Investment in a fleet of Hitachi machines has helped French quarry operator Maquignon Frères meet demands for its dimension stone
Western France's Poitou-Charentes region is famous for its centuries old limestone monuments, churches and châteaux but repairing these historic structures calls for local extraction of similar stone. One company working to meet this need is the family-owned Maquignon Frères which has operated quarries in the region since 1970 and currently owns two quarries.
Maquignon Frères' main site near Usseau produces up to 400m3 of dimension stone each month for construction projects in the region, while the smaller operation in Haims produces harder stone for more decorative work.
The company is now a thriving business but started out in founder Roland Maquignon's backgarden in the 1950s. The then folk singer discovered traces of soft limestone in the garden in 1954 and soon started digging out the material in a nearby field and taking it to a local masonry yard for sale to the construction sector.
As demand for the limestone increased, Maquignon opened a quarry in 1970 just a couple of kilometres from his home where he first found the limestone. Today the company is run by the founder's two sons - Dominique and Jean-Marc - and also employs eight members of the extended Maquignon family, including two of Roland's daughters - Chantal and Isabelle - and another 16 local people. Dominique and Jean-Marc took control of the business in 1986 and three years later opened the current main 15ha Usseau site with a 25 year license.
The rock deposit at Usseau is found at 15m below ground level but the overburden is not wasted - the top 8m is used for restoring other parts of the quarry, while the layer from 8 to 15m below ground level has a very different market. Around 6000tonnes of this material is crushed each month and sold to the local mushroom growing industry as the limestone has just the right moisture maintenance properties. Sales of crushed limestone to the mushroom market account for around 30% of Maquignon Frères' annual turnover.
The rock at Usseau is cut to order and delivered to customers by the company's fleet on nine trucks but material handling on site was boosted with delivery of a new
Maquignon's connection with Hitachi goes back over many years and Norbert Morisset, who is manager of local Hitachi dealer VSM, is both a friend and business partner, according to Dominique Maquignon. "We bought our first Hitachi machine, an EX400, in 1991, Also working at the Usseau site is a Hitachi ZX460LCH excavator and a LX290E wheel loader. In Haims, we have a ZX210 and a new ZX50U-2 mini-excavator that was delivered in 2008."
According to Maquignon, the ZX310 is ideal for work at the Usseau quarry. "It is incredibly versatile," he said. "With both bucket and fork attachments, we can use it to carry the blocks of limestone and load them on to trucks. The lifting capacity of the ZW310 takes a heavy load and has helped improve productivity at the quarry as the damp soft ground at the site poses no problem for it."
While Maquignon is pleased with the machine itself, it is the back-up from Morisset and VSM that really counts for the company. "VSM was one of the most important factors in choosing Hitachi machines," he said. "I appreciate the maintenance, service and repairs VSM provides and the almost immediate response in the unlikely event of a breakdown. I also value the preventative maintenance and advice they give which is key to keeping production running smoothly."
