shaft Sinker’s clear commitment to delivering major projects on time and on budget means that Executives need to have a clear view on performance at the click of a button.

Previously, manual data collection and consolidation could be prone to user error and was time consuming. ASYST Intelligence developed the automated process to free up critical time for Executives to make sound business decisions quickly.”

Andrew Moor-Boyle, Business Performance Director,

Shaft Sinkers