Cutting Costs for China Clay

A Merridale fuel management system is helping Imerys, the international minerals group, to control the costs of fuel used in the refining and export of china clay from Devon and Cornwall. Fuel oil represents a large proportion of the operating costs in producing China Clay and during 2001 the Imerys group's UK operations consumed some 30 million litres of gas-oil and diesel, worth around £5M at today's prices.

China clay provides the white pigment that is essential for a wide range of specialist industries including paper, plastics and adhesives, paints, rubber and sealants. For paper production it is sometimes supplied as a slurry, although most other applications use it as a low moisture solid or powder, delivered either by tanker or in lump form.

Gas oil is used in the heavy earth moving plant in the open cast pits, and also serves as a reserve fuel in clay drying operations. On the road Imerys operates a fleet of tankers for UK distribution and other long distance haulage tasks. Most of the output from the pits, some 2.4 million tonnes a year, is exported from docks at Par and Fowey. A fleet of 50 tonne articulated tippers is used for the transportation of clay to the docks. Production sites also operate a large fleet of diesel powered service vehicles including 150 Land Rovers.

"We account for every penny of the cost of every tonne of product delivered to the customer," explains administration and systems manager, Terry Hawke.

"Fuel management is an important part of our strategy for controlling costs. The potential for making savings was exemplified in a recent driver training exercise involving the group's articulated tipper fleet based at Par docks. Most of this fleet operates over standard routes and duties. Currently there are 13 vehicles working two shifts, 5 am to 11 pm, six days a week, and covering a total 650,000 miles a year."

"By measuring fuel consumption with the Merridale software we were able to show the difference that could be made by driving more economically. As a result of the Defensive Driving Skills/Fuel Saving Techniques training and continuous monitoring the fleet has achieved an overall improvement of 1.0 mile per gallon, which equates to savings of around £70,000 per year."

Developed by MIS Fuel Monitoring of Wolverhampton, the Merridale system comprises the Auditor FX control unit and supporting PC software designed for stock control and cost accounting. Imerys has three installations covering fixed fuelling points at Par docks, the main production compound near Nanpean and a satellite haulage depot in Marsh Mills near Plymouth.

Both the Nanpean and Plymouth facilities are fully integrated installations incorporating Merridale Commercial heavy-duty dispensers, which simplifies service support. Keys are used to authorise the fuelling transaction and drivers are able to draw fuel from all three locations.

On drawing fuel the driver simply inserts his key and enters the vehicle odometer reading. Details of each transaction are recorded by the Auditor unit and then downloaded to the Merridale FuelFX management software which then allocates it to the respective cost centre code.

As well as the road haulage fleet, these facilities support the wide range of service vehicles including vans and Land Rovers used by production personnel. Long distance vehicles operate out of Nanpean and Plymouth. These include a mixed fleet of 70 general haulage vehicles, including flat beds and curtain-side vehicles and a fleet of powder and liquid tankers used to transport bulk clay and slurry to the group's main UK distribution centre in Stoke-on-Trent, as well as directly to its customers.

For fuelling heavy earth moving plant such as loading shovels and bulldozers operating in the clay pits, Imerys uses two fuel bowsers based on all-terrain articulated tractor units. Each bowser has a capacity of 16,000 litres, and can be used to take fuel out to remote locations.

The large 'workhorse' 50 tonne dumptrucks are fuelled usually at the end of each shift at a designated fuelling area where they meet the bowser unit. A typical fill up for each of these trucks is around 500 litres. Although currently these transactions are being recorded manually, it is intended to fit both units with a cab-mounted Auditor FX control box. These units use mobile communications to download fuelling transactions to the office records. An initial system has been installed and field-trials successfully carried out to prove the equipment within this operational environment.

"Reliability is important and the equipment is operating under very aggressive conditions exposed to damp, dust and vibration," said Terry Hawke. "The system makes life easier for the bowser operators, as the plant reference number is simply keyed in at the cab and the Auditor automatically records the time and fuel delivered. There will be significant savings in eliminating the risks of mistakes and man-hours used to transfer information from paper into our computer records. Effectively we will be getting better quality information quicker," he said.