The constraint fix

Your traceability pilot worked. Scaling it across sites and suppliers is the hard part.

Producers and buyers hit the same wall: miners, refiners, battery makers and OEMs. The platform is bought or being chosen, and the rollout stalls on people, incentives and preparation. I find the constraint and fix it with your team, until it runs without me.

I've been the buyer, the seller and the team rolling it out.

  • Agreed in writing first
  • No lock-in
  • Scaled to your project
Previously at
  • Circulor
  • BHP
  • EY
  • Linklaters
Core offer

The constraint fix

One monthly engagement. I find the one thing stopping the rollout going live, and fix it inside your business with your team.

Sound familiar?

Traceability is required. The rollout is not moving.

  • A traceability platform is bought, but it is not live across sites and suppliers.
  • Site data sits in the ERP, the lab and the weighbridge, and no one has mapped it to what the platform needs.
  • Suppliers were brought in late, and no one has agreed what they need to send, or when.
  • The person who asked for the pilot does not hold the budget for the scale-up, and no one has it on their KPIs.

The technology is usually not the reason. The reasons are people, incentives and preparation.

How I run it

Inside your business, until your own team runs it

For
Producers (miners, refiners, metals companies) and buyers (battery makers, OEMs) where traceability is required and the platform is bought or being chosen.
What I do
Project management, change management, and connecting sites, suppliers and teams.
First 30 days
A gap assessment of people, processes, data and governance, then a plan with named owners and a weekly rhythm.
Done when
The work is live, data flows from source and your team runs it.
How it works

Four steps, agreed in writing first

The outcome, the first 30 days and the fee are agreed in a statement of work before anything starts. Monthly engagements, month to month after the first month. A part-time delivery lead, or embedded in your project team.

  1. Step 1
    A 30-minute call

    Tell me where the project is stuck. I will tell you whether I am the right fit.

  2. Step 2
    Statement of work

    The outcome, the first 30 days and the fee, before anything starts.

  3. Step 3
    Find the constraint

    A gap assessment, then a plan with named owners and a weekly rhythm.

  4. Step 4
    Fix it with your team

    Month to month, until your own team runs it.

Not ready for a monthly engagement?

Start with a gap assessment

A fixed-scope look at where you stand on people, processes, data and governance, with a written plan you can use with or without me.

  • 30 to 90 days
  • Fixed fee, agreed up front
  • You keep the plan
Ask about the gap assessment
Resources

How critical minerals move, and how to trace them

Mine-to-customer explainers for individual commodities, and practical guides for traceability rollouts and selling into mining. Every figure shows its source and the date I last checked it.

Interactive explainer
  1. Mine
  2. Concentrator
  3. Converter
  4. Shipping
  5. Steel mill
  6. Fabricator
  7. End customers

Niobium supply chain, mine to end customer

Seven stages from pyrochlore ore in Brazil to high-strength steel parts, with niobium content and the record that moves at each handover.

Open the explainer
Guide · PDF by email

Pilot to scale-up

Why traceability rollouts stall after the pilot, the data blueprint, the first 90 days and a go-live checklist.

I do not sell your data. Privacy

Guide · PDF by email

The founder's pipeline playbook

Selling software into mining, metals and battery supply chains: finding the real buyer and pilots that convert.

Get the guide
One-pager · Image

Traceability rollout in one page

Sixteen steps from naming the scale-up budget holder to showing momentum in the first 90 days, on a single page.

See the one-pager
Also

Sales and BD for technology companies selling into resources

For software companies selling into mining, metals and battery supply chains. I sit in the seat: building pipeline, multi-threading the account and closing.

Background: Sales Director at a traceability software company, selling into mining, metals and battery supply chains.

See sales and BD
Typical problems I fix
  • The founder is still in every deal.
  • A single-threaded pipeline: one contact per account, and no line to the business owner who owns the problem.
  • Long pilots that do not convert into a contract.
  1. 1
    ReviewThe pipeline, the accounts and who you are really talking to.
  2. 2
    FixI work the deals with you: multi-thread the accounts and set pilots up to convert.
  3. 3
    Hand overA pipeline and a playbook your team runs without the founder.
Also

Workflow automation for small and mid-sized firms

For accounting firms, insurance brokers and other service businesses. I map the process and the data first, automate with the systems you already pay for, then add AI only where it pays.

Background: process and operating-model review roles in large professional-services firms.

See workflow automation
Typical problems I fix
  • Month-end and management reports built in spreadsheets.
  • Client onboarding run by email, and each new client set up by hand in each system.
  • Data re-keyed between systems, and renewals chased manually.
  1. 1
    ReviewThe process mapped as it really runs, and the data each step needs.
  2. 2
    FixI automate it with the systems you already have, and AI where it pays.
  3. 3
    Hand overDocumented, tested and owned by your team.
About

Shehan Mathew

Traceability implementation lead, sourcing at BHP, Linklaters and EY. Executive MBA, AGSM (UNSW).

I run MN Consulting, and you work with me directly. I work with clients worldwide, remotely and on site.

Shehan Mathew on LinkedIn

Questions buyers ask

How is it priced?

A monthly engagement, scoped to your project: a part-time lead, or embedded in your project team. After an initial conversation I send a proposal, and the outcome, the first 30 days and the fee are agreed in a statement of work before anything starts. After the first month it runs month to month.

Is this a strategy engagement?

No. I do the work with your team until it is live. You get a working result, not a recommendations deck. If you are not ready for a monthly engagement, start with the gap assessment.

Why do projects stall after the pilot?

Usually because sites are not bought in, suppliers are brought in too late, and there is no senior sponsor driving the outcome. Often the person who asked for the pilot is not the one who holds the budget for the scale-up, and no one has the scale-up on their KPIs.

What does the first month cover?

A gap assessment of people, processes, data and governance, then a plan with named owners and a weekly rhythm, agreed with your team.

Where do you work?

With clients worldwide, remotely and on site.

Tell me where the project is stuck.

Thirty minutes, no pitch deck. I will tell you whether I am the right fit and how I would run it, and send a proposal if it makes sense.

Book a 30-minute call
Email
info@mnconsulting.io