What Managing Rio Tinto's Biggest Port Taught Me About Business Operations

Read time: 3 min read

What does operational chaos actually look like across industries?

At Cape Lambert, Rio Tinto's massive iron ore export terminal, we moved 150 million tonnes annually through systems that had to work perfectly every single time. A single breakdown could cost millions per hour. Years later in Margaret River's hospitality scene, I watched talented owners drowning in the same chaos—just at different scales.

The patterns are universal. A port facility tracking 200 ship movements and a retreat managing 20 guest bookings face identical problems: information living in people's heads instead of systems, manual handoffs creating bottlenecks, and teams working harder because "that's how we've always done it."

Why do small businesses struggle with the same problems as heavy industry?

At Rio Tinto, we didn't accept operational guesswork. Every process had a checklist, every handoff had a protocol, and data flowed automatically between systems so decisions were made on facts, not gut feel.

In tourism operations, I watched owners double-entering bookings, chasing payment confirmations, and manually updating availability across three platforms at 11pm. That's the equivalent of checking cargo manifests by hand when you've got system integration solutions sitting there unused.

How do I apply industrial systems thinking to my business?

The fix isn't complicated. Map what's actually happening, identify where time bleeds out, build systems that remove the manual rubbish, then measure whether it's working.

I've helped over 40 tourism operators apply this methodology through the WAVE Framework™—systematically auditing workflows, building customer support automation solutions, and validating results. One Margaret River winery saved 15 hours weekly just by connecting their booking system properly.

The lesson from Cape Lambert? Your business might be small, but your operations deserve the same respect Rio Tinto gives theirs. Systems aren't just for big corporates—they're how you stop working weekends.