Getting back to business with a bang

from Precast • Issue 2 • 2021

Plastic-lined concrete sewerage pipes

Local concrete equipment manufacturer PMSA has suggested concrete manufacturers follow a phased approach to streamline manufacturing and position themselves to fully capitalise on an inevitable leap in demand for precast units post-lockdown.

Having suffered varying degrees of financial distress during the hard lockdown, concrete manufacturers should look towards optimising their current operations and modernising plants in order to cut input costs and boost production. Incremental upgrades are not prohibitively expensive, but can have the effect of radically improving output volumes.

PMSA marketing and sales manager Quintin Booysen adds that plant upgrades off ered by the organisation on most major brands of brick, block and paver-making machinery has the additional benefit of improving productivity of the plant, reducing cement consumption and allowing faster strength gains of concrete products.

Opportunity awaits

“While cash fl ow is tight and money hard to come by, it’s increasingly obvious that companies need to be re-geared for a new way of doing business. Right now, they need to get back to full production, but do it carefully, so that they preserve cash fl ow while still upgrading and boosting plants.

“These upgrades start with simple measures like new production boards, which give better-quality end products,

cement-savings and fewer breakages, and can even improve curing times. Additional measures could include the installation of moisture measuring systems and control in aggregates and concrete mixers. By not considering and adjusting for moisture in aggregates, you could be partially dosing water in place of aggregate. Wet aggregate contains water trapped around the aggregate particles and by measuring the aggregate moisture content and adjusting for the moisture, you get a

“Companies need to get back to full production, but do it carefully, so that they preserve cashflow while still upgrading and boosting plants.”

better ratio of cement to aggregates and ultimately achieves better strength, while reducing cement usage.

“Other important upgrades include vibration systems, which are critical in any manufacturing method, whether ready-mix, wet, brick and blocks or any other manufacturing process. Vibrators help to remove air bubbles in wet mixes and ultimately reduce voids on cured concrete. A more controlled vibration gives better density and compaction for more consistent strength and fewer breakages,” says Booysen.

(Right): Technology-block-plants-vibration-page

(Left): Technology block plants.

(Below): Slim-Line Ludwig moisture control.

Good vibrations

“On bigger machines such as 1 400 x 840 board size, our PMSA UltraVibe system has amplitude and frequency settings which can provide the perfect setting for better production and curing. These amplitude and frequency settings can be changed in split-seconds, as required for optimal compaction, cement-savings, higher speeds on machines and better end products.

“Smaller machine types using 600 x 500mm boards can benefi t through the fi tment of specialised variable speed drives [VSD] to control frequency for better fi lling and our PMSA braking systems can replace old DC braking systems for quicker start and stop speeds.

“Better vibration can also be achieved with VSD systems and in combination, these upgrades can make an older or less advanced plant more productive and able to produce more competitive products by improving strength, using less cement, producing products that are less prone to breakages in the packing stages and providing better all-round control of manufacturing processes.

“Cement prices are on the way up and one way of countering this is to optimise plants and curing processes to allow a reduction in cement in the process. We believe that the more control you have over your plant, the better you’re able to control effi ciencies and costs for greater control of your business.

Supplier of choice

“Coupled to this, once you have this highly effi cient machine running, seconds start meaning something in terms of production, rather than days lost with some inferior products. Concrete manufacturers need a supplier that responds as quickly by providing top-quality service and support

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to make machines more productive in these types of effi cient environments.

“From service and spares to boards and optimisations, you need to make sure your supply chain responds effectively. Because our long-standing customers usually operate so productively, we have a full range of spares and parts to uphold manufacturing and respond quickly to ensure seamless operation of our plants. That’s also part of the reason ‘PMSA is built to last’.

“So before buying new equipment to meet surging demand post-lockdown, you may be able to upgrade existing plants and get into a position to supply more and betterquality products more cost-eff ectively.

Gearing up

“We think progressive concrete manufacturers need to be at the front of the queue to upgrade plants and improve productivity to meet surging demands that are already exceeding production capacities in some regions of the country.

“From design through to commissioning, an all-new plant can easily take eight months, which means that those who are thinking of ramping up now will only realistically start up their new plants next year – so those decisions need to be fasttracked to shorten the lead times. In the meantime, we suggest upgrading your existing plants.

“With no end in sight for the pandemic,

PMSA upgrades

• Moisture measurement and control in the aggregates and mixer – customers are able to reduce wastage and save 5-10% of cement. • Improved curing systems – customers can sell newly-produced products sooner, as the strength gain is faster with a curing system. Cement-savings are also an advantage, with 5% or more cement saved with a superior curing solution. • PMSA composite boards – both FTC and wood plastic composites provide improved compaction of end products, which means cement-savings and lower damages. Cement-savings can be over 10% with a high-quality PMSA composite board. • UltraVibe vibration systems for large machines result in better product compaction, faster cycle times and cement-savings. • Cycle times can be improved by up to 15% with a PMSA VSD braking system replacing a DC braking system

it’s a good idea to reduce inter-company Covid-19 transmissions through automation of processes. It’s worth noting that almost all production plants can be automated to reduce transmission of the disease, as well as enabling more seamless shift changes and a smaller core team. There are many options and the trick is to fi nd a strategy that works for each specifi c company,” says Booysen.