Clients and suppliers

The client-supplier relationship you can firstly identify in Sogerem is between the mine and the plant. The mine is in charge of providing raw material to the plant with a defined quantity and a good quality. All miners are engaged to satisfy their client’s needs!

In order to guarantee a good service Cédric, my coach, will use his managing skills to plan the exploitation of the mines. It implies a compromise between underground and open-cast mines productions. I’ll explain you why:

The ore in the underground mine is very rich in fluor-spar. The fluor-spar/gangue ratio is quite high (do you remember? The gangue is a useless material with needs to be separated from the ore. Read more about it in my Alcan day blog). But the operation costs in an underground mine are high, because the entire infrastructure is a lot more complex. (Don’t forget they need to keep all the galleries in good conditions to prevent them to collapse!)

The fluor-spar/gangue ratio in the open-cast mine is lower than in the underground one. But costs are lower too, as the operation is simple compared to underground mine.
One mine cannot work without the other, they are running together to balance their weaknesses and assets. Cédric’s job is to find the equilibrium, to satisfy his client: René Jean (the plant responsible who explained us how to prepare fluor-spar).

But things don’t stop there! …

Geology service clients and suppliers

Currently, Cédric is constantly communicating with the mining engineer, one of his clients, to start up a new open-cast mine. He also helps Christian, the open-cast mine responsible, who is Cédric’s client too in geology services.

Mr. Béguin, the general director, is Cédric’s client to estimate fluor-spar reserves, to conduct geology projects and to plan the exploitation.

But to have the right information to do a great job, Cédric will communicate with his super Alcan suppliers!

- The super topologist will provide topology maps!
- The super chemist will prepare some analyzes in his secret laboratory to provide Cédric with precise data about mining and water samples.
- The super technical service, to guarantee the maintenance!
- The super legislation and environment expert, Fernand Poveda, provides his help too.

   

When extra assistance is necessary, Cédric will require some external help. If he needs some geophysics equipment, he’ll quickly hire one from a specialized company.

To keep you informed, ore samples collected in the mine are called “carrots”, because of their shape. When Cédric needs some of these “carrots” to figure out if a new potential place is worth mining, he’ll neither call Bug’s Bunny nor a mole, but the drilling contractors! They will collect as much carrots as Cédric will require!

If Cédric needs explotation data or some data on old mines, he'll call the Geological Surveys Offices (BRGM, in France).

Environment and geotechnics experts will supply my coach in research aspects, when an environmental study is required to start up a new exploitation site.

Environment clients

Cédric is originally a geologist. But he’s broadly qualified, and when he is performing his environmental engineer tasks, he’ll provide his services to another kind of clients: the water users!

Local communities are expecting to have access of good quality water so Cédric will care of Sogerem’s water to deliver it into the river in great conditions.

Fishes and fishers are Cédric’s client as well! Fishes wants to swim in fresh and limpid water, and fishers will be happy to fish health fishes to prepare some delicious meals!

Land animals are also clients! They want a green lawn to eat and the shadow of the trees to rest under! And my coach will satisfy them as well, reestablishing the natural environment of ancient mines.

The major purposes of these client-supplier relationships are to work in a cooperative way to reach the best productive levels! Communication is the key to get confidence of clients or suppliers; when we trust, we cooperate; cooperating, we synergize, and we produce better results together than individually: we all benefit!