We used to think a "good" maintenance budget was simply an accurate guess. We were wrong. A truly good budget is a defensible position built on standardised logic. Previously, our budgeting process was trapped in a cycle of "professional data wrestling," where variance reviews often devolved into a blame game between Operations, Central Maintenance and Finance. This session explores BHP’s journey to implement a global, standardised budgeting solution. We will share how we transformed Master Data into our "Rosetta Stone," built commercial fluency within our engineering teams, and are shifting the conversation from simply cutting costs to consciously managing business risk.

• Escaping the "Variance Trap": Moving past the functional blame game.
• ​Redefining "Good": Why strategic defensibility matters more than simple accuracy.
• The Standardisation Mandate: Shifting from data wrestling to high-value analysis.
• Data as the Rosetta Stone: Using your system as a gatekeeper for accuracy.
• ​Building Commercial Fluency: Empowering engineers to own the financial narrative.
• ​From Cost to Liability: Earning the right to optimise and quantify risk.