Coal Mining: Streamlining Contractor Onboarding Through a Secure Digital Experience

  • Manual onboarding replaced with self-service digital portal
  • Contractor access and approvals automated end-to-end
  • Single secure contractor engagement platform established
TopicContractor Portal / Partner Portal
IndustryMining
LocationQueensland

Client Overview

Our client in Coal Resources operates one of Australia’s largest underground metallurgical coal mines, in the heart of Queensland’s Bowen Basin. As contractor engagement continued to grow, one of the business’s greatest operational strengths also became one of its biggest administrative challenges: giving contractors fast, secure access to the information and systems they needed to get to work.

As the site’s contractor footprint expanded, creating a smarter, more consistent way to manage that engagement became critical to supporting safety, governance and efficient operations.

Business Challenge

Like many resource operations managing a growing contractor workforce, our coal mining client had outgrown its manual onboarding processes. Contractor information, access requests and approvals were scattered across emails and disconnected systems, making it hard to maintain consistency or control. As a result, the business often experienced:

  • Time-consuming, manual onboarding for every new contractor
  • Disconnected information spread across systems and inboxes
  • Email-based approvals with limited visibility or audit trail
  • Inconsistent experiences for contractors accessing the site

To support safe, compliant and efficient operations, our client needed we were briefed to create a centralised, secure way to manage contractor engagement end-to-end.

The Brief

Our coal mining client wanted a secure Contractor Portal to become the front door for every contractor engagement – centralising onboarding, access requests and approvals in one place. Successful delivery would mean faster onboarding, stronger governance and a more consistent, professional experience for every contractor working on site.

The Solution

PlanB delivered a Microsoft Power Platform solution using Power Pages, Power Apps and Power Automate to create a secure, self-service Contractor Portal with automated workflows.

The approach focused on more than digitising a form; it was about giving a single, trusted front door for contractor engagement, backed by consistent governance and automation at every step.

  1. 01 CentraliseContractor engagement centralised into one secure portal
  2. 02 DigitiseManual, email-based processes replaced with digital workflows
  3. 03 BuildSelf-service Contractor Portal built on Power Platform
  4. 04 AutomateAccess and approval workflows automated end-to-end
  5. 05 GovernConsistent governance and visibility over access established

Key Capabilities

  • Self-service Contractor Portal that puts contractors in control of their own onboarding
  • Automated approval workflows that remove manual bottlenecks and delays
  • Centralised, secure access to contractor information and systems
  • Consistent, auditable governance over who can access what, and when
  • Custom Power Apps tools built around how the teams actually work
  • A scalable foundation ready to grow with the contractor workforce

Business Outcomes

The result was a faster, more consistent and better-governed approach to contractor engagement.

  • Faster contractor onboarding
  • Reduced administration
  • Improved governance
  • Better contractor experience
  • Scalable platform for future growth

Key Takeaway

The best contractor experiences are built on simplicity, automation and secure access.

By replacing fragmented manual processes with a single digital platform, we improved efficiency while creating a scalable foundation for future growth.

Simplicity is the foundation. Automation is the accelerator.

Client Testimonial

“The Contractor Portal has fundamentally improved the way we engage with our contractors. What was once a fragmented, manual process is now a streamlined digital experience that has reduced administration, strengthened governance and made it significantly easier for contractors to access the information and systems they need.”
Underground Coal Resources Head of IT