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COMPANY PROFILE "One of the areas of concentration, as this pit got deeper, was how we were going to economically and safely extract the material." A Luck Stone associate, John Thompson, had spent significant time working in underground mines, as well as with remote control equipment. During these discussions, he posed the question: "What if nobody was in the loader?" That simple question sparked a conversation that spanned about eight months and resulted in an RC loader that can operate similarly to any manned loader in the company's pit environment. "We have an innovation process where we take things from opportunities to pilot and, ultimately, implement them into production," says Chewning. "The most important thing for us, in this project, is to maintain our focus on safety, but ultimately be able to get to more reserves." The loader was developed with Val Caron, Ontario-based Anchises Equipment Canada, Inc. "Whether it was fabricating brackets or figuring out where to run hydraulic lines, these guys really just collaborated in a way with our operations team that was amazingly cool," he says. "When people come look at this loader, from a technical standpoint, they see it looks like a very professional install." In the field, an operator can use the wheel loader in a traditional manner, then exit the cab and turn on the remote control system whenever it is needed. "I don't know that you'd want to use it (RC) for everyday production," Chewning says, "but in terms of allowing us to access areas that we historically would not have been able to access, it's done it." Beyond high scores on the cool factor, the technology is also expected to allow the company to mine an additional bench into the pit. "A typical quarry has about 50 million tons of reserves," Chewning adds. "We think it's reasonable to believe we can pick up 1 to 2 million tons of additional reserves employing this technology." While tapping additional reserves is certainly a positive outcome, he says that the most exciting part of the project was the way everyone engaged in its development. "There was certainly the headwind of 'you can't do it,' but I think our culture here has grown to a point that … we were self-aware enough to make a conscious choice to say, 'Wait a minute. Maybe that shouldn't get in the way. Let's keep the conversation moving forward.'" "We're really proud of having a remote-control loader, but what's more meaningful to us is having the culture and the ability to change the question," Grauer adds. "The question got changed from 'that's going to be hard to do' to 'well, what if nobody was in the loader?' In that change of question, the whole environment of possibilities changes, and we are where we are today." As it continues to evolve its operational and business practices, Luck Stone's new logo is built around innovation and customer inspiration. Customer communication Another area of innovation includes how Luck Stone interacts with its customers. As the company developed its strategic plan, Vision 2015, it prepared by conducting a number of surveys, including surveys of its customers. "Our customers told us that dependability was one of the most important things to them," Grauer says. "As a basic material provider, we have worked considerably on the whole idea of load planning, dispatch, and transportation." For example, he says customers want to know truck and material locations, track the status of orders and purchases, and be able to order material from remote sites. To address these priorities, Luck Stone developed and deployed two technologies: LOGIQ, a web-based product that allows its scale offices, customers, and transportation partners to remain connected, and the Luck Stone mobile app, which gives customers a 24/7 way to stay connected and understand the material flow. The company piloted LOGIQ with one trucker until it had created enough value to share with pretty much all of its contract haulers. At that point, the company provided approximately 250 haulers with iPads that were preloaded with LOGIQ. "It's a proprietary Luck Stone product," Grauer says. "It's not something we bought from someone else. We built it to serve our needs and the needs of our customers." Based on the value that has been found with this application, one Luck Stone customer is already using LOGIQ, and Grauer says the company plans to grow that offering throughout the next business year. The second new offering from Luck Stone, The Luck Stone AGGREGATES MANAGER November 2013 CompanySpotlight_AGRM1113.indd 23 23 10/21/13 9:03 AM