How Cemex’s new loadout technology is transforming FEC Quarry

By |  October 21, 2019
FEC Quarry in Miami is the third-largest producer of crushed stone in the United States, according to the latest United States Geological Survey rankings. Photo by Zach Mentz

FEC Quarry in Miami is the third-largest producer of crushed stone in the United States, according to the latest United States Geological Survey rankings. Photo: P&Q Staff

The modern quarry is interconnected through both equipment and technology, each designed and applied with componentry linked to and from one another.

While it’s certainly true that each quarry is unique, it’s also true that each operation strives for the same end goals of efficiency, safety and customer satisfaction.

Achieving all three of these goals undoubtedly takes meticulous planning and skillful expertise, and utilizing modern technologies can aid in these efforts.

Welcome to Cemex’s FEC Quarry in Miami, where one of the nation’s largest aggregate producers is leading the technological revolution the industry is currently undergoing.

Advantages of automation

Established in 1974, FEC Quarry is the third-largest producer of crushed stone in the United States, according to the latest United States Geological Survey rankings.

With production volumes in the neighborhood of 8 million tpy, maximizing efficiency is of utmost importance. That’s where Cemex Go Quarry Link, the company’s innovative program, enters the fold and differentiates FEC Quarry from any other.

The end goal, in theory, is simple.

Cemex’s FEC Quarry produces about 8 million tpy of crushed stone. Photo by Zach Mentz

Cemex’s FEC Quarry produces about 8 million tpy of crushed stone. Photo: P&Q Staff

“[We want to] load you accurately the first time and get you in and out as quickly as possible,” says Graham Hardwick, vice president of aggregate, west region, at Cemex.

In a nutshell, Cemex Go Quarry Link is a digitally-integrated process that allows customers to visualize product availability, pick it up on site and exit FEC Quarry in an efficient, streamlined process.

Using a Cemex-specific tag affixed on the windshield of the truck – similar to an E-ZPass – the entire process is initiated upon scaling in and the order is automatically prepared.

“Immediately when that truck leaves from the scale, once we validate that order, there is a green light is not just for the driver, but it also sends information to the system,” says Devon Coppock, loadout manager at FEC Quarry, who is responsible for ensuring order accuracy, coordinating production plans and managing inventory levels. “The system [truck] ID, the product he’s getting and his target for the load. That [automated signal] will blend up his load and [display] his truck number so he knows when and where to load.”

Once an order is mixed and prepared in the silos, the material is screened, sized out and conveyed to the loading station. The truck driver pulls up, tugs a string to initiate the loading process, and the truck is filled without the driver ever having to set foot on the ground.

“In order to help out the loader operator, we’ve got tablets in the loaders themselves,” Coppock says. “It shows the truck, the product, how long the customer has been here and their target weight. They all have bucket scales on their loaders, and they can use those bucket scales to hit that target exactly so we prevent overweight or underweight and no truck drivers need to get off and level their loads. It saves a lot of time.”

In fact, the process is so simplified that the truck driver can get in and out of FEC Quarry without having a single face-to-face conversation with a Cemex employee. This not only speeds up the process, but also improves efficiency and safety.

“If everything works the way it’s supposed to, we don’t even need to interact with that driver on site,” Coppock says. “It’s completely autonomous.”

Improving the process

According to Devon Coppock, FEC Quarry can blend “almost an infinite number of products.” Photo by Zach Mentz

According to Devon Coppock, FEC Quarry can blend “almost an infinite number of products.” Photo: P&Q Staff

With an average of roughly 200 trucks per day entering and exiting FEC Quarry, Cemex continuously strives to improve the customer loadout process.

“We’re looking at ways to speed this process up,” Coppock says. “There are times when we get a bunch of trucks in at one time and we want to move those trucks out faster, so our next steps are how do we speed the process up just a little bit more.”

According to Coppock, the average in-and-out time per truck currently sits around 11 minutes, but Cemex still aims to shed seconds – if not minutes – off that time.

“Our goal is 10 [minutes],” Coppock says. “We have many trucks that actually come in under six minutes on any given day, but when you average out busy times and slow times, we’re averaging right around 11 or 12 [minutes].”

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