Automation improves concrete production

The use of automated configurations improves the processes of production control, allowing benefits in operating quality, time and costs

As occurred in other areas, automation came to stay also in the concrete industry. The use of 100 percent automated configurations is currently responsible by increasing significantly the operation level of concrete plants. It brings benefits such as a reduction in the standard deviation of the plants—what allows to get better quality of the material—and in their operating costs.

According to experts, automation also allows the traceability of plant operations through reports, increases the reliability of the mix—which is produced with automatic dosing of materials—and allows controlling its compliance with the patterns of dosing tolerances. In fact, gains are so expressive that the activity seems to have entered in a no-return path to modernization. “When compared to manual operations, automation really brings several benefits to concrete plants”, comments Eduardo Souza, director from RCO, that manufactures last-generation equipment. “Results include even details of management such as a better integration with ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), fiscal systems of the company and stock controls, as well as agility in the evaluation of the financial and productive results of the company.”

Considering auxiliary equipment such as aggregate bins, scales, weighing conveyor belts, conveyors, water and additive batchers, the engineer Luiz Polachini, commercial manager from Schwing-Stetter for South America, emphasizes that the new system of control and management allows a considerable increase in productivity since each mix is automatically adjusted by the program, with no intervention of the operator and necessity of manual processes. “Scales and weighing devices are automatically put on or off, dosing correctly the inputs. This results in higher efficiency of the equipment and increases the quality of the concrete”, ensures him.

In this sense, Souza agrees that there is a significant benefit in the quality of produced material and he adds that it is possible to increase the durability of the equipment and to reduce corrective maintenance interventions, what results in cost reduction for the user. “It is also possible to increase production speed. This means that as the speed increases within acceptable limits, the production—and consequently the profits—will also increase”, points him.

ACTUAL CASE

As one can see, the use of high-tech in concrete production was the strategy adopted by the companies to deliver a mix of high quality in the scheduled deadlines. This is, for example, the case of FIT Concreto, from Tambaú (SP).

A division of the RCO group, the ready-mix supplier gave an important step for innovation in the area of concrete with the automation of the processes of production and product delivery, from monitoring aggregates and additives to the delivery of mixing trucks through GPS.

The lean production model adopted has the capacity of 2000 cu.mt. of mixed concrete by month, supplying cities located in a radius of 60 km from its headquarters. Its average cycle of production is 22 minutes, from concrete dosing to the delivery of the bill. The process starts in the service hiring, carried out personally or by phone, as explains Rudah Celestino, technical and commercial consultant of the company. “After issuing the order, our ERP system generates the contract and puts it automatically in the daily deliver scheduling, crossing all orders of the day”, explains him.

According to the consultant, the order of loading is issued next, with all data of the aggregates needed to produce the concrete. The process aims to improve the performance of all workers who take part directly in the production, such as loader operators—who supply the concrete batching plant—and the scale operator, who ensures that the quantities of inputs are correct.

To deliver the product, the system monitors the fleet of trucks in real time through GPS, supporting the engineers in the definition of logistics to ensure the compliance of the agreed deadlines. “Monitoring gives us data of former delivery orders. Based on this information we may understand the logistics of the day”, explains Celestino.