Once upon a time, determining how much of a given material—aggregate,
recycled
asphalt, sand for concrete products, and more—was needed for a given
project involved a lot of time-consuming manual math. Similarly, keeping track
of regular
maintenance needs for your various crushing, screening, conveyor, and wash equipment meant
careful record-keeping within paper logs that were easily lost or damaged.
Luckily—as with most other areas of modern life—online
resources and downloadable smartphone apps have made many of the inconvenient
tracking and calculating tasks associated with quarrying and aggregate or mineral
processing so much simpler and more accurate.
While it’s true that many apps are proprietary to individual
manufacturers at the moment, the rapid digitization
of the aggregate industry across the board means more generally useful
resources are coming online all the time.
Today’s post shares a few of our favorite currently
available resources that you should definitely check out if you haven’t
already.
Vulcan Materials Co. Free Product Calculator
First announced in Pit & Quarry magazine way back in
late 2012, Vulcan’s construction aggregate calculator has been refined and
made more readily available to more users in the years since. It is both online
at Vulcan’s website and can be downloaded as an Android and iPhone/iPad
app.
This helpful resource allows users to enter material
properties like width, length, and thickness to determine needed quantities for
a particular job. Users can also estimate a material’s density by choosing from
preset geology and product factors.
PSU’s Dirt, Gravel, and Low Volume Road (DGLVR) Materials Calculator
While this calculator has a very specific
purpose—determining how much material may be needed for low volume road
improvement projects within our
home state of Pennsylvania—it also has a “custom material” selection option
that allows users to specify the density and compaction ratio of material not
in the list. This makes the free web-based calculator a bit more generally
useful.
Check it out on Penn State’s Center
for Dirt and Gravel Road Studies’ website.
Schenck Process vibe2know™ App
Released in 2017, this app allows operators to learn vital
information about the performance of any vibrating machine—most commonly screening
equipment—in their circuit.
The app requires a unique mount that users can insert their
phone into, which attaches directly to the machinery. (This mount is free from Schenck Process.) Once
connected, operators can get at-a-glance insight into data points like vibration
amplitude, oscillating angle, and operating speed that help them assess the
overall “health” of their equipment.
The U.S. Mine Safety & Health Administration’s (MSHA) Updated Mine Data
Retrieval System (MDRS)
If you have been in the aggregate mining and processing
industry for any length of time, you’ve discovered how important compliance
with government regulations has become. And navigating the Mine Safety &
Health Administration’s compliance
assistance calculators and other resources has been somewhat challenging
for users.
Fortunately, the MSHA just finished a major overhaul of its
databases and online resources to enhance user experience and make more info
and tools readily available to operators. As Pit & Quarry just reported
in June 2019, the new MDRS is an “exclusive gateway to real-time data, posted
prominently on msha.gov and available at msha.gov/mine-data-retrieval-system.”
Keeping American mine workers healthy and safe is a
government priority, but it’s also an industry imperative, of course. With MSHA
making it easier for everyone to accomplish this goal, we all win.
Ready to Upgrade Your Aggregate Processing Operations with Better
Technology?
Here at Kemper Equipment, we can revolutionize your
operations with the most innovative and technologically advanced material
handling solutions available from brands—such as Etheridge Automation—that include
the latest in automation and controls.
When you’re looking to “level up” your aggregate processing
capabilities—or if you’re getting a new operation set up for the first time—our
team of experts is ready to provide full-service support to help you maximize
your output. Get in touch
with us today to learn more.