When we short-change blasting, we short-change our entire operation. The humorist, Garrison Keillor, would close his weekly monologue saying,” Where the children are all above average”. Similar conceit is evident in blasting circles. Most managers believe that they have a good blasting program, without knowing actual industry standards.
Sending folks to training and conferences is a first step towards adoption of “best practices”, but is that enough? The problem is that few of us can honestly critique our own work. That is why an independent audit is critically important. Today, everyone is focused on increasing tons per hour. Smaller crews are loading more pounds of powder than the year before. Streamlining procedures often leads to unforeseen consequences. While drill and blast costs may improve, every department downstream may face increases in fragmentation related costs.
Eloranta & Associates will audit your operation to determine where best practices are in place. We can also develop a benchmark which will baseline your current performance so that comparisons can be made when trialing new products and methods. Audits and bench-marking invariably turn up a surprising array opportunities for improvement.
Finding the road to success requires that we know where we are right now. Only then, can we map out the route to our objectives. Therefore, optimization must start with an audit of current practices which can be compared to a list of best practices. Bench-marking establishes a starting point which allows us to determine whether we are moving towards or away from our objectives. The importance of an objective, independent review of drill and blast procedures cannot be overstated. Experts agree that the difference between the ‘as designed’ and the ‘as built’ blast pattern is the greatest shortcoming in surface blasting today. A review followed by training which is focused on both the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ of good procedures is the most popular option.
Eloranta & Associates leverages experience and technology to fit a technical audit or study to the clients requirements.