WCA kicks off PEGASUS 2020
World Cement Association launches cement kiln benchmarking and performance improvement project
THE World Cement Association (WCA) has announced today the launch of Phase I of its PEGASUS 2020 project, a multi-company benchmarking and performance-improvement initiative for WCA corporate members.
Executives from 11 companies representing more than 100 cement plants are taking part in this first stage.
PEGASUS, which stands for Plant Evaluation, Gap Analysis and Support Service, has been designed as a virtual native project that can be delivered within current COVID limitations around the world.
All clinker producing WCA members are able to take part at no cost. Benefits include cost reduction, plant performance improvement and professional development opportunities for participating managers and engineers.
Phase I focuses on benchmarking, aiming to help participants identify the gaps between their own plant operations and best practice.
Participants will each collect data from their own plants and WCA experts will create an anonymised ranking. This will allow companies to compare the results of their plants against both best practice and other companies’ performance.
‘We are really excited to be kicking off WCA’S first benchmarking project. One of our most important objectives is to help members improve operational performance, and PEGASUS 2020 makes a direct contribution to this,’ said Ian Riley (pictured), chief executive officer of the WCA.
‘We’ve been pleased to see strong interest in the project from members keen to reduce costs, energy consumption and CO2 emissions by adopting best practice.’
After the completion of this phase, Phase II will aim to identify the most cost- effective way to close key gaps. During this stage, the WCA will host topic-specific forums for all participants and plant-specific deep dives to explore ways of improving performance and develop related action plans.
Delon Perumal, head of PPC International, said: ‘PPC are proud and honoured to be part of the PEGASUS project: the world cement kiln benchmarking initiative. Over the last 10 years, we have been upgrading our main kiln lines to the latest technology to deliver on our long-term sustainability strategy.
‘By ensuring that our factories are operated at world-class standards, we can reduce our energy costs and carbon footprint whilst maintaining the quality and consistency of our products which we have been manufacturing for over a century.’
Frikkie Van Zyl, head of operations for PPC in South Africa, added: ‘Being part of WCA’s PEGASUS project will assist in gap identification within PPC’s processes and systems, and thus provide a basis to improve our operational efficiencies and build on our competitive advantages.’
