Major Drone Contract Paves the Future for Kespry

Drone-based aerial intelligence provider Kespry could soon be the leader in the aerial mining-inspection sector across the Southeast.

The California-based company yesterday announced a contract with Midsouth Aggregates, part of North America’s largest aggregate materials producer, CRH.

Midsouth will use Kespry’s UAS-based aerial intelligence platform for inventory management and mine planning across sites in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. The aggregates affiliate mostly mines and distributes limestone and granite used by concrete, asphalt, block, and precast companies.

Midsouth key clients include the Alabama Department of Transportation, Georgia Department of Transportation, Tennessee Department of Transportation, the Florida Department of Transportation, the Corps of Engineers and the Federal Aviation Authority.

“Kespry’s drones and software really sped up inventory management,” Jerry Adkins, Midsouth Senior Production Manager, said.

“Kespry gave us a consistent measuring tool, whereas in the past we’d use other vendors who would do LIDAR and ground surveys. They would come on site, do the flights and it would usually take a couple of weeks to get the data. Then we’d have a different vendor come in later in the year using a different method for measuring. With Kespry, we brought it all in house and inventory management became something we could do monthly with more consistency and control.”

By using a drone-based solution, Midsouth can inspect mining pits in 2D and 3D. Volumetric tools allow managers to perform short-term and long-term mine planning. Kespry Cloud empowers Midsouth to access inventory management and mine-planning data any time on any device.

“The Kespry aerial intelligence platform is purpose-built to seamlessly integrate with the complex workflows of companies like Midsouth Aggregates so they can rapidly benefit from real-time reporting and analytics,” said Kespry CEO George Mathew.

Earlier this year, Kespry surveyed more than 200 mining and aggregates customers over 3,300 worksites in North America. Fifty percent said they replaced contracted surveyors, measuring wheels, and GPS base and rover technology with Kespry solutions. In addition, 20 percent of the firm’s clients report saving between $50,000 and $100,000 per year using Kespry’s drone-based solutions.