Displaying items by tag: robotics
US: Ash Grove Cement, part of CRH, has deployed Boston Dynamics’ autonomous robot ‘Spot’ at its cement plant in Washington in a year-long pilot to boost efficiency and safety. Operating more than 80 hours a week, the four-legged robot conducts routine inspections using a 4K camera and laser scanning, detecting anomalies and alerting teams before failures occur.
The company said that the robot can measure refractory bricks inside cement kilns, reducing risks by keeping employees out of hazardous environments. During the trial, Spot detected a failing bearing in rotating equipment, preventing unplanned downtime. Ash Grove said that the technology improves site safety, frees skilled teams for complex work and enables real-time monitoring in the hot and dusty conditions at the plant.
Plant manager Andy White said “Our aim for Spot is that, at the moment, we don’t have preventative or proactive maintenance routines on night shifts and the weekends. And, also, our labour force has to spend a lot of time recording data rather than analysing it… Spot can do this for us. When we come in the mornings, we already have reported generated, so we can proactively fix those issues thather than spending eight hours trying to find them.”
India: Ambuja Cements and ACC are planning to participate in parent company LafargeHolcim’s ‘Plants of Tomorrow’ programme. The initiative, which aims to make cement manufacturing more efficient through better plant optimisation, higher plant availability and a safer working environment, is part of LafargeHolcim’s ‘Building for Growth’ strategy, which was launched globally in mid-2019.
The four-year programme implemented by LafargeHolcim aims to create a global network of over 270 integrated cement plants and grinding stations in more than 50 countries by applying automation technologies and robotics, machine learning, predictive maintenance and digital twin technologies to the entire production processes. The ‘Plants of Tomorrow’ initiative is also being implemented in other key markets in Switzerland, France, Germany, United Kingdom, US, Canada and Russia.
“As an industry leader we are looking at 'Plants of Tomorrow’ as a big opportunity and responsibility to place India on the map of global cement manufacturing. This path-breaking project will lead to transformative outcomes not just in terms of operational and financial gains but also make cement manufacturing in the country environmentally sustainable and create a safe work environment for our colleagues across all our plants,” said Neeraj Akhoury, the chief executive officer (CEO) of India Holcim and managing director and CEO of Ambuja Cements.
