Business Is Booming
The trend in UK quarrying to outsource drilling and blasting to external suppliers is undoubtedly an opportunity for specialist contractors, but one which comes with a need to adopt both modern equipment and corporate thinking
There is a management theory that encourages salesmen to adopt the same mannerisms as their potential clients when selling to them. The thinking is that people like to buy from people like themselves. While this theory is doubtful on an individual level, it appears to be true when it comes to companies – big companies do like to work with other big companies. This is because the cultures are often similar, the management systems are the same and the volumes involved are often much larger than the smaller players can cope with.
The UK quarrying industry has undergone a fundamental change over the last 15 years. Continued consolidation has led to a large proportion of the country’s quarries being held by a handful of multinational cement or aggregates producers. With a focus on their core competencies, these owners are increasingly outsourcing non-core roles to specialists. Drilling and blasting is just such a role – and one that has forced contractors to not only get big fast, but get professional too.
‘In the past the standard of equipment and service could be hit and miss – and very localized,’ says Ben Williams, general manager of Blasting Services, one of the largest drilling and blasting contractors in the UK quarrying sector. ‘Now clients demand the latest machines from the leading suppliers, well maintained and operated by smart, highly trained and safety conscious operators, with regional coverage. There has been a sea change in our sector.’
The reaction times involved are now very short; an unexpected order may mean contractors are needed on site quickly to provide shot rock on the ground. Such ‘just in time’ working is unforgiving of mechanical breakdowns, and the average age of drill rigs has fallen accordingly. ‘In 2001 the average age in our fleet was six years,’ says Mr Williams. ‘Now it’s three. Total cost of ownership starts to rise after that, and despite full repair and maintenance agreements with our supplier, Sandvik, we would rather replace rigs than risk a reduction in machine availability.’
Although also involved in explosives supply, consultancy, training and environmental analysis, the efficiency of the drill rigs is the key factor affecting Blasting Services’ profitability. As customers are only charged for the amount of rock that is put ‘on the ground’, any machine downtime directly impacts top-line sales. In 2005, Blasting Services put 22 million tonnes on the ground at 70 sites around the UK, helping the company towards a turnover in excess of £5 million and making it one of the largest players in the sector. A large proportion of this has been put back into the business in acquiring new rigs.
In the last two years Sandvik have supplied Blasting Services with a Ranger 800 and four Titon 500 diesel-powered, self-contained, crawler-mounted down-the-hole (DTH) drilling rigs. The Titon rigs are matched with Sandvik’s Drilltech Mission range of Mirror Impact DTH hammers and drill bits. ‘We expect to get 1,000m a week out of these rigs to justify our investment,’ says Mr Williams.
The Titon 500 is built at Sandvik’s Austrian facility and is designed for drilling 105–152mm diameter holes to depths of up to 35m when equipped with 76mm or 89mm diameter drill pipes. Power is provided by 24 bar air pressure supplied at 22m3/min, while the operator is insulated from the action in a FOPS/ROPS air-conditioned cab. The ‘mirror impact’ element of the Mission hammers refers to the way that the drill bit is shaped to mirror the hammer piston, thereby optimizing the energy transfer from the piston to the rock and resulting in faster progress.
It is not just the speed of the rigs that makes life easier for contractors; there are a number of other issues that help to increase safety, productivity and, therefore, profitability. Among these is the integrated dry dust collector, which offers both environmental and operator safety advantages. In addition, the powerful Caterpillar C11 engine helps provide the energy to deliver compressed air volumes sufficient to operate 4–5in DTH hammers at high pressure. The Titon’s 5m long drill pipes have the combined benefit of both improved productivity and added rig stability when drilling.
‘Because our rigs are continually being moved from one customer’s site to another, the Titon’s compact design makes transporting them a straightforward exercise,’ says
Mr Williams. ‘The heavy-duty frame and excavator tracks mean that they can cope with poor access, and their relatively high-speed tramming mode (4km/h) helps get the rigs quickly to the work area.’
Safety in numbers
Specialist drilling and blasting is increasingly being taken over by larger operators and leaving behind the smaller family owned companies. Ben Williams’ Blasting Services evolved from such humble beginnings. He recognized the change that was coming in the industry and negotiated the company’s own acquisition by UK explosives suppliers Exchem. This not only provided the financial backing to go on the acquisition trail, buying up several other family owned contracting firms, it also provided access to the latest thinking in training, environmental and safety care, as well as modern explosives techniques.
Blasting Services now employ over 40 people and have adopted a corporate culture rather than a family owned one. ‘The biggest change we have undergone is in our training regime,’ says Mr Williams. ‘How an operator uses a drilling rig is the primary factor influencing how well it drills, how often it breaks down and how long it lasts. A well trained operator can get the best out of a rig just by using it properly.
All our rig operators have NVQ level 2 qualifications.
‘How we service the rigs is also important; we have a preventative maintenance programme that, in partnership with Sandvik, keeps the rigs at peak condition and helps prevent downtime through component failure.’ Sandvik’s UK sales manager, Mark Haywood, has also noticed the change. ‘Potential problems with the machines are now being spotted early, allowing us to plan preventative work, avoiding component failures, lost working time and waiting for the emergency supply of spare parts. This partnership approach is not revolutionary, but it just didn’t happen in this industry in the past,’ he says.