Kespry Drone-Based Aerial Intelligence Helps the Shelly Company

Drone-based aerial intelligence solution provider Kespry announced The Shelly Company is using the company’s platform for inventory management and mine planning. The Shelly Company is a major Ohio limestone, concrete and asphalt paving firm with more than 90 locations and 1,600 employees. It services 81 of 88 counties in the state.

The Shelly Company uses Kespry to measure contours to ensure it creates accurate mine plans. It also leverages Kespry to determine accurate stripping calculations and ensure its vendor network plans for and delivers precise volumes and quotes. In addition, the company uses Kespry to perform before-and-after stripping surveys to validate the amounts of material that have been moved. Inventory management involving updating unit weights and product volume is another activity that The Shelly Company performs with Kespry.

“Using Kespry helps us make informed decisions and work closely with contractors to compare stripping quantities. This ensures that we are charged the correct amount,” said Chris Pike, performance manager, The Shelly Company. “Kespry also gives us more control and increases efficiency. Once our drone lands from a 20 to 30-minute flight, the flight data is immediately uploaded to the Kespry Cloud for processing. This takes just a few hours, depending on the size of the mission data collected. We’re then able to view the images and client deliverables via the Kespry Cloud. This allows our engineers and planners to provide quick turnaround of the data to all our key stakeholders. They usually want this information immediately and it’s great to be able to provide that information to them quickly. With Kespry, we’re able to sit in front of our stakeholders, run through the data, show them how the calculations were done, and identify any possible issues. Kespry has improved the comfort level and trust in the data.”

“Kespry has made The Shelly Company’s mine planning and inventory management activities more transparent and productive than ever,” said George Mathew, CEO, Kespry. “Kespry takes a lot of the question marks out of complex processes and helps keep everyone across The Shelly Company’s ecosystem stay on the same page. With Kespry, The Shelly Company can focus and deliver on its customers’ needs and expectations, with the knowledge that its vendors are working in lockstep and providing the materials they need, when they need them.”

Another key reason The Shelly Company chose Kespry is because of its commitment to customer service, ease of use and a consultative approach to evolving its platform.

“We’ve been asked on numerous occasions by the Kespry team to be involved with product development, such as incorporating mine planning into its platform,” said Pike. “This, in my opinion, is part of the partnership and their commitment to have our input. I’ve also had great experiences with turnaround time when we contact Kespry. If, for some reason, there’s an issue with a drone, they’ll replace it within 24 to 48 hours so our daily operations aren’t impacted seriously. Another benefit is how user-friendly Kespry software is. It’s very easy for us to invite an operations manager, area manager or plant manager to view a site in the Kespry Cloud and navigate it themselves.”

Keeping employees out of harm’s way is another positive outcome The Shelly Company experiences with Kespry.

“Kespry has definitely improved safety,” said Pike. “It’s reduced the need to go near highwalls and crests, especially for mine planning purposes. It will eventually assist with our ongoing efforts to improve drilling and blasting safety by providing the ability to use drones to perform 3D face profiling. The same thing holds true for checking on the progression of a particular mine site. If we used our earlier ground survey techniques with GPS rovers, people would have to get near the toe and crest of a highwall, walk over unstable material or work in close proximity to mobile equipment, which is potentially unsafe. Kespry has really helped in that regard, too.”

Kespry, www.kespry.com/mining

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