“Astronomical Reduction” in Downtime for Burleson Sand Mine

Client Profile  

A Complex Sand Mining Operation Based in Central Texas 

Burleson Sand & Gravel offers businesses and individuals sand, gravel, stone, and concrete materials to landscaping and industrial customers. Their primary focus is supplying sand for fracking operations to oil and gas clients in central and south Texas. The company (a subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy Corporation) operates a 700-acre mining operation with a 50-acre sand-washing facility, two enormous sand-drying burners, and multiple 5,000-ton storage silos. The facility employs 80 people and runs 30 pieces of heavy mobile equipment. 

Challenge  

Expensive Downtime and Difficulty in Meeting Stringent Reporting Requirements 

Before adopting KPA Flex, Burleson faced two primary challenges: 

• Expensive downtime from equipment failures stopping the entire production line 

• Lack of real-time reporting system for Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) requirements 

The paper-based system caused delays in maintenance responses and made equipment inspections difficult to track. “Every time, before use, you need to fill out a form confirming you’ve done a safety inspection. We have 30 pieces of machinery out here, with multiple people getting in and out of them throughout the day,” Zemer said.  

“It was hard to ensure that team members were following protocol.” 

Solution  

Streamlined Reporting Plus Built-in Issue Escalation with KPA 

When Burleson completed its facility in 2018, they chose KPA (then iScout) to manage their EH&S needs. “We told them what we needed, and they built the system just the way we wanted,” Zemer said. 

Key features included: 

• Automated inspection form tracking 

• Real-time red flag notifications to supervisors 

• Role-based access controls 

• Offline functionality with automatic syncing 

Result  

Astronomical Reduction of Downtime, Plus Praise from Inspectors 

The implementation has delivered significant improvements: 

• Dramatic reduction in equipment downtime 

• Real-time issue reporting and maintenance scheduling 

• Streamlined morning supervisor meetings 

• Simplified regulatory compliance 

“Now, people can enter the issue to the system in real-time, so it gets on the maintenance schedule for that day, versus ‘I told so and so, and it never got relayed to the maintenance team,'” Zemer explained. 

Both MSHA and TCEQ inspectors have praised the system.  

“Every inspector has been blown away by KPA” 

“They love it. They are awe-struck,” said Zemer.