How a Longwall Mine Boosted Output by more than 30%—Without Spending on New Equipment
- hlourens6
- Apr 6
- 2 min read
What do you do when production hits a wall and capital isn’t an option? For one longwall coal mine, the answer was surprisingly simple—and transformational.
When the team at a major Australian coal mine felt they had exhausted every avenue to increase output, they turned to Stratflow’s Flow Room approach. The result? A staggering 33% boost in throughput, achieved with no new equipment and no extra capex.
The Problem: Plateaued Performance Despite Full Resourcing
The site had all the right pieces—longwall panels, haulage, a CHPP, experienced teams—but they weren’t getting the throughput they knew was possible. The Continuous Improvement (CI) team had done their best, but performance had plateaued. Despite pressure from leadership to lift production, something was getting in the way.
According to the CHPP Manager:
“We had reached a ceiling and couldn’t push more tonnage. The Flow Room helped us see the whole value chain and remove hidden blockers. In just weeks, we were doing 33% more with the same resources.”
The Solution: A New Way to See and Manage Flow
Stratflow introduced the Flow Room, a management approach based on the Theory of Constraints (TOC). It’s not a dashboard or a tool—it’s a way of thinking that brings visibility to the true bottleneck in a system and empowers frontline teams to focus where it counts.
Instead of treating symptoms (e.g., downtime here, delays there), the Flow Room approach identifies the constraint that governs the entire system's output, and aligns planning, scheduling, and communication around protecting and unblocking that constraint.
The Impact: Bigger Results with Lower Stress
What changed? Leadership and supervisors now had clarity. They could anticipate disruptions. Resources were synchronized. The CI team could focus on the right problem instead of chasing every issue. As a result, output jumped—without more gear, more overtime, or more pressure.
“Most mines already have the gear they need,” explains Hendrik Lourens, CEO at Stratflow.“What’s missing is coordination. The Flow Room gives frontline leaders visibility and control—without needing another truck or wash plant.”
Why It Matters
In today’s mining environment—marked by tight capital constraints and rising expectations—smart operations are looking for leverage, not more load. The Flow Room delivers that leverage by helping mine leaders do more with what they already have.
If you’re a Mine Manager, CHPP leader, or Site Senior Executive (SSE) looking to unlock more value from your operation without a large investment, it might be time to ask:
Where is flow breaking down in your value chain—and how fast could you fix it if everyone saw the same picture?
💡 Want to Learn More?
Visit: www.stratflow.com.au or contact us at info@stratflow.com.au
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