Cachapuz was featured in the Cementreview of July with an article “Driving innovations in logitics”, focused on the SLV Cement solution, which has been implemented in several areas of the globe, including the African market.

Like many areas within the cement production process, logistics have been transformed by digitalisation. Embracing these developments, Cachapuz Bilanciai Group’s SLV Cement smart logistics solution continues to help producers across the world upgrade procedures 30 years after its launch, with promising developments in the north African market.

SLV Cement – Cachapuz’s advanced IT logistics solution – has been helping cement companies improve global logistics operations for 30 years since its launch in the early 1990s. Operational procedures for the inbound arrival of raw materials and the outbound delivery of cement dispatches have been automated and optimised, ensuring greater efficiency and lowering costs. As a result, this smart logistics solution has been successfully deployed in cement plants, quarries and aggregates units around the world.

Digital transformation and system implementation

SLV Cement is a state-of-the-art solution that takes advantage of the main paradigms of digitalisation and industry 4.0 and leverages the use of related technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, computer vision, augmented reality, mobility and cloud computing. Using these technologies, SLV Cement helps cement producers reduce operation and turnaround times, as well as lower fixed operating costs, ensuring asset security and improving the quality of service to customers.
Through its scalable and modular architecture, SLV Cement enables unmanned operations that are seamlessly integrated with SAP software in online and offline mode. In addition, the solution provides information to all those involved in the logistics process, which means that the entire logistics chain can be significantly improved.

Adapting to local requirements

Over the years, Cachapuz has been able to adapt its SLV Cement solution to take into account local operating conditions. The solution is now active in many cement plants worldwide, including the growing African market, where the first installation took place in 2007. The company has partnered with major cement producers in Egypt, Tunisia, Côte d’Ivoire, Angola, Mozambique and Morocco. In each case Cachapuz has been able to adapt its solution to local needs and offer its customers efficient support. One of the key partnerships in the region, established in 2019, is with
Votorantim Cimentos Europe, Africa and Asia (VCEAA), one of the top global cement and aggregate producers. As part of Votorantim Cimentos’ global customer centric strategy focussed  on the excellence of service, VCEAA implemented its digital transformation strategy, including a new dispatch system for north African operations.

In Morocco and Tunisia, VCEAA opted for the SLV Cement solution. The implemented solution provides unmanned operations seamlessly integrated with SAP in online and offline working modes and was deployed at cement plants, quarries and aggregates units of VCEAA’s Moroccan and Tunisian business units. In VCEAA’s Moroccan operations the implementation of SLV Cement is currently being extended to a new aggregates unit in Meknes. The optimisation of the inbound flow of raw material trucks at Asment Temara cement plant is also underway. At Granulats Jbel Oust in Tunisia, noptimisation of processes and operational procedures are ongoing.

Growing north African market

The north African construction and infrastructure market is currently undergoing rapid development, with significant potential for growth in the coming years. North African countries are investing in infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, railways, ports, airports, as well as the construction of commercial, residential and industrial buildings. Meanwhile, demand for cement is on the rise across the region, driven by rapid population growth, urbanisation and increasedinfrastructure investment.

To keep pace with growing demand, and supported by the region’s wealth in terms of natural resources (such as limestone and clay), a number of producers are expanding capacities and
making use of advanced production technologies. As a result, the region has become a key market for the SLV Cement solution.

Customised process flow

The SLV Cement system guides drivers through a customised process flow. It standardises and automates material flow, enabling operational improvements as
well as optimising inbound and outbound processes. SLV Cement is a vertical and integrated solution with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and other existing information and automation systems that promotes complete visibility and transparency during operations. It also provides operational indicators that are available in real-time as well as the continuous monitoring of business performance. SLV Cement has enabled cement companies across Africa implement technologically-advanced dispatchsystems to improve the efficiency, quality, and safety of logistics processes and follow market developments. For local producers, this means reduced operating costs, improved efficiency and better visibility across the supply chain. Therefore, cement companies that implement SLV Cement can look forward to improving their competitive edge. (…) 

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The application of Logistics 4.0 solutions is providing significant benefits to clinker dispatch, resulting in a seamless loading operation with minimised environmental impact.

In the realm of construction and infrastructure development, cement stands as a fundamental element, and at the heart of cement production lies the crucial ingredient – clinker. Several nations stand out in clinker production capacity, with China, India and the USA leading the charge in 2022, followed by Vietnam, Turkey, Iran, Russia and Indonesia. These countries collectively produce a significant share of the world’s clinker supply, catering to both domestic demand and exports. The USA, Philippines and China are the main clinker-importing countries, followed by the United Kingdom, France, The Netherlands and Bangladesh. Therefore, the dynamics of clinker trade witness various nations importing and exporting these nodules based on their production capacities and demands.

(…)

An IT Logistics solution, highly advanced and process driven such as SLV Cement, addresses logistical challenges by standardising and automating material flows. It actively contributes to enhancing
both logistical and operational efficiency, ensuring greater flexibility, optimisation and heightened productivity. The digitisation of operational processes and their integration with ERP, MES and automation systems fosters
interoperability, connectivity and seamless data sharing among all stakeholders. This integration significantly improves resource efficiency and enables real-time responsiveness to critical decisions. Within this context, the previously manual and operator-dependent reception and dispatch processes for clinker have been automated. This automation reduces cycle times, operation duration, errors, and failures, thereby enhancing visibility, security, traceability, precision, logistical efficiency, and operational effectiveness. Ultimately, this results in improved planning capabilities and substantial gains in productivity while cutting down transportation costs.

The automation of these processes involves the deployment of kiosks and intelligent devices at different stages of the workflow. This set-up empowers drivers equipped with identifying devices to independently execute various operations. Specifically concerning clinker loading, the kiosk seamlessly integrates with the weighing and loading automation system. This integration streamlines operations, ensuring a controlled and secure loading process for drivers. Coordinating gates and access control devices helps isolate the loading operation, minimising its environmental impact. The automation of clinker loading, an integral part of SLV Cement’s comprehensive logistics management, initially started at cement factories in Portugal and has since been implemented in diverse geographical locations.

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Votorantim Asment Temara is the the company in Morocco where Cachapuz is installing SLV Cement, the advanced logistics IT solution that standardizes and automates the logistic flow of materials in cement plants.

SLV Cement improves and optimizes dispatch processes, allowing the monitoring and control of operations, as well as plant performance and the level of service provided. Integrated with the company’s ERP, the technological solution is also equipped with powerful operational analysis tools, automatically generating detailed reports according to the designated users.

SLV Cement implementation aims to optimize and automate the logistic flows of raw material input and cement exit, whether in bags, pallets or in bulk, fully integrated with SAP.

The scope of the implementation also includes the automation of the operations of entry, exit and transfer of material from the main quarry of Asment to the aggregate business unit in Grabemaro.

Votorantim Asment Temara is one of the most important cement companies in Morocco, working on several reference projects in that country. With an integrated cement factory that presents a total annual cement production capacity of 1.2 million tons, it’s responsible for the production of four types of cement for different uses in construction.

Cachapuz has concluded the training of the engineers of the Bazian and Tasluja plants in order to be autonomous in the installation, operationalization and maintenance of the Bag Printing system implemented by Cachapuz.

Cachapuz has installed the new service kiosks at the parking zone in the various industrial units of Cimpor in Portugal.
This new family of service kiosks is in the process of equipment revamping and involves the provision of a more evolved operation to the truck drivers.

United Cement Company que integram o Grupo LafargeHolcim.
Cachapuz has received confirmation of the implementation of the Bag Printing module in the Bazian Cement Company and United Cement Company factories that are part of the LafargeHolcim Group, the largest cement group in the world.

Cachapuz has recently finished the implementation of the SLV Cement solution on the Butibori plant, in India, one of the three industrial units of the Reliance Cement Company Private Limited (RCCPL).

This unit located in Maharashtra has an installed capacity of 0.5 million tonnes per year. Commissioned in 2012, its activity is actually directed to the regions of Vidharbaha in Maharashtra and Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh markets.

SLV Cement is integrated with SAP and with the existing weighbridge automation, introducing processes improvement at different levels, namely:
– Clear and segmented vision of turnaround time (TAT);
– Automatic analysis and cross-checking of the of loaded bags with the exit weight;
– Precise system to count the bags integrated with the rest of the process, including automatic MRP printing and automatic loading operations;
– Optimized monitoring of trucks movements;
– Registration, maintenance and control of trucks legal information (PUC, Insurance, Fitness Certificate).

Find out why people are so interested in our best selling software & automation weighing solution for the cement industry…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drPvSe3v9Vk

SLV Cement is an innovative system that is focused on cement manufacturing plants, providing the complete automation of the main processes: weighing, shipping, parking, entry/exit gates, bulk loading, bags loading and counting, raw materials unloading and ERP integration.

Portugal is now a fashionable theme. Outside its borders it is a ‘hit’ in terms of tourism and culture. There are Portuguese companies of excellence and ‘case studies’ that are reported daily. And all this in a country plunged into a deep crisis and austerity. Are we living in two different realities? Probably. One part lives. The other survives.

For those who ‘choose’ to live, success is the goal, but the path is long and arduous, only transposed to the bold and persevering. When they reach the mountain top, as in football, only the result matters and we rarely see the ‘game’: how muscular, demanding and persistent was the epic uphill path.

This is the beginning of an enlightening article that Cachapuz published in the prestigious ICR Magazine last September.

Read all about here (pdf download).

Cachapuz and New Cimangola have reinforced their partnership for the automation of the SLV Cement solution.
A Nova Cimangola, located in Luanda, is the leading producer of cement in Angola; since 2007, Cachapuz has been supplying this company with technologically innovative equipment and solutions to manage the cement dispatch and the raw materials reception.
Cachapuz SLV Cement solution was implemented in late 2009 in the Nova Cimangola industrial unit in the Cacuaco municipality, but time has now come to upgrade the solution in order to ensure the highest level of automation. Cachapuz has strengthened the implemented system by providing it with a new set of modules and features that allow the optimization of the control and management of the trucks’ flow for loading and unloading operations.
The modernization of the SLV Cement solution results from its latest version and developed software based on an architecture oriented towards an operational front-end and web based management services. These are equipped with advanced tools for monitoring, tracking and reporting, thus increasing control on operating procedures for the reception of raw materials and shipment of bagged or bulk cement.
In practice, the SLV Cement solution brings together the dispatch and control of logistics flow that automates all processes, from the arrival of a truck to the factory to the cement shipping, automatically printing all the required documentation at the end of the process.
Cachapuz ensures, once again, its domain when it comes to innovation by making use of the evolution and technological development put in this solution together with its proactive attitude towards the market.