What cement users want
Dr Clark returns to the topic of cement product development looking at how the properties of cement can be modified to suit different concrete and mortar applications.
In December 2014 while participating in a workshop on “innovation products for strategic growth” organised by Považská Cementáren in Slovakia, the Technical Forum focussed on the topic of product development. Two key questions were asked: Why would a cement company undertake product development? At what stage in the lifecycle of a cement company would product development be an appropriate strategy?
Fundamentally a cement company undertakes product development as a strategy to increase or grow company profitability. Product development might be a way of differentiating a cement company from the competition or it might be a defensive response to protect market share against loss of sales to new products being offered by the competition.