One Talk - January 2023
Cement supply, manufacture and sustainability ACTion
Happy January and welcome to our latest Bulk Cement Newsletter.
In this edition we focus on two initiatives. Firstly, an update on the introduction of Portland Limestone Cement (PLC) in the Southwest, which forms an important part of our sustainability strategy, and secondly the launch of Sales Force CRM in Cement and Lime as part of our digital transformation programme.
We hope you find the newsletter useful and look forward to your feedback, thoughts and suggestions.
The Bulk cement team.
PLC Project Update
You may recall our first Newsletter of March last year we looked at our actions targeting improved Sustainability and on-going projects within Cement and Lime to reduce our carbon footprint.
Specific reference was made to Tarmac’s efforts, in conjunction with the MPA and the Building Research Establishment, to amend the Concrete Standard, BS 8500, and recognise the use of ternary cements in all durability and concrete design classes. In turn this would allow a widespread move away from the production of standard CEM I to that of Portland
Limestone Cement (PLC) CEM II/A-LL, thus reducing CO2 without compromising performance.
Clearly this has major implications for both cement and concrete manufacture and requires a multi-disciplined approach. To this end Andy Campling, National RMX Technical & Business Optimisation Manager, is heading project team with members from Tarmac RMX, TBP and Cement. Trial work has been going on for the last six months and it is timely to have a progress report.
Aberthaw Production of PLC
Since July 4,600 tonnes of PLC produced at Aberthaw have been supplied to the following sites: TBP Blocks, Wellington, Wellington RMC, Briton Ferry RMC and Hopkins, Wincanton.
The ready-mix concrete specification was changed from C III/A to C II/B-M to accommodate PLC and assess its impact on performance.
As with any change in cement source this required an initial increase in cement content of 20kg (10kg in the case of TBP Blocks) per M3. It was quickly established that concrete performance was excellent and cement content could be normalised. An added benefit was GGBS content could also
be reduced during a period of significant supply difficulties. Over-all the trial has been positive.
The next stage from a cement perspective is to optimise limestone content to minimise any impact on milling output at Aberthaw. Production trials have started at our Tunstead works (December ‘22 and January ’23) These trials will be followed by
Dunbar in the middle of the year. Trials on the use of PLC for TBP Mortars are set to begin early in ‘23.
The results
We have had a successful trial which demonstrates
the efficacy of PLC in Ready Mix and Precast
production. The next challenge is upscaling this
across our national network in readiness for
the changes to BS 8500 sometime in Q3 ’23.
Salesforce CRM System go-live
It is often said we now live in a digital world and the construction sector is no exception. Tarmac is committed to having best possible systems to help serve our customers’ needs. Since Cement and Lime have had many years of experience using a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system we are the first business unit to adopt Salesforce which will become the common CRM platform across the whole of Tarmac.
Our go-live was the 14th November followed by two weeks of hyper care to ensure the system was fully functioning before the main roll-out to general commercial users. It has been a case of so far, so good with all the functionality of the legacy system now transferred to Salesforce.
Another advantage of the new system is that it is fully supported by our own in-house IT Department without the need to rely on third party contractors. This will allow us to tailor the system to evolving business needs. Already for consideration is how we can utilise it to improve our project tracking, management of our opportunity pipeline and the creation of live customer dashboards for our sales teams.
Unlike the previous Oracle system, Salesforce is fully integrated into SAP and will allow users to record and view all our customer interactions in real-time including sales calls, account plans, orders, quotations, credit limits and queries. This represents a significant improvement in our digital interactions and provides a real opportunity to enhance customer experience and service levels.
It is reassuring that the on-going collaboration between Cement and Lime and IT should ensure an effective roll-out of CRM across the rest of the business during 2023. You will be informed of how Salesforce will be introduced to your own business unit in due course.
We hope you have found this update useful. Please feel free to contact the team if you need any support.
Your cement team.
