Mexico: Cemex has announced that it has become the first company in the cement industry to successfully operate plants by remote control, from its central location in Monterrey, Nuevo León. According to the company, the Cemento Control Center (C3) operates 365 days a year, tracking live data from the operation of 14 cement plants, 25 kilns and 86 mills in Mexico. It also monitors a cement plant in Colombia and another in the US.
In a statement, Cemex said that the continuous monitoring of the system provides information on each stage of the production process, as well as the performance of the equipment installed in the cement plants. It allows the C3 operators to not only monitor the plants, but also to take immediate corrective actions, in coordination with local operations staff and with access to existing intelligent control systems. This helps to minimise any deviation from the objectives of safety, environmental control, efficiency and product quality.
"Cemex created the C3 system to take more effective advantage of the resources and technological innovation available through the company's global operating network," said the statement from Cemex. The company's vice president of operations, Edgar Ángeles, added that the company has applied the most modern technology to develop a unique system in the current cement industry. With the operation of C3, Cemex says that the plants have already seen a 50% reduction in the number of operational accidents as well benefits from immediate sharing of best practice and the generation of shared knowelege and expertise.
