Service, Price and Quality

In the three decades since its humble founding, the New Jersey powerhouse, Impact Environmental has grown and expanded from an environmental consulting firm to a multi-faceted conglomerate with waste management, site works, materials and other consulting divisions. The company handles every aspect of the job from excavation and testing material, to making the product and delivering it back to the site. 

Impact Environmental’s process is extensive and all-encompassing. Nathan Kalenich, President of Impact Materials, explains the multi-layered excavation process, “Our material mostly originates from local job sites. We do deep excavations in different layers based on geotechnical and analytical data. After we have completed our analysis, we can process the material and make the appropriate finished product, which can be anything from recycled concrete aggregates to topsoil. Then these materials can be used at sites ranging from high-rises to warehouses.”

Another service that sets Impact Environmental apart in their industry is their consulting. Kalenich explained that a large majority of job sites have a consulting engineer on-site to monitor and oversee the material that is coming in to be used on the project. “We understand what they need, how to make it, how to present it to the customer and what they need when they are bidding jobs and at the end of the day, customers are winning work based on our help,” says Kalenich. The group has even embraced new technology to assist with its consulting. Jeff Bogoian, Quality Control Manager for Impact Materials, says, “A few years ago we started using smart construction and drone imagery to get topographic maps of sites so we can track the progress and get real-time calculations on the project.” Impact also uses the drone to track their own progress and to check their monthly product inventory. 

A UNIQUE PROCESS

Impact Environmental has accumulated a long list of equipment from Astec at two of their processing sites. The group has two mobile FT3055 jaw crusher plants, K300+ and K400+ Kodiak® cone crushers, two GT205 screening plants, two GT206 screening plants and a GT165 screening plant, as well as several other screens and track-mounted conveyors. This extensive inventory of equipment helped the group solve its biggest processing challenge: capacity. Kalenich says, “One of the reasons we switched to the Astec equipment was that we needed more throughput. We are very centrally-located so we can get materials in, process them, and our customers don’t have to pay outrageous trucking costs to transport the material, so we are a huge site in terms of volume.” Kalenich adds, “Our local market is unique because we are one of the only companies actually doing this. We’re taking material off sites, crushing and testing it, certifying it and selling it back. Really, our competition is the quarries that can be up to fifty miles away, so by having the right equipment, the right location and the right knowledge, we are helping our customers win the work and perform.” 

Impact Environmental was first introduced to Astec equipment when their previous manufacturer’s unit broke down during a critical job. When Kalenich called KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens about the predicament, a unit was delivered to Impact Environmental the following morning to finish the job. Kalenich says, “The service is what hooked me. After receiving that kind of service, overnight service, especially to a customer they didn’t even know, is what hooked me at first.” 

As Impact Environmental transitioned its equipment, the group found that by fixing one bottleneck, another formed later in the process. Kalenich explains, “We replaced our current jaw for a bigger jaw with more capacity, but quickly realized that the cone and screen were too small for the capacity of the jaw, but with the technicians at Astec and their site visits, we didn’t have to replace everything; we could change up our process a little and almost double our capacity.” 

Another aspect that hooked Kalenich on Astec equipment is the size and capacity. With the larger equipment and simple changes to their operating process, the group was able to nearly triple its RCA material production. Impact also saved a significant amount of time and money on wear parts with the new equipment. The smaller units required frequent changes of blow bars, liners, jaw plates and other parts, costing Impact precious running time and more money spent on parts. 

Not only did Impact Environmental need larger machines for increased throughput, they also needed equipment that would fit on their site. Bogoian says, “Our sites are quite narrow, but we need the maneuverability of the crushers and screens. We like the flexibility of the track-mounted units, especially with our RCA operation, because we are switching up the jaw and impactor configurations often to fit our current needs. This equipment is a lot more adaptable and it has significantly cut down our footprint.” Kalenich adds, “Typically, your crushing operation is set up one of two ways. You can either bring the crusher to the material, or the material to the crusher. With the track equipment, we are able to bring the crusher to the material we need to process whether that’s on this site or another site, we have the flexibility to reconfigure the equipment to fit our operation.”

For Kalenich and Bogoian, another draw to Astec equipment is where it’s made. “Having an American-made company and product allows us to service our equipment faster to get back up and running,” says Kalenich. Bogoian adds, “If we’re down, we’re losing money, but more importantly, we still have material coming in, so once we’re up and running again, we’re under the wire to get it processed and out the door.” 

The most important reason, however, that Impact Environmental Astec is the business model. Kalenich says, “We hook our customers on service, price and quality all at the same time and I think Astec hooked us on the same three things. Early on in my career, someone told me you can’t have service, price and quality all in one, you’ll always have to forgo something. Astec, I don’t think that’s true. You can have all three.” 

LOOKING FORWARD

Kalenich and Bogoian are optimistic about future growth opportunities for Impact Environmental. In the last few years, the group has added a second rock crushing operation and expanded its product offering to include bluestone and topsoil, giving customers nearly any material they will need on their job site. Kalenich would like to continue the company’s growth in its current regional market, as well as expanding into other regions; creating similar sites and product offerings over the next decade. Kalenich adds, “Brand consistency makes this easy, and we look forward to continue working with Astec.”