Quarry Mining: dedicated to becoming the best in the market

Quarry Mining: dedicated to becoming the best in the market

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Moritz Kerler, CEO and Christian Drewes, Technical Director and Deputy General Manager discusses the huge impact technology has made on the industry

Quarry Mining LLC design, manufacture and install industrial mineral processing plants, bulk handling systems and environmental technologies in any plant configuration. The company aims to provide the best value for money to its clients and is a reliable partner for suppliers.

Supporting industries in the MENA region, Quarry Mining has developed different, successful systems for bulk material handling, designed and built mineral processing plants for its market and has introduced dedusting filter systems for various applications. 

CEO of Quarry Mining, Moritz Kerler, explained how he founded the company 19 years ago in the United Arab Emirates where the company now carries out its operation.

Kerler emphasised his drive to support the quarry and mining industries, saying: “We want to become the best in our field, so now we are focusing on the growth of the company.”

As with many companies across the globe, Quarry Mining had to adapt to the restrictions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The company’s Technical Director, Christian Drewes explained how the company has changed over the past year, he said: “We have moved from being on-site and now, more or less, everything is digital.” 

However, he did add that these changes don’t come without their downfalls: “Although you can get far more information within a far shorter time, it can feel far more impersonal because you don't have close contacts to your clients or to other people on-site in the projects. It's good in some ways but it's also bad in others. Ultimately, digital technology is helping a lot to make things easier and improves the ability to gain information faster and more efficiently.”

To support workers as they adapted to this new way of working, Drewes explained that Quarry Mining utilized a lot of different technologies to facilitate remote working, he said: “To keep people remote where we could, we provided a VPN connection and access to all files from people’s homes. This is when we realized that working remotely was possible and the business still operated effectively.”

“Now, we have all of our information stored in the cloud and we also use Office 365 so we can share things via Teams. We have had to learn a lot about how to communicate efficiently to adapt to this new environment,” he continued.

Determined not to slow down business operations throughout the pandemic, Quarry Mining learnt they were able to do tasks, such as complete commissioning, online. Drewes said: “Although it is a new way to work and handle things, we have adapted well. Our business operations have changed, but the result of our product has remained high quality.”

Utilising the latest technology to promote zero-harm

Not only has technology been a huge support for Quarry Mining as it adapted to remote working, but it has also helped the company with its zero-harm ambition.

Workplace injuries occur in manufacturing industries at a significantly higher rate than in other industries. A zero-harm workplace would mean employees, contractors and visitors would not need to calculate the safety of their own movements as the worksite is designed to guarantee safety.

As a key player in the quarry and mining industry, Quarry Mining operates a lot of different machinery which has the potential to cause injury. Drewes explained how technology has helped them begin to create a zero-harm workplace: “As an example we use the newest technology within our welding helmets to automatic darkening the glass the moment the spark will occur. This helps us reduce risk as in the past we have had a lot of injuries and hospital visits. We always make sure we protect people in our factories.”

The company is also realizing the benefits of automation to the general running of its business operations, but also as a support for its zero-harm and safety initiative.

As a driver for greater efficiency, Drewes explained where the company is implementing this technology to improve: “We are using the latest technology such as welding tractors, welding robots and automated machines in the factory to make things more automated. This takes the people away from dangerous situations to reduce the amount of harm on site.”

Adding to this, Quarry Mining has decided to digitalize its training process, including safety regulations, so all employees have the opportunity to remind themselves of safety processes if needed.

“We provide supporting videos with our training sessions to show people how to do certain things and how to manage different situations as well as safety instructions. We can use these for new employees to make sure they are up to speed,” said Drewes.

Promoting sustainability in both production and manufacturing

With its ambition to become the best in its field, Kerler explained his plans to develop a climate-conscious company: “Especially after what the pandemic has shown us, we are now dedicated to looking at the sustainability side of our business.”

Although the company looks to many of its strategic partners, including FLSmidth, ThyssenKrupp, Kleemann and Stiebel, Kerler stressed the importance that these companies' sustainable targets and goals align with Quarry Mining.

He said: “It is really important to us that the people we work with are also climate-conscious. We only have one planet, and we believe it is everyone’s job to protect it. We like to deal with other companies that have sustainable goals aligned with our own. This brings more joy when working with them because they have the same philosophy as us.”

Echoing this, Drewes emphasized the importance of sustainable operations to the company: “We would rather lose business than work on a project where we know they are using polluting machinery or materials because that is not what we stand for. We want sustainable products which take everything into account throughout the value chain.”

As the world fights against climate change, it is particularly important industries in the mining and quarry industries take responsibility for the impact their operations have on the environment. Not only can mining pollute air and drinking water and harm wildlife and habitat, but it can also permanently scar natural landscapes.

Understanding the importance of incorporating sustainability into its operations, Quarry Mining has realized the potential of digital technology, but this time as a support to its sustainability ambitions.

“We are using the latest 3D technologies for all our engineering and designs,” explained Drewes.

“The introduction of this technology means we are now using less raw material and using all resources efficiently. We are using automated program to calculate how the raw material can be used in the most efficient way. Now, we have nearly zero cutoffs from the material we use, which also saves us money. The less waste you get from a material, the more efficiently you use it,” he added.

Quarry Mining is also looking at ways to tackle sustainability in the production side of the company as well as the manufacturing. 

To reduce energy consumption the company Quarry Mining has installed energy-saving meters to track its energy consumption and aim to reduce energy use where it can. Drewes added: “The aim is to make different processes more efficient by using less energy.”

Responding to the changing needs of the quarry and mining industries 

Undoubtedly the quarry and mining industries have massively changed over the years and as with many industries, technology has played a massive role in driving this change. Having worked in the industry for a long time, Kerler explained that in the last decade he has stepped up his company to meet the industries’ growing demands.

He said: “Things have definitely changed over the last decade in the quarry and mining industry. Operations have become increasingly bigger and as a result, smaller companies closed, and businesses concentrated on larger projects.” 

“We designed the biggest crushing and screening plant for limestone. This plant is operating at a much lower cost per ton than it ever would have been able to achieve in the past. There are also many new products around that we can use to support our operations. I have seen a big change in the way the industry operates throughout my career,” added Kerler.

Expanding on this, Drewes highlighted what catalyzed this change, he commented: “Operations are only increasing in size. The bigger you can get, with lower operational costs, the better your company will be. It’s only the development of new technologies that have made it possible for operations to grow.” 

“To have large operations, you need new, larger machines and complex control systems; this is not possible without the development of technology. Things like the introduction of cloud connection, integrated systems and improved electronic offerings mean we can operate differently than ever before. It is technology that has brought us up to this level of efficiency,” Drewes continued.

With rapid advancements in technological innovation, including automation, digitization, and electrification, it comes as no surprise that both Kerler and Drewes are seeing fundamental changes within their industries. 

Adapting Quarry Mining to be fit for the future

In order to respond to these changes, Quarry Mining is keen to adapt and grow to meet the demands of the market, and as Kerler previously explained, become the best in the market.

Drewes outlined Quarry Mining’s path to becoming the best in its field: “To do so, we want to have a product that is of very high quality. We also know the importance of technology to get there. We want to utilize this technology to become even more efficient.”

Adding to this, Drewes said: “Everything is becoming digital. If you look at the mining industry, very few mines and quarries have the old setup without some technology. If you don’t continuously replace and upgrade plants without the state-of-the-art technology, you will miss out on opportunities. 

“We have a lot of plants where we want to upgrade the technology, so they are fit for purpose. We want to upgrade the electrical systems and make the data from the plants available on the cloud. This will allow the clients to gain more information from the plants and digitalization will help us make older plants more efficient in the future,” he concluded.

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