When you think of IT in a business, your first thought is probably computers, the internet and coding. But it is so much more diverse than that. At Port Waratah Coal Services, IT is making a huge difference in the waste and material management space.

Rebecca Harmes is a 26-year-old IT Graduate at Port Waratah Coal Services who recently won the NSW Minerals Council’s ‘The Pitch’ with her presentation of a ‘Spare Material Tracking App’ project.

Rebecca grew up in the heart of the coalfields in Kurri Kurri where mining played a role in her life growing up and as she headed to the University of Newcastle to decide what career path she wanted to pursue.

She went from studying science in high school, to undertaking a degree in Computer Science where she found her passion, and eventually a full-time job.

“About two years into my degree my husband showed me a traineeship that was on offer at Port Waratah. I decided to go for it and became an IT Trainee working four days a week and spending one day at uni.

“When I finished my degree, Port Waratah had been looking to add a graduate position and I was in the right place at the right time, applied for the position and got it! So, I have been here as a graduate since the end of 2022.”

The Spare Material Tracking App initially started as part of Rebecca’s final university project.

“I had to do a 12-month project somewhere within a local industry. I approached my supervisor and asked if I could do something at Port Waratah since I was already there.

“We went through a few ideas that team members in other departments had raised and one from Terry Campbell in our procurement team stood out.

“At the end of work orders there were often materials left over and there was no way to keep track of it or put it back in the system. You only knew where the spare materials were if it was you who stored them somewhere on site.

“Terry saw value in those materials and asked IT to investigate a solution to enter the materials into a computer system that we could use to track it all.”

Maintenance services team members carry an iPad with them on site so Rebecca thought it would be ideal to come up with something they could put on the devices to help everyone communicate.

They looked at existing applications, adding options into systems they already used, but nothing quite fit what they needed.

So, they came up with their own application. A prototype has been tested out on site and so far, it has been hugely successful.

“Terry loves it. He went through our wharf area and cleaned up the space adding materials into the app that could be used in the future and others that needed to be appropriately scrapped. He put forward a compelling business case to show how effective it would be,” said Rebecca.

Thanks to that successful test, the application is now in development.

“We have an external contractor who has built the skeleton structure of the code, and I have it now so I can go in and add all the customisations we need.

“It’s a very basic application in terms of what it does, it maps items with a location and information so it can be easily catalogued and found. We also place a corresponding identification sticker on the stock that can be searched, if needed.

“It’s a relatable problem, all workplaces have their little squirrel stores so it could be used by anyone in any business.”

Rebecca hopes the app will be finished and rolled out across the Port Waratah site by the end of the year.

The idea of solving a common business problem is what helped Rebecca win the NSW Minerals Council’s ‘The Pitch’ at the annual Health, Safety, Environment and Community Conference in August.

The Pitch offers young professionals an opportunity to present their work to a panel of experts and industry mentors showcasing how they contribute to a responsible mining industry.

Rebecca and a group of fellow graduate students from businesses operating around the Port of Newcastle had been catching up and visiting each other’s sites when they came across The Pitch and were all strongly encouraged to apply.

Rebecca was selected from hundreds of entries to pitch her idea for a more responsible mining industry in front of an expert panel and a large audience.

“Scott Keenan and the NSW Minerals Council team who were helping us were incredible. They were so supportive and encouraging. We did practice runs, and they pushed us in a direction so we would all succeed.

“I practiced my speech so much; I think my poor husband had to listen to it a hundred times! But it was worth it.”

Rebecca said one of the greatest things she took away from The Pitch was the overall opinion that many in the industry believed there were a lot of very passionate young people excited to keep the mining industry alive.

“The one thing I kept hearing after our pitches was people saying they were so excited to see young people passionate about the industry, who were striving for change, striving to be better and bringing in their own ideas.

“There are a lot of incredible young people in this industry, not just who I met through this process but what I see online, there is so much potential and so many great ideas.”