CEMEX achieve cement industry first
Company marks a milestone as the first to successfully operate cement plants by remote control
CEMEX say they have marked a unique milestone in the cement industry by becoming the first company to successfully operate plants by remote control.
From the company’s central location in Monterrey, Mexico, CEMEX’s innovative monitoring and remote control system, Centro de Control Cemento (Cement Control Center or C3), operates in real time, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, tracking live data for the operation of 14 cement plants, 25 kilns, and 86 grinding mills in Mexico, coupled with monitoring a cement plant in Colombia and another one in the US.
The system’s uninterrupted monitoring provides information about each stage of the production process, as well as the performance of equipment installed in the cement plants. This allows C3 operators to not only monitor, but also take immediate corrective actions in co-ordination with the company’s local operations staff, and have access to the installed intelligent control systems to minimize any deviation from safety, environmental, efficiency, and product quality targets.
According to CEMEX, C3 was created to more effectively leverage the resources and technological innovation available across the company’s global operations network.
Through CEMEX Mexico’s Operations and Technology vice-presidency, the company has sought to unify the control systems of all its cement plants in order to make real-time optimal decisions, more conveniently share best practices, and maximize operating performance as well as management of energy and resources.
Edgar Angeles, operations vice-president of CEMEX Mexico, said: ‘CEMEX applied the most modern technology to develop a system that marks a unique milestone in today’s cement industry. C3 is an excellent tool to promote safety in our operations and make our processes more efficient.’
CEMEX say they are already reaping the benefits of the teamwork displayed by the company’s departments of Maintenance, Processes, and Sustainability through the C3 system. The company has not only enjoyed a 50% reduction in the number of operational incidents, but has also replicated best practices, extended shared knowledge and expertise, and achieved an overall improvement in operating efficiency and reliability, among other advantages.
