Hillhouse Quarry Group opt for Internet Anywhere
Specialist satellite broadband company provides innovative solution for Scottish quarry client
INTERNET Anywhere, a satellite broadband company launched by Scottish entrepreneur John Fitzgerald in 2012 to provide connectivity solutions for businesses in hard-to-reach areas of the country, say more than 80% of their clients are construction firms and quarries who are increasingly using satellite technology to increase the efficiency of operations on remote and temporary sites.
One of their clients, Hillhouse Quarry Group, based in Troon, Ayrshire, operates one of the largest independent whinstone quarries on mainland Scotland with the capacity to produce more than 1 million tonnes of quarry product per annum. The company also produces asphalt from four plants at two main locations, ready-mixed concrete from four static plants and a mobile batching plant, as well as a range of precast and block products for the construction industry.
‘Hillhouse Quarry approached us to come up with a connectivity solution for their MCM60 mobile batching plant, which they deploy to a number of different sites in rural Scotland,’ said Mr Fitzgerald. ‘Often these sites are remote wind farms where 400 cubic metres of high-strength concrete needs to be poured into bases at locations more than 4 miles from the road.
‘The batching plant has been fitted with a BridgeMont weighbridge software application which provides a full quarry-management system from customer order, through on-site weight capture of loads, to invoicing and stock control. But of course, the state-of-the-art software is only as good as the broadband that powers it, and that’s where we came in.’
Internet Anywhere have installed a satellite dish providing broadband connectivity with the new Ka Sat Internet Anywhere satellite and speeds up to 22Mbps download and 6 Mbps upload. This means that all data captured by the software on the batching plant can be instantly uploaded to head office.
Alex Dunsmuir, Hillhouse Quarry’s concrete manager, said: ‘The satellite broadband technology not only allows us to computerize every stage of a job, but also allows us to refine logistics. I can track online the progress of each job, which aggregates are in each bin on each site, and then rationalize the turnaround of bins and lorries to ensure maximize efficiency. I can also see in advance when there are opportunities to move the mobile batching plant around our sites to support a busy job.’
Hillhouse Quarry is currently using the batching plant in Beith to fulfil a ready-mixed concrete contract for Marshall Construction, who are building a number of warehouses for whisky producers Chivas Brothers.
