Dronedesk
Managing 1,200+ flights across 100 locations for one of the world's leading explosives companies
The Challenge: Spreadsheets Don't Scale
EPC-UK is part of EPC Groupe, one of the world's leaders in explosives, demolition, and drilling and blasting. Operating in the UK since 1905, the company uses drones to gather data for designing explosive blasts and mapping entire quarries, creating 3D models that improve both safety and blast precision.
With demand for drone services growing rapidly, EPC-UK faced a scaling crisis:
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40+ Pilots to Track: Certifications, flight hours, insurance expiry dates, and compliance records for a growing team
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1,200+ Flights Annually: Each requiring planning, logging, risk assessments, and potential incident reports
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100+ Locations: Quarries and sites across the UK, each with unique operational requirements
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Part-Time Operators: Many pilots are explosives specialists first, drone operators second, requiring simple workflows
The existing system of spreadsheets and SharePoint was consuming more and more time. The choice was stark: hire someone to manage drone operations full-time, or find a better system.
The Operational Impact: What Dronedesk Delivers for Enterprise Fleets
The Right Balance of Features
Enterprise platforms captured far more data than needed and cost huge amounts. Smaller platforms didn't capture enough. Dronedesk provided exactly what was required: pilot certifications and flight hours, flight logs and risk assessments, asset management and maintenance scheduling, incident reporting. Everything needed for CAA compliance without drowning in unnecessary complexity.
Instant Team Buy-In
System changes often face resistance. Dronedesk eliminated that problem:
- No more repetitive spreadsheet work
- Templates from previous jobs reduce duplication
- One-hour training covers everything pilots need
- Built-in video walkthroughs for self-service learning
Maintenance Scheduling for Harsh Environments
Quarry dust destroys drones. EPC-UK replaces aircraft earlier than typical operators to maintain safety and reliability. Dronedesk's maintenance scheduling and flight hour tracking ensures replacement schedules are followed, keeping the fleet operational in demanding conditions.
The trial period allowed full workflow testing before company-wide rollout in January 2024. By July, the team had more than doubled in size with no compromise in compliance or safety.
Measurable Outcomes
Team Growth
Scaled from 20 to 43 pilots in 6 months
Annual Flights
Managed across 100+ UK locations
Training Time
New pilots operational with minimal onboarding
Additional Hires
No dedicated drone manager required despite 115% growth
Quarrying & Mining Use Cases
Blast Design & Planning
- 3D terrain modelling for blast optimization
- Pre-blast site documentation
- Post-blast damage assessment
- Stockpile volume calculations
Quarry Operations
- Complete quarry mapping and surveying
- Progress monitoring and reporting
- Safety inspection documentation
- Environmental compliance records
Why Enterprise Drone Fleets Choose Dronedesk
Built for Multi-Pilot Operations
Track certifications, flight hours, insurance, and compliance across dozens of pilots. Automated alerts flag expiring credentials before they become problems, and central dashboards provide instant fleet-wide visibility.
Safety-First for High-Risk Industries
In explosives and demolition, safety underpins everything. Dronedesk makes compliance easy enough that part-time operators maintain the same standards as full-time professionals, protecting customer confidence and operational integrity.
Right-Sized for Real Operations
Enterprise platforms often capture data you don't need and cost accordingly. Dronedesk provides exactly what CAA compliance and operational excellence require, without the bloat or the price tag.
Responsive Development
When EPC-UK noticed pilots missing a workflow step, a UI improvement was deployed within 30 minutes of the request. The drone industry evolves constantly, and Dronedesk evolves with it.
The Bottom Line
EPC-UK more than doubled their drone pilot team in six months while maintaining the rigorous safety and compliance standards their industry demands. Instead of hiring a dedicated drone operations manager, the Senior Explosives Engineer can oversee 43 pilots and 1,200+ annual flights while continuing his primary role.
For enterprise operations managing large fleets across multiple locations, Dronedesk provides the balance that spreadsheets can't: comprehensive enough to satisfy the CAA, simple enough that every pilot engages, and scalable enough to grow without breaking.
