VisionLink® Productivity has helped one of France’s largest quarries to maximise production.
At 128 hectares, Groupe Pigeon’s Les Vallons Quarry is the largest quarry in Brittany, France.
Every year it produces 1.8 million tonnes of construction material for both public and industrial applications such as concrete plants, asphalt and precast plants.
It also helps to recycle and process waste, concrete and asphalt residues.
With production at such a large scale, Groupe Pigeon was intent on gaining greater visibility across Les Vallons Quarry’s daily operations to ensure maximum productivity.
As Groupe Pigeon Operational Director, Roland Ledroff explains, the operation was looking for tools that allowed it to achieve operational excellence and obtain the best economic returns. The group found the tool it needed in VisionLink® Productivity.
What is VisionLink Productivity?
VisionLink Productivity is a cloud-based fleet management platform that provides the data and insights that construction businesses need to make informed decisions on asset and operational efficiency.
The platform can monitor a range of different parameters including payload, cycle times, site zones and operator shifts.
It captures information from machines and relays it back to an easy-to- use interface where managers can analyse it.
There are a few functions in particular that have helped Groupe Pigeon make significant improvements.
Understand shift performance
VisionLink Productivity creates shift comparison reports to help businesses like Groupe Pigeon gain key insights on shift performance.
These reports contain KPIs and metrics that have helped the quarry improve efficiency across different shifts.
To Groupe Pigeon, shift efficiency is key to optimal performance and economic returns.
Track material movement
With the amount of material Les Vallons Quarry moves each day, it’s important to know exactly how much is moved and to where.
VisionLink Productivity monitors material movement between zones by tracking location, time and payload.
Cat® Technology Sales Representative Matthew Hendry supported Groupe Pigeon as it introduced the platform to Les Vallons Quarry.
“By assigning different zones for the different material moved, VisionLink Productivity has allowed them to understand the overall productivity of the site and ultimately achieve their productivity targets,” he said.
Eradicate long idle events
When a machine sits idle, it can mean significant reductions in jobsite efficiency.
“It could be bunching at the loading tool or at the crusher,” Matthew said.
“Groupe Pigeon can see what they previously couldn’t, individual machine events and idle time on a map. This means the team can now identify the root cause of an idle machine and implement actions to improve its operation.”
All on board with new technology
Employees dedicated to operational monitoring at Les Vallons Quarry immediately saw the value of VisionLink Productivity.
“They were convinced by the solution. To use a digital platform to consolidate all machine- generated information to achieve their operational and competitive goals,” Roland said.
Interested in getting started with VisionLink Productivity? Contact your local Cat dealer orvisitCat.com/productivity for more information.
key insights on shift performance.