.png)
Standardizing Your Data: The First Step Toward Smarter Drilling
Date
9/21/25

By Tom Thompson, Global Customer Success Manager, Krux Analytics
In mining, data is everywhere — but consistency is rare.
Geologists receive drilling data in spreadsheets, WhatsApp messages, PDFs, and even handwritten notes. Supervisors interpret contract terms differently. Finance teams chase down missing reports. And project managers spend hours reconciling numbers that should have matched in the first place.
This isn’t just frustrating, it’s expensive.
A lack of standardization leads to billing errors, reconciliation delays, and misaligned teams. It creates confusion at every level of the operation — from the drill pad to the boardroom. And it forces skilled teams to spend their time fixing problems that shouldn’t exist.
At Krux, we believe standardization is the foundation of operational excellence and the first step toward smarter drilling.
Why Standardization Matters
When data isn’t standardized, it’s nearly impossible to compare performance across contractors or projects. You’re left trying to make apples-to-apples comparisons with oranges, bananas, and the occasional pineapple.
When data isn’t standardized, it makes it difficult to know what was truly going on during a shift. The result? Tons of time-wasting manual data interpretation and entry, rather than geology.
That’s not just a productivity issue, it’s a profitability issue.
Drilling contractors often wait weeks — even months — to get paid, simply because their data doesn’t match the format expected by the resource owner. Meanwhile, mining companies struggle to reconcile reports,validate invoices, and make confident decisions.
How Krux Solves It
Krux makes standardization easy, intuitive, and scalable.
Activity naming can be configured by drilling contractors, ensuring consistency across contracts and clients. Workers see only the relevant options for their shift, reducing entry time, minimizing errors, and improving report accuracy.
Once data is submitted, Krux provides automatic validation checks — flagging gaps, overlaps, and mismatched hours before they become problems. Approvers get a clear snapshot of potential issues, and can navigate through Daily Shift Reports (DSRs) with powerful filters and quick links.
Dashboards track report submissions in real time, giving both mining and drilling teams a bird’s-eye view of what’s been submitted, approved, or still outstanding. No more digging through emails or chasing down missing paperwork.
And because everything is in the same format and the same place, users can instantly see what’s happening on a specific rig or hole — at any time.
The Impact in the Field
Rodren Drilling was facing significant challenges with manual data entry and inconsistent contract interpretation. After adopting Krux, they saw reconciliation times drop from three months to just a few weeks. Email traffic plummeted. Billing improved. And even team members with limited digital skills quickly adapted to the platform.
“Krux has significantly streamlined our operations,” said Kevin Norberg, President of Rodren Drilling. “It’s made it easier to document work accurately and efficiently, ensuring we get compensated for the excellent work we do.”
That’s the power of standardization. It doesn’t just cleanup your data — it clears the path for better decisions, faster payments, and stronger collaboration.
Why It Matters Now
Mining is becoming more complex, more data-driven, and more interconnected. The companies that succeed will be those that can align their teams, systems, and insights around a single source of truth.
Standardization isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s a must-have.
And it’s the first step toward unlocking the full value of your drilling data.
Want to learn more?
Download the full Krux Analytics Guidebook to Optimize Your Drilling and discover how standardization can transform your operations.