b'2013 When it comes to innovation in more recent times, Thiess thinking has becomemore structured to support the project-based developments that remain the most fertile ground for new ideas. The Mining Technology and Innovation team startedContinuous mining: in 2012 with four people and grew to twenty-five within two years. It was created to find a world first new ways to improve productivity, and deliver cost benefits for clients. These days, Thiess and RWE Generation SE, onehowever, there is much more data available to inform those decisions. Thousands of of Europes leading power generatorssensors provide information every second. Data is transformed in real time to support and lignite miners, form an exclusiveoperational decisionsfor example, by improving productivity through increased truck partnership to deliver significantspeed and payload, and by eliminating inefficiencies such as operating delays.savings for high-volume continuousBruce Munro led Thiess in 2013, and even back then he outlined the future. We are mining applications across the globe. experimenting with driverless trucks that are operated remotely. I can see a future where our operators are all together in an air-conditioned office, working their machines in those remote, dusty locations from a safe, team-based environment close to their Reconciliation Action Plan families. We have to keep not just moving with the times; we have to be leading the Formalising its commitment tochange. That change is here now.Indigenous communities and diversity,Thiess expertise now spans autonomous drilling and haulage systems, as well as Thiess launches its first Reconciliationsemi-autonomous dozing systems. Were one of the leaders in the world with the Action Plan (RAP). integration of autonomous mining systems, Michael Wright enthuses. Teaming up with Caterpillar and the other original equipment manufacturers, we were able to operate Extensions drive prosperity drilling rigs and dozers from our head office in Queensland, over 500 kilometres away from our mine sites.Thiess is awarded two significant contracts: Curragh North Mine in theTrent Smith heads a team of thirty-five people tasked with developing practical Bowen Basin, Queensland, and Mt Oweninnovations, with autonomy at the top of the list. The whole idea is to increase Mine, New South Wales. productivity, decrease costs and improve safety, all of which can be achieved through consistency and predictability, he says. Greater working hours and control are also key benefits of autonomy.This focus on replicability leans into gains achieved in production line manufacturing industries. We see it as a way of turning a mine site into a factory, says Trent. We run our control rooms from the mine sites to be close to the people, build trust and link as closely to what we treat as our client: the mine. There is still a large people component in autonomy.Innovation doesnt come from bolts of inspiration. It comes from steady progress, from observation and from listening: Thiess has thousands of employeesone of them will usually have an answer. Through the process of engaging and listening, the solutions will start to reveal themselves. Then, you just need the courage to turn the ideas into practical, lasting outcomes. In that, Thiess has heritage.96'