A mining company located in Africa.

BUSINESS REQUIREMENT

The organization aimed to gain a comprehensive understanding of its existing scoring mechanism, encompassing various aspects such as Process Audit Findings, Management Information System (MIS) Grading, and Grading related to Physical Verification of Inventory. Additionally, the company sought to establish a remediation mechanism to address audit findings effectively and implement a more robust control framework.

IDENTIFIED PROCESS CHALLENGES

The observations made during the auditing process were categorized into three groups

1. Not Implemented

2. Partially Implemented

3. Implemented post remediation strategy

A challenge identified was the absence of a designated Internal Audit Department to address the issues identified in a timely manner.

APPROACH AND SOLUTION DESIGN

To tackle these challenges, the following approach and solutions were implemented

1. Root Cause Analysis (RCA) was conducted to determine the underlying reasons for the identified observations.

2. Robust process-specific Corrective Action Tracker (CAT) documents were prepared for the identified observations, outlining a remediation strategy.

3. Onsite field work support was provided with a focus on improving the underlying control framework.

BUSINESS BENEFIT AND RESULT

The results of this engagement yielded several benefits, including

1. Improved entity-wide scoring, indicating enhanced compliance and control.

2. Development of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) where applicable, providing guidance for future operations and mechanisms.

3. Conversion of a significant number of observations from “Not Implemented” or “Partially Implemented” to “Implemented” or “Partially Implemented,” signifying effective remediation efforts.

4. Establishment of Process Wise CAT documents across departments, outlining the way forward for various activities.