Cement News tagged under: digitalisation

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Harness the power of AI and industrial analytics

03 May 2023, Published under Cement News

Digital applications, together with cloud and edge computing, can help to optimise the performance of rotating machinery, as ABB explains. By Sanjit Shewale, ABB, Switzerland. Data analytics – answering critical questions about assets Cement producers, in addition to the recurrent challenges of optimising efficiency, and maintaining throughput and quality control during high-volume production, must now comply with increasingly strict environmental legislation aimed at reducing e...

CarbonRe gains valuable feedback from UK plant visit

24 April 2023, Published under Cement News

The machine learning (ML) team at CarbonRe recently visited Breedon 's Hope Cement Works in Derbyshire, UK and spent a day talking with plant operators who are working with the company’s Delta Zero product for kiln and preheater optimisation. CarbonRe found that a major theme stood out for them on their plant visit, the human side of process engineering. Each operator has their own preferences and biases in how they operate the plant which affects how each operator trusts and uses C...

Indocement sees 3% rise in profit in 2022

05 April 2023, Published under Cement News

PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa Tbk (INTP), part of Heidelberg Materials , reported a profit of IDR1.84trn (US$123.2m), up three per cent YoY, in 2022. Net revenue was up 10.5 per cent to IDR16.32trn when compared with 2021, when net revenue reached IDR14.77trn. INTP’s cement sales to third parties in 2022 saw a 9.9 per cent YoY increase to IDR14.75trn, while ready-mixed concrete sales advanced 20.9 per cent YoY to IDR1.29trn. However, aggregate sales were down 48 per cent YoY to IDR19.7...

Holcim Maya plant: achieving next level operational performance

13 March 2023, Published under Cement News

Last year, Holcim El Salvador completed the modernisation and reactivation of its Maya cement works. Equipped with Industry 4.0 technology, it has become one of the first facilities to benefit from Holcim’s ‘Plants of Tomorrow’ initiative. Juan Romero, director of Industrial Operations, Holcim El Salvador, explains what it means for Maya to be a digital showcase site, a leader in performance excellence, and a pioneer in Industry 4.0 technologies developed by an expert team of innovators. ...

Holcim launches digital twin cement plant in Switzerland

03 March 2023, Published under Cement News

Holcim claims it has launched the world’s first cement plant digital twin, a real-time 3D virtual model accurately replicating one of its sites in Switzerland. The digital twin integrates Holcim’s enterprise software and performance prediction algorithms with the 3D model, enabling faster, more efficient and more reliable operations at minimal cost.   The project is part of Holcim’s Plants of Tomorrow programme , deploying Industry 4.0 technologies across its sites for enhanced eff...

Votorantim opts for ABB Industry 4.0 technology

10 February 2023, Published under Cement News

Votorantim Cimentos Group  is installing Industry 4.0 in cement to optimise production and decarbonise operations. ABB has delivered advanced automation and digital technologies to the Brazilian cement producer.  Votorantim Cimentos Europe, Asia and Africa Region (VCEAA), which has the worldwide capacity to produce 55.7Mta of cement, are ramping up efforts to ensure lower emissions as governments and international organisations push for net-zero emissions by 2030. Digi...

Holcim Philippines embrace drones and digitalisation for maintenance

16 January 2023, Published under Cement News

Holcim Philippines has started to harness advanced technology as part of its regular maintenance programme in plants and manufacturing sites. Drones inspect the La Union facility in Bacnotan, allowing the operator to take notes of maintenance actions to be taken. Using drones for regular and periodic maintenance has eliminated health and safety risks from having people conduct visual inspections in remote spaces. The drone also allows for higher frequency of checks and reduces equipment ...

Emerson named ‘Industrial IoT Company of the Year’ for 5th time

13 January 2023, Published under Cement News

Global technology and software company Emerson has been named the IoT Breakthrough 2023 ‘Industrial IoT Company of the Year’ for the fifth time, following previous awards in 2018-20 and 2022. This year’s award recognises the power of Emerson’s industry-leading Plantweb™ digital ecosystem, which now includes the AspenTech suite of plant optimisation software solutions.   Plantweb, including the AspenTech portfolio of asset optimisation software, enables companies to ‘See, Decide, Act a...

Three lines of defence

11 January 2023, Published under Cement News

Digitalisation has enabled cement producers to increase the uptime of their equipment as artificial intelligence (AI) has alerted them to current or future equipment failure so swift action can be taken through the plant’s maintenance and repair programme. This reduces lengthy and costly downtime. By Mary Beth Kramer, Kramer Consulting, USA. Detectable failures at early stages save on repair costs and reduce downtime Predictive maintenance with artificial intelligence (AI) are h...

Better predictive power

03 January 2023, Published under Cement News

With the cement sector now under pressure to improve the efficiency of operations, Industry 4.0 brings new opportunities. The study presented in this article provides a novel data-driven approach to predicting weighing deviations in the loading of bags, pallets or bulk cement into vehicles at a cement plant. Real-world empirical data was used to explore different machine learning classifiers and compare their predictive power to improve dispatch workflow process efficiency. By Júlio Barros, ...