Cemex announced that it is the first company in the cement industry to successfully operate plants by remote control. From its central location in Monterrey, Mexico, the company’s Centro de Control Cemento (C3) system operates in real time and tracks live data of 14 cement plants, 25 kilns and 86 grinding mills in Mexico, coupled with a facility in Colombia and another in the United States.
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 enables C3 operators to not only monitor but also take immediate corrective actions in coordination with the local operations staff to minimize any deviation from safety, environmental, efficiency, and product quality targets.
Cemex created the C3 to more effectively leverage the resources and technological innovation available across the company’s global operations network. The company mainly sought to unify the control systems of all its cement plants to make real-time optimal decisions, more conveniently share best practices, and to maximize operating performance as well as management of energy and resources.
“Cemex applied the most modern technology to develop a system that marks a unique milestone in today’s cement industry. The C3 is an excellent tool to promote safety in our operations and make our processes more efficient,” said Edgar Angeles, operations vice president of Cemex Mexico.
The company is already reaping the benefits of the teamwork displayed by its maintenance, process, and sustainability departments through the C3 system. Cemex stated that not only has it enjoyed a 50 percent reduction in the number of operational incidents, but also has replicated best practices, extended shared knowledge and expertise, and has achieved an overall improvement in operating efficiency and reliability, among other advantages.
