In April this year, the complete cost of coal of Shaanxi Coal Group's North Shaanxi Mining Hanjiawan Coal Company was reduced by 10.23 yuan/ton compared with the plan. Hanjiawan Coal Co., Ltd. is one of the 36 pairs of production mines managed by 13 coal production enterprises in the coal sector of Shaanxi Coal Group, with an approved annual production capacity of 4 million tons, and the management level of thin coal seam mining cost is above the middle level within Shaanxi Coal Group.
With the change of supply and demand contradictions, strengthening cost management has become an important measure for coal companies to cope with market challenges. Hanjiawan Coal Company has also carried out in-depth exploration and practice in cost management.
The backbone of makers focuses on technology cost reduction to carry out difficult problems
What are the paths to strengthen cost management?
The cost per ton of coal is an important quantitative indicator to measure the quality of coal mine development. The occurrence conditions of coal mines, disaster conditions, production capacity, labor quantity, and intelligence level will all affect the cost per ton of coal. "Different types of coal mines, even if they have the same production capacity, will have different costs of commercial coal due to different factors such as geological structure and coal mine disasters. However, many measures of cost management have reference significance for the vast majority of coal mines. When it comes to cost management, Hu Ruhai, deputy manager of Hanjiawan Coal Company, has a lot of experience.
"We have set up a production technology cost center, a mechanical and electrical equipment cost center, a fund control cost center, and a project engineering cost center to strictly control costs and expenses." Hu Ruhai introduced that through the refinement of costs, the company has explored and formed a "1443" full-staff and whole-process cost control system, as well as a "business and finance integration" information platform for production and operation data sharing, efficient coordination of production, supply and marketing, and daily clearing and monthly settlement of business results.
In accordance with the requirements of the relevant documents of Shaanxi Coal Group, the strengthening of cost management mainly starts from the aspects of strategic cost, system cost, enterprise cost and product cost. "We fully mobilize the enthusiasm and initiative of cadres and workers, and comprehensively build a long-term mechanism for reducing costs and increasing efficiency." Hu Ruhai said that reducing costs and increasing efficiency has always been the logical accent of coal mine production and operation. To this end, the company vigorously creates a strong atmosphere of cost reduction and efficiency increase, incorporates various indicators into the scope of comprehensive budget control, solidly promotes the cost refinement management based on the "Double Ten System", and realizes the cost refinement management system featuring dynamic management, static management, and "integration of industry and finance". Now, through the information platform, financial personnel can understand key business indicators such as mine mining continuity, product inventory, and product price trends in real time.
Every month, the company's district team holds a symposium on the results of cost reduction and efficiency increase. Xu Guangtian, the leader of the second production shift of the continuous mining team, said: "We used waste anchors to process the anti-flood raincoat hanging device. It saves time and increases efficiency. "We use waste materials to process 2 fan frames, 2 tool boxes, 1 belt bridge, and 2 auxiliary transportation slotted gantry, which is expected to save 35,000 yuan in material costs." Gary, the leader of the maintenance squad, said.
The company also adheres to the quarterly all-staff innovation project review mechanism. "In 2023, 35 national new utility patents will be declared for innovation achievements. In the first quarter of this year, a total of 105 innovative projects were solicited and 5 national new utility patents were obtained. Zhou Zhufeng, director of the production geodetic technology management department, said that the innovation of all employees has optimized the production process, improved production efficiency and reduced costs.
Reasonable tax planning is also an effective measure to reduce costs and increase efficiency. "If you obtain the qualification for safe and efficient mines on schedule, you can enjoy the preferential tax policies for the development of the western region. Currently, we are in the process of applying. Hu Ruhai said that in addition, their R&D projects were filed in a timely manner and strived to enjoy the additional deduction of R&D expenses; Timely sort out and check the information on enterprise income tax exemption and credit, and ensure that various preferential tax policies are enjoyed in the final settlement of enterprise income tax.
Each unit reports on the implementation of the task list of cost reduction and efficiency improvement on a monthly basis
What is the room for improved cost management?
In terms of cost management, Hanjiawan Coal Company has done a lot of fruitful work. Even so, there is still room for improvement in cost management.
"For example, we have paid attention to saving costs and reducing consumption in the process of production and operation, but we have not effectively integrated cost reduction and efficiency improvement into mining design, safety investment, project quality and other aspects, so as to achieve overall consideration. It is mainly manifested in the poor effectiveness of the cost process control of all employees, and the cost classification and classification control has not yet been fully refined. Hu Ruhai said that this is the answer that the company is struggling to complete.
The strategic decision-making of coal enterprises is closely related to cost management. "The contradiction between strategic decision-making and cost management is often manifested in the contradiction between resource input and cost control. It is important to ensure that the necessary investment is made in strategic decisions, but also to consider how to control costs. "In order to achieve sustainable development, coal mines need to invest a lot of money in scientific and technological innovation, equipment renewal, etc. In this regard, Hu Ruhai believes that it is necessary to strengthen internal communication and cooperation, strictly review the rationality of large expenditures such as special funds, major costs, and scientific research projects, improve the accuracy of budgets, and resolve the contradiction between strategic decision-making investment and cost management as much as possible.
The management of low-value consumable materials is a weak point in cost management. Strictly review the material plan, warehousing ledger, try to destock, and reduce the purchase expenditure of new materials; Strictly implement the system of handing over the old and receiving the new, and the management system of waste materials, and recycle and transfer the storage according to the recovery rate of materials and oils; Encourage district teams to maintain independently, increase the recycling and reuse of waste materials, and minimize the use of new materials; At the end of the month, the results of material consumption and cost reduction and efficiency increase of the month will be reported, and the rewards and punishments will be ...... Hu Ruhai said: "Although this work has been done, the depth and breadth are not enough. It is necessary to intensify management, grasp and grasp repeatedly, and work for a long time to achieve good results. ”
There is also room for effective reduction and reasonable control of costs in bidding work. "Reasonably plan the scale of the project to avoid the increase in costs caused by the increase in scale; Optimize the design scheme and reduce the project cost; Introduce a competitive mechanism to select cost-effective suppliers or contractors; Strengthen the supervision and management of project costs to ensure that the costs are controlled within a reasonable range. Hu Ruhai said that the company has begun to implement these measures to control costs from the source of bidding.
Interview notes
Cost management is always on the way
Cost management is not difficult to know, but difficult to do. In the interview, the author's biggest feeling is that if we can work together, the cost of coal mines will drop significantly.
In terms of the implementation of the system, some rules and regulations and compliance management have not achieved the expected results, mainly because in the implementation process, they have paid attention to the compliance of procedures and forms, and ignored the internal requirements of compliance management. The essence of controlling costs from the source lies in the implementation of the system, and the key lies in the strict management of the process.
In terms of full participation, the formulation and implementation of systems and measures should not only reflect the "what to do" at the macro level, but also pay attention to the "how to do" at the operational level. In real work, there are countless methods and measures to improve quality, reduce costs and increase efficiency, whether we can achieve the deep participation of all employees, whether we can achieve the refined implementation of system measures, and whether we can truly achieve "accounting first, then work", which is very important for whether the cost management system can be implemented and effective.
In order to achieve overall planning, in accordance with the work requirements of "high-point positioning, systematic planning, highlighting key points, strengthening implementation, and focusing on practical results", cost management should enhance execution from the institutional level, highlight creativity from the management level, and enhance enthusiasm from the operational level.
Pay attention to scientific and technological innovation, if you look at intelligent construction projects from the perspective of cost management, to avoid duplicate construction in the industry, you can directly copy the existing mature technical routes and scientific and technological achievements, as far as possible to choose "mass production" of intelligent equipment, reduce the "customization" of intelligent equipment, so as to reduce the cost of trial and error and project costs, and achieve a win-win situation of scientific and technological innovation and cost control.
Only by focusing on hard work, paying close attention to it, always grasping unremittingly, and strictly grasping it without loosening, can we build a long-term mechanism for reducing costs and increasing efficiency. Low-cost coal mines may not be able to achieve high-quality development; High-cost coal mines are certainly not high-quality development. In order to achieve high-quality development of coal mines, cost management is very important, and the key is to find the right entry point and interpret with practical actions that "the road is simple, hard work is essential, and no small things are abandoned, and no effort is given".