Matrix provides helicopter, fixed wing, camps, fuel, and exploration logistics to exploration companies in some of the most remote regions of the north.
Dan Tuepah and his business partner Martin Knutson learned early on that their clients were spending far too much time on logistics when they would prefer to focus on the science of exploration. These customers were outsourcing helicopters and fixed wing aircrafts to deliver people, materials and other resources to their exploration sites, and they were working with numerous suppliers to build and manage their camps.
What clients said they really wanted was a logistics company that could set up safe and reliable transportation of these resources through partnerships with the best operators in the industry. They also needed a company that could supply all aspects of building and managing the complexities of an exploration camp. Matrix Helicopter Solutions and Exploration Logistics has proven itself to be that company.
“We discuss what the client needs to be successful in their program,” Tuepah says. “We then go back into the marketplace to find it. It is not necessarily the most obvious solution. We will cherry pick a specific helicopter, operator and crew that is the best fit for a client and meets our due diligence safety requirements.”
Entering its 10th year in business, Matrix customizes solutions for its clients, ensuring that the appropriate equipment, products, services, people, prices and timing are secured and managed on their behalf. The company relies on a large supplier base in order to meet client needs that might include only helicopter services or everything needed for a camp.
“What we do is take that work off the client’s plate,” Tuepah adds. “It is a lot of effort to go through the due diligence, but at the end of the day, it provides our clients with the best solution. It ensures that our client’s personnel are safe and comfortable in camp and in transit. It lets them deal with exploration without having to worry about logistics. And it exposes our helicopter operators and suppliers to opportunities they might not normally have. It brings them onto projects they might not have known [were] happening.”
Remote Control
When companies embark on an exploration expedition to discover the next big production source, the targeted areas are often remote locations with little to no infrastructure in place. To perform operations in these remote areas, everything must be brought in – usually through the air – to make sure the job will be properly sourced throughout the development’s lifecycle.
“You have to set up self-supporting infrastructure in these areas that really have nothing to offer,” Tuepah says. With that in mind, Matrix can leverage its partnerships with suppliers to create packages of multiple services for specific client requirements.
“The entire group is working on different components and scenarios among ourselves depending on [the] needs of specific clients,” Tuepah says. “The beauty of what we do is, we live and breathe the industry 12 months a year because there is something happening somewhere in this country all the time. We have the experience to deal with any type of environment you can imagine, right from the challenges of the Arctic to the forested coastal conditions of British Columbia.”
This creates savings for clients and suppliers alike because Matrix is able to better package purchasing and the number of deliveries of specific services by coordinating a few suppliers for as many clients as possible. For instance, if Matrix has four clients that each require fuel at the same job site, Matrix can coordinate one fuel delivery instead of scheduling four separate trips.
“If we’re moving four times as much fuel, then we get much better pricing than if we were moving a quarter of that,” Tuepah says. “We negotiate with fuel suppliers and local fixed-wing operators to find efficiencies.”
Matrix adds value to clients by using the economics of big volume business, by working with a range of suppliers to ensure the appropriate people and equipment are in place, and through critical methodologies such as their due-diligence process.
“We found out a long time ago that our clients are highly concerned with efficiency and safety,” Tuepah adds. “Our due diligence process [is] to ensure whoever is doing it, and how it is being done, is safe and smart. This is something that is difficult to put a dollar-value on, but is critical to our client’s peace of mind.”
With Matrix on board, clients are able to invest their time doing what is critical to their exploration project, rather than spending valuable hours managing logistics.
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