The client, a wharf operation processing around 1,8m tonne of BAD per year was experiencing significant material variation and couldn’t explain why.
They needed to find the root causes, to identify potential countermeasures and to quantify the potential financial uplifts after improvement.
They proceeded to introduce collaborative planning sessions between the wharf and the marine operators as a first step in the process.
Focussed creative problem solving techniques were used to help accelerate the process and as much as possible, pin point the most likely causes of material variation.
Through a thorough process of data analysis and investigation they discovered that there was an excessive amount of moisture (as high as 20% in some instances) depending on the ships used for collection and supply of materials.
In addition, there were significant levels of silt (as high as 17% in some samples) exacerbating the retention of moisture as well as passing the defined minimum sieve standards.
A programme of critical ship condition appraisal and refurbishment took place on worst performing vessels.
Silt reduction was also achieved by avoiding low yield dredging areas that would in the past have been used extensively due to their geography and lower operating costs.
A 2% reduction in moisture content was achieved in addition to a further 2% reduction in overall silt content.
This improvement resulted in a £770k reduction in material variation (Full Year Effect).