Press release October 12: Cement production with drones, data glasses and Co.
Klagenfurt, October 12, 2021 … The digitization offensive of the Alpacem group has fully taken off over the past five years. During this period, more than five million euros were invested in innovative plant and environmental technology at the locations in Austria, Slovenia and Italy. Today, drones buzz through the air in the quarries, process data flows from one point to the next in production within milliseconds, and data glasses allow virtual worlds of technology to emerge before the eyes of the employees. But it’s a mistake to think the individual employee has lost importance due to the usage of the most modern technology: “Today more than ever we are dependent on the professional competence of our employees. As digitization progresses, it becomes very clear that every machine is only as good as the person who operates it,” explains Lutz Weber, Alpacem’s Managing Director for technology, human resources and purchasing.
New perspectives provided by data glasses
A major challenge for the internationally active Alpacem group is the international availability of know-how. In order to have the right specialist at hand for every occasion, Alpacem has been using special data glasses for maintenance and technical interventions since 2020. With the help of a new technology from Ubimax, specialists can see what the technician is doing on site, even from a distance, as with their own eyes. “The use of data glasses enables us to solve technical problems in record time and also brings CO2 savings due to reduced travel activities by specialists,” explains Weber.
New opportunities in mining
Digitization in the cement industry does not begin with production, but starts before the extraction of the raw materials. Where previously tachymeters and laser devices were mainly used for surveying, Alpacem now uses drones in the quarries in Wietersdorf and Peggau in Austria and in Anhovo in Slovenia. This procedure has a lot of advantages, such as more precise blast planning in mining through precise analysis of the 3D models. In addition to more precise and therefore more sustainable dismantling planning, inspection flights are also possible to places that were previously extremely difficult for the company’s employees to reach.
Digital logistics saves travel time and CO2
Alpacem also relies on intelligent technology in logistics to make the transport of cement and concrete more efficient and therefore more environmentally friendly. All trucks are connected directly to the dispatcher via GPS. After a delivery order is approved, the system automatically determines the loading point and a suitable vehicle. The required delivery information is immediately forwarded to the driver. The system then evaluates all transaction data in order to identify further optimization potential. This reduces costs, fuel and waiting times at the same time.
Digitization enables quality improvement and resource conservation
For large projects, the Alpacem group relies on its transnational structures. In this way, new technologies can be tested at one location and then rolled out to the entire group as a best-practice example. This also applies to the fully automated process control, which was first implemented in the Slovenian plant in Anhovo and has also been used at the Wietersdorf site in Carinthia since 2019. This independently collects more than 40,000 material samples per year, which are examined in detail by robots in the laboratory. This allows the employees at the control center to correct even the smallest irregularities in real time. In addition to the increase in quality, the process control also ensures an optimal which means careful use of natural resources.
Pictures (Copyright: Alpacem): For the sustainable development of the Alpacem group of companies, the two managing directors Lutz Weber and Bernhard Auer rely on digital processes.
About Alpacem
The Alpacem umbrella brand includes the Cement & Concrete business area and is therefore one of a total of five business areas of the Wietersdorfer Group. All activities relating to the development, production, further processing and sale of cement and concrete are located here. The six regional companies in Austria, Slovenia and Northern Italy employ more than 650 people at their 21 locations. With a turnover of 177 million euros (2020), the annual capacities are more than two million tons of cement and binder or more than 350,000 cubic meters of ready-mixed concrete. Alpacem is based in Klagenfurt.
Questions please contact:
Mag. Michaela Hebein
Email: mh@khpartner.at
Mobile: +43 664 4225 107