Making the smart choice

From humble beginnings in 2005, Smartsheet has grown to become one of the world’s leading enterprise work management platforms. 

When the Smartsheet platform was first created, the vision was simple: empower companies to define which areas needed to be tracked and organised to foster greater efficiency.

“Smartsheet provides what spreadsheets cannot: a single version of the truth presented in a common language anyone can understand, with structure that enables reporting, alerts, automated workflows and better data quality,” Smartsheet account executive for large enterprise James Macartney told Australian Mining.

“As the user base has grown, Smartsheet has expanded its vision and continued innovating by targeting larger teams, divisions and, ultimately, whole global enterprises.”

Smartsheet is now present in more than 80 per cent of Fortune 500 companies, with over 13.5 million users across more than 190 countries.

The platform is used to facilitate real-time work management, communication, document sharing and task management, enabling teams to coordinate activities, manage resources, and mitigate risks across a wide range of industries; one being mining.

Mining companies can use Smartsheet to improve access to capital and specialised equipment and services, ensure regulatory compliance, obtain land, and leverage technical expertise, among many additional solutions across the mining lifecycle.

“Australian mining companies can struggle with effective collaboration and consistent reporting due to factors like remote work, siloed operations and inconsistent manual systems and processes,” Macartney said.

“Users can spend a significant amount of time updating projects and gathering incorrect data for strict reporting requirements. Before using Smartsheet, our mining customers were knee-deep in spreadsheets and presentations and were flooded with meetings.

“Smartsheet took away that burden while giving executives the reporting they needed at any location, time or date.”

Smartsheet’s project planning capabilities extend beyond the day-to-day workflow; it can also help users track and manage tasks associated with environmental compliance, monitoring, and reporting.

“Smartsheet can organise data collection, analysis, and reporting on environmental impacts to ensure mining activities adhere to regulations and sustainability standards,” Macartney said.

“The resource allocation features can also help optimise workforce distribution by aligning available skills with project needs, guaranteeing the right people with the right skills are assigned to tasks, minimising the impact of labour shortages.”

Recently, a major Western Australian company’s mine closure and rehabilitation team engaged Smartsheet to streamline its workflow.

“Before Smartsheet, the division relied on disparate systems without structure or formal reporting,” Macartney said. “This created risks around shutdown delays, regulatory fines and potential environmental impacts.

“By deploying Smartsheet, the closures team delivered a structured framework to successfully deliver projects end-to-end, execute required deadlines and provide portfolio visibility to general managers through Smartsheet’s reporting capabilities.”

The WA miner’s closures team said Smartsheet has provided more visibility and insights into its work.

“Smartsheet has helped reduce time spent on weekly and monthly reporting, allowing for timely internal project management meetings,” the company said. “It has also reduced the time required to set up new projects and automated reporting due to its ability to effectively summarise multiple datasets into standardised dashboards.”

Smartsheet is renowned for its ease of use, having the ability to integrate into various technological tools and software such as enterprise resource planning systems.

“This integration enables streamlined data flow and enhances decision-making based on real-time insights,” Macartney said. “It also allows for real-time tracking of expenses, cost forecasts and helps to identify cost-saving opportunities and reduce overruns.”

The platform’s ease of use was further recognised at the 2024 G2 Best Software Awards, where it was rated the number-one project and portfolio management solution for large enterprise.

“Smartsheet’s ease of use at a task management level, all the way up to large and complex projects allows businesses to scale effectively,” Macartney said.

“The level of reporting and ease of collaboration with internal and external stakeholders is also where organisations have seen great benefits.”

This feature appeared in the July 2024 issue of Australian Mining.