Ron Brown

“You need the right people capability to execute strategy.” Ron Brown, GM Supply and Logistics at Newcrest Mining.

Newcrest has been a strong performer in the stock market in recent years – a strong gold price teamed with a talented and disciplined management team with clear business strategy – has created one of the lowest cost gold producers in the world.

Ron Brown joined Newcrest around five years ago, after nearly twenty years in procurement, logistics and supply chain at Foster’s. Backed by a Business Degree, he has since been a strong proponent of education and professional development for the procurement profession and has been involved in curriculum development of related supply chain university courses.  He has been a long term member and thought leader on The Faculty’s Procurement Roundtable and has been a strong supporter and participant in the Roundtable’s mentoring program.

“I continue to be very committed to the concept of mentoring.  I believe it is an important contribution I can make to the profession.  It keeps the development of my own management style top of mind, while also keeping me connected to a wider professional network,” he said. Ron sees the recruitment of his team as one of his key management responsibilities.  He is a proponent of making the process as efficient and effective as possible.

“We are fortunate that we have a strong value proposition – we are in a thriving industry, our company is doing well, it has an international scope and we have an exceptional senior management team from which everyone can learn.”

“When recruiting, we draw from our professional network, our internal HR team and external agencies to source the best quality candidates. Once we identify the right type of talent, we try to move them through the interview process and have the other key elements contracts, personal profiling etc being simultaneously developed to ensure a speedy outcome.  We believe this gives us a competitive edge within this tight market.”

What’s the largest issue facing procurement in Australia at the moment?
As all procurement and supply chain leaders know, the  issues challenging procurement are sector-dependent.  In resources, we are constantly managing the volatile supply and demand dynamics and how suppliers manage their risk profile in alignment with our business needs. It’s something we are continually monitoring.

How do you analyse your existing supplier relationships in the context of CSR?
Newcrest has a diverse operating base across 4 countries and 10 operating mines, from our home country Australia to PNG, Indonesia and Cote D’Ivoire which means CSR has to connect to local communities and their specific needs, whilst supporting sustainability for all parties and the bottom line. The key to this issue is having a good understanding of the local conditions, the relationships you have and linking them to your business needs.

How do you demonstrate the value add for procurement in your organisation?
We use a life-cycle approach through market-based comparison, to assess the value which includes assessing across areas such as safety, quality, service, cost and innovation. We also look at key cost drivers within the supplier base and what they mean to Newcrest, using comparisons against both existing costs and budgets.

3 attributes that make a successful procurement leader
1. Alignment and connectivity to the overall business strategy
2. Translating this to your own supply and logistics objectives
3. Having your people aligned and capable to execute the strategy