Vision, industry savvy and leadership of the brother-sister executive team, President Kris Jeremiah and Chief Executive Officer Katie Jeremiah, have made Aggregate Resource Industries (ARI) the largest drill and blast company in the Pacific Northwest. They’ve earned awards along the way, such as the Medium-Sized Family Business of the Year and Oregon Stater Engineering Award. Before joining the family business, Katie worked in construction management, then construction law, representing mine operators and contractors. She is still involved with law as a special counsel and was appointed to the board of the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries.
Katie designed a user-friendly, intuitive app that ensures standard, easily accessed protocols and documentation between ARI employees – from mechanic to operator and more. ARI was the first to introduce the region to the efficiencies of down-the-hole (DTH) drilling. Now, ARI has become the first company in the nation to incorporate remote drilling capabilities – enhancing not only operational productivity but also safety. Kris Jeremiah says being first to explore innovative technology helps ARI remain ahead of its competition. “At first they tell us that we’re crazy,” he said. “A few years later, seeing our success with it, they are following in our footsteps.”
Aggregate Resource Industries has always embraced cutting-edge technology for its drilling and blasting operations. While getting boots dirty will always be a part of the job description for ARI drill rig operators, company co-managers Kris and Katie Jeremiah firmly believe that technology leads to safer workers, more profitable customers, and a lower environmental impact. The brother-and-sister tandem recently explored an increase in automation technology with remote drilling that would help them pursue their lofty goals for the family business. After putting a semi-autonomous dozer into service, they looked to further expand the technological capabilities of their fleet and chose to partner with Epiroc.
Epiroc offers BenchREMOTE, a unique remote operator station, on SmartROC D65 and SmartROC T45 drill rigs. ARI is successfully using the BenchREMOTE — becoming the first in the US to do so on a surface crawler rig. The company set up the BenchREMOTE in a van for the best mobility on site and across its large service territory. “We’ve chased technology all along the way,” Kris Jeremiah said. “We started with an air-track drill, then we went to hydraulic then electric over hydraulic. Then we went to high pressure down-the-hole drilling, which was great for production but also meant high fuel consumption. Now fuel consumption has become more important to us.” Added Katie Jeremiah, “New technology has allowed us to provide better service to our customers. It’s also allowed us to attract the new wave of workforce that’s coming in.”
The BenchREMOTE can operate up to three rigs from up to 320 ft away. Advantages include increased productivity and efficiency, enhanced safety and an improved operator working environment. “The remote drilling has allowed us to leverage our experienced, qualified operators to be able to run multiple drill rigs at the same time on job sites,” Kris said. “It keeps our operators a safe distance away from high walls and faces while giving additional production to our fleet.”
The Jeremiahs are quick to spot advantages of high-tech solutions, especially those that integrate well with others. Katie prides herself on taking a specific project challenge and finding the right technology solution. Government work, for instance, often demands 3D blasting plans, which ARI now gets through computer-analysed photographic surveys using drones. “I’ve always been accused of being a tech nerd,” Katie said. “Now it’s paying off.” High-tech drilling with the SmartROC D65 starts with Epiroc’s Hole Navigation System (HNS), which makes setup and planning faster and more precise. Operators and surveyors don’t have to work outside in potentially dangerous areas because the site has been pre-planned. A blasting engineer plans the site based on photos and a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The plan is sent right to the SmartROC.
The SmartROC also comes with a Trimble system, a high-accuracy GNSS correction technology. “We are running on CenterPoint RTX from Trimble with very high accuracy,” said Troy Thiel, ARI’s Epiroc contact for sales and a former expert service tech. “This is a great option for machines that move a lot.”
Epiroc’s SmartROC D65 adds rods and extracts them automatically when it reaches depth. The rig adjusts drilling parameters to changes in conditions as formations change gradually or even suddenly, as in an encounter with a void. Reduced deviation is easier on both tooling and the rig. It ensures parallel holes within the pattern for better blasting control. ARI’s blasting crew reported that the Epiroc rigs have changed their results dramatically for the better.
“This is 100% better than anything I’ve run in the past,” operator Jay Lawhon said after spending a few months behind the BenchREMOTE. “I’ve run faster drills, but they used a lot more fuel. The D65 is up for anything that we can do with it, technology-wise.” The SmartROC D65 uses intelligent control of compressor load and engine rpm for fuel savings. Lawhon said transitioning to operating two rigs from a distance wasn’t difficult. “I’ll try anything to make my job more efficient,” he said. “Once you get your timing down, it is easy. While one rig is drilling the hole, I move the second drill to the next spot and get that one started. Then the process starts again.”
The operator confirmed he has nearly doubled feet drilled per day with the two rigs at all the sites he’s taken the rig to. He prefers to run the BenchREMOTE on the same level as the rigs rather than rely solely on cameras and an automated site plan. That way he can see the contour of the land and obstructions like a boulder or other obstacle. Lawhon appreciates the noise reduction when working from the BenchREMOTE in the van with the doors shut. “And I’m out of the elements for longer periods, so that’s a big plus,” he said.
Keeping employees happy was a part of looking toward the latest technology. “Drillers are embracing the technology,” Katie said. “When they learn it, it becomes pushbutton. The drill technology takes an inexperienced driller and makes him proficient in a short period of time. Getting the right operators and training them, then giving them the tools to do their best helps us with employee retention.”
Said Modern Machinery Branch Manager Jason Vaughn, who supports Epiroc products for ARI, “Technology will simplify an operation, and automation is the future of managing a modern fleet.” Added Kris Jeremiah, “An operator is human and has limitations and good and bad days. The automatic drill doesn’t have those same days. Get on the pattern and automation can work all day. It comes back to our bidding and how we can be predictable and therefore profitable.” Looking into the future, Aggregate Resource Industries anticipates a work environment where people with advanced video gaming skills will make ideal drill rig operators. “It’s no longer about being out on site all day,” Katie Jeremiah said. “You come in to work, work behind a screen and still get improved results.”
When drilling and blasting is completed, and even during its process, data tracking is a key part of ARI strategy. Their customers, their equipment managers and even the operators themselves want to see results. Certiq is a telematics solution that comes on some Epiroc rigs. “What’s good about Certiq is it can simplify your analysis. You don’t want to spend more time going over numbers than you actually spend drilling or working on your business,” Thiel said. “Kris and Katie are most concerned about their customers, and they use good information to take care of them.”
Kris said, “With Certiq, if there’s an issue, we can troubleshoot remotely, which is great for the size of territory that we cover.” Certiq allows Thiel and ARI to log in at any time and check on productivity. “It may show settings that are off,” Kris said. “It can reveal a minor maintenance issue if fuel consumption seems off. Or there may be problems with a bit.”
As the rig ages, Certiq will help ARI plan for downtime or maintenance rather than deal with problems as they start. People just can’t keep records as accurately or quickly as a computer system, Kris said. Automation technology has increased his efficiency for billing and for reconciling projects with the plans on any number of data points.
“Automation is important for consistency and smart planning, but we’ll always have a personal touch,” Katie said. “Every evolution in technology has helped us hone in on the standards we want to keep. We want to remove uncertainties and limitations. We want our customers to say we are the best — whether they measure that by meeting their deadline or their cost — and we want our employees to say we are the best.”
While remote drilling has been a focus of attention lately, the Jeremiahs are already thinking of even greater automation — and fully autonomous drilling is not out of the question. It will come in steps. The first step is line-of-sight, multi-rig, BenchREMOTE drilling. The next is off-site teleremote drilling operations from a control station anywhere in the world. For ARI, the current state of the art is a moving target. And they will be happy to sit at the controllers.
