we're losing money. Having a good relationship with our dealer is very important, and we've developed a good one with RMS and KPI.
"Plus, we have a history with KPI," he added. "We bought a facility in Apple Valley that had just erected a Kolberg-Pioneer plant, and it was very, very productive and trouble-free. We also put up a wash plant at our St. Croix location, which had a very short timeline for completion. KPI was able to deliver the engineering and the product to meet our deadline. And everything fit the way it was supposed to, which means a lot when you're putting a plant together in the dead of winter on a tight budget."
A combined effort
Putting the Elk River plant together took a combined effort of several individuals,
(L-R) Loader Operator Kevin Narr, Crushing Plant Operator Tom Kanyetzny, Foreman Ron Mausolf and Washplant Operator Scott Halverson (not pictured) were instrumental in building the Aggregate Industries Elk River plant.
(L-R) RMS COO David Johnson is with Aggregate Industries Area Manager Dan Quie, Elk River Plant Manager Bob Kachinske and RMS Aggregate Sales Specialist Brad Sykora.
including Kachinske and other Aggregate Industries employees, a hired crane company, as well as a Kolberg-Pioneer technician. In less than four months, the plant was operational.
"We had budgeted for the plant to be running by April 15, 2006, but we were running material through about a week ahead of that," recalled Kachinske. "I'm proud of everyone's efforts in getting the plant up and running. It's been humming along well."
That's in large part due to Aggregate Industries' aggressive preventive maintenance philosophy. Crews shut down the plant at 10 p.m. each night for two hours of maintenance.
"Our guys go through everything and ensure it's in proper working order," explained Quie. "They're greasing, checking bearings and screens, looking for any potential trouble spots. If they see an issue, they address it before it becomes a major problem. Our proactive approach led to a 93 percent plant availability in its first year. That is phenomenal in this industry."
Production at Elk River runs from early April to about the first of December. Aggregate Industries has already seen a boost in production numbers since the plant started operations nearly a year ago. Kachinske noted the company targeted production of 600 tons per hour at the wash plant.
"Early on, we're seeing an increase of about 34 percent with a decrease in labor costs," reported Quie. "Maintenance costs should go down as well because we won't have to spend so much time during the winter overhauling old, tired equipment. We expect to see a significant savings on our winter repairs."
Aggregate Industries kept the future in mind when it chose the Kolberg-Pioneer equipment. Quie said the company bought the equipment with the intention that it would last beyond the years of reserves within Elk River.
"The plant is going to live past the life of this deposit," he noted. "That's 12 to 15 years down the road. I expect that equipment will be in good enough shape to move it to another site."