Koenig Materials is a sand and gravel operation located in Oxford, Michigan. For more than 100 years as Koenig Sand and Gravel, the company had supplied the Metro Detroit market with aggregate products for hot mix asphalt, ready mix and concrete pavement for the construction of roads, commercial infrastructure and residential buildings. In 2022, Mid Michigan Materials purchased the Oxford pit and has continued Koenig’s legacy of providing quality aggregate products to customers in southeast Michigan as Koenig Materials.
Case Studies
Challenge
When the Oxford pit was purchased in 2022, Koenig Materials decided to invest in a new wash plant and crushing operation there. Koenig’s parent company, Mid Michigan Materials, had commissioned a wash plant for its sand and gravel pit in Jeddo, Michigan, a few years prior that Koenig Materials wanted to replicate at the Oxford site.
The Jeddo wash plant featured a 46” x 35’ McLanahan Log Washer, two 12’ x 48’ McLanahan Sand Classifying Tanks, three McLanahan Ultra Sand Plants for producing Mid Michigan’s sand products, one McLanahan Ultra Fines Recovery System for recovering salable material from the waste stream and multiple McLanahan Cross Belt Samplers.
Mid Michigan Materials had evaluated several equipment suppliers but ultimately chose McLanahan based on their knowledge and experience.
“What we found most appealing about McLanahan was not just the history and the product, but the support behind it and the team and the approach that they took in really understanding the products that we were trying to make,” explained Rob Wilson, President of Koenig Materials.
For the project at the Oxford site, Wilson said it was a “no-brainer” for Koenig Materials to work with McLanahan again.
“We are really happy with the plant that we have in Jeddo. We like the production that we get out of it, and it was really as expected, which is why we chose to go with McLanahan a second time,” shared Wilson. “To a certain extent, processing equipment is similar, and so what really sets McLanahan apart is, in my mind, some of the people there.”
Solution
Through McLanahan’s Michigan dealer, Hi-Point Aggregate Equipment, LLC, Koenig Materials purchased a 1,000-ton-an-hour wash plant consisting of two 12’ x 48’ Sand Classifying Tanks and three Ultra Sand Plants for producing Koenig’s primary 2NS product, secondary mason sand and tertiary Class 2 sand product. The plant also included an Ultra Fines Recovery (UFR) System for capturing product-sized sand in the waste stream to prevent it from filling up Koenig’s settling pond, as well as nine single-stage Cross Belt Sampling Systems for automating the sample collection process.
The plant was started up in early 2023 with McLanahan and Hi-Point on site for support.
“I think that your success with a wash plant,” shared Wilson. “It’s all about the support behind it that can help you actually implement it. What I like is that at any one given time, my team knows the people at McLanahan, knows the team, can reach out to them and say, ‘Hey, how do I do this? How do I make this better?’ We’re constantly going back and forth to try to maximize that. That’s really the differentiating factor for me is the support and the access to that support.
“It’s the thing. It’s the factor to be able to have that access,” Wilson continued. “I have put up other plants in my career where the most frustrating part was getting to the right person who had the right answer, and that’s not a criticism so much of them as it is a compliment to McLanahan and the people that they have.”
Results
Since the plant has been operational, it has met Koenig’s expectations for producing the company’s three primary products, and the UFR has been instrumental in helping Koenig manage its setting ponds.
“The primary reason we have the UFR is to manage our pond efforts and not have so much of our workforce and cost dedicated to recovering those from the pond, so this allows us to be more productive,” said Wilson. “It’s been a real game-changer in how we approach it and control our costs,” said Wilson.
In addition to limiting the amount of product-sized sand going to the pond, thus reducing pond maintenance and associated costs, Wilson said Koenig has been able to sell the product recovered from the UFR as a fill sand, “so it’s been a real game-changer there as well.”
Wilson also appreciates the Cross Belt Samplers, which allow Koenig Materials to take a representative sample straight from the moving conveyor belt without having to stop the plant.
“I’m kind of obsessed with them,” Wilson said about the Cross Belt Samplers. “I find that they help us get a more representative sample.”
He added that the Cross Belt Samplers also help save personnel time, effort and energy. Wilson said the samplers provide them with composite samples that show a picture of a period of time as opposed to a snapshot in time when samples are collected via manual methods.
“I believe it allows us to have a leg up on our competition by having those [Cross Belt Samplers],” shared Wilson.
Even with all the benefits the McLanahan wash plant provides, Wilson still values his relationship with McLanahan above all else.
“I would consider McLanahan a partner of ours, and I think that’s what’s really helped us be successful.”
