Sand Plants: Why You're Being Buried By The Competition

Everyone in the sand business is facing different challenges; Midwest facilities are feeling pressure from the increased availability in the Permian Basin. Sites in the Permian basin are seeing bottlenecks of too much product at their own facilities. Few others have contracted out their share of product already and are fighting to keep it moving. As with any other business, there are swings in the market. Some will enjoy feast and others will push through famine.

If the industry can condition itself appropriately, there is a bright future ahead. Experts keep finding better ways to utilize resources available. We’re seeing this now in West Texas. Sand that may have been tossed to the side two years ago is now a hot commodity. In 2018 alone, the Permian Basin saw the opening of an estimated 19 frac sand mines. These sand plants are set up and ready to run in 6 – 7 months! It is estimated to be a $6-billion market within the next few years. The Permian Basin looks to capture 50 percent of that demand. The growth is huge, but the companies competing for that business are even bigger. The pressure to be a reliable and productive source is more daunting than ever.

At the end of the day, who can produce a quality product that is readily available with the lowest cost for their customer and do this all while remaining lean themselves? A lot of factors will play into this. As I talk to more and more plant managers and other boots on the ground in these plants, the more I see the pressure to produce. Unplanned down time in these facilities isn’t an option. To top that off, most of them are scarce on the tools and resources to continually improve maintenance processes. Fighting fires is the norm.      

I hear this reactive nature as a number one problem constantly. My first follow-up question is always “What steps have you taken to fix it?” This is generally followed up with, “Our budget is really tight,” or “We don’t have the man power to be predictive or preventative.” Every now and then I’ll also get just a really, really … long awkward moment of silence. Preventing a few hours of downtime could save a facility like these tens of thousands of dollars. Kudos to the Plant Manager 20 miles down the road that understands the potential of eliminating downtime and is willing to be a disruptor in the company when he or she sees a good thing in front of them. This willingness to challenge the status quo has saved their company $236,000 in the last 5 ? months. They’re just getting started. This Plant Manager is raking in the savings while the other is sitting and thinking about why he or she shouldn’t make a change. A six-month head start in this industry might as well be light years comparatively speaking. This leg up in the sandbox all happened by taking advantage of the tools and partnerships available out there to implement continuous asset health monitoring.

When the dust settles in this industry, who will be left? What will they have done differently than the next facility down the road? Be the disruptor, challenge the status quo. In an industry that waits for no one, don’t let a wasted opportunity leave you buried under your competitors.