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BEUMER supplies entire packaging line to Cruz Azul

Published

7 years ago

September 30, 2017

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A plant in Mexico needed a flexible packaging platform for its mortar packing unit. The BEUMER Group provided the solution.

Gigantic bridges, high-rises, tunnels for roads, subways and sewage systems: some of biggest construction projects in Latin America are currently being built in Mexico. This makes the country the second largest cement market on the continent, right after Brazil. In order to hold their own against national and international competition, Mexican manufacturers are developing more and more high-class materials.

Cooperative La Cruz Azul, headquartered in Mexico City, is one of them. The production of this leading company, founded in 1881, is aimed exclusively towards the domestic market. The manufacturer operates four plants with a yearly production of around eight million tonnes of Portland cement per year, which is only one of their end products. The main plant is in Jasso in the State of Hidalgo. The city is located in a region that is very rich in limestone. A football club founded by employees of this cement plant in 1927 is now playing in the top level of the Mexican football league, with national and international success.

Decisive factors: supplier reliability and quality
Success plays an important role for Cruz Azul as well. Its cement production represents 22 per cent of the national market. With the goal to further increase this share, the cooperative developed high-quality tile mortar in eight different variations as one of their new products. ‘The quality of the building materials is decisive in order to remain competitive,’ explains Victor Luna, Managing Director at Cruz Azul in Hidalgo. Distributors and end customers also want the products to arrive by the required date and quantity. A small amount of the mortar is sold in big bags, the majority however is sold in 20- and 25-kg bags. This is why the manufacturer needed an entire packaging line that could meet very specific requirements: due to varying material densities, and as a consequence different flow properties of the different variants of the new product line, the filling system had to be adjustable to the different materials as well as to smaller bag sizes without extensive retrofitting of the machine through the employees. The line should then palletise precise and stable bags stacks and package them to protect the content against transport damage and atmospheric influences.

Decision for the right partner
March 2015: after an offer from another supplier had already gone in and the project was already at an advanced stage, employees from the cooperative Cruz Azul responsible for the project reached out to BEUMER Group to also hand in an offer. ‘We have been working closely together for the last 30 years,’ says Luna. ‘We have a long-standing relationship and trust in the BEUMER brand.’

This trustful relationship is not surprising. BEUMER Group was already able to convince in 2008. In an extensive major order for the plant in the State of Puebla, the system supplier provided and installed five bucket elevators and two palletising and packaging lines in only 26 months. They consist of BEUMER paletpac palletisers and the BEUMER stretch hood high-capacity packaging systems. As with the current project, one of the requirements for this line was to palletise and package various bagged materials, without extensive retrofitting of the machines. Victor Luna emphasizes that BEUMER Group provided them with an adaptable technology with which his colleagues are working efficiently to this day.

Filling technology, made in Germany
BEUMER Group presented the BEUMER fillpac R filling system to Cruz Azul. ‘Changing the required parameters is simple and quick and the different material is filled efficiently into two- to four-ply paper valve bags,’ explains Ralph Buchholz, Director General at BEUMER de MTxico. Both companies quickly agreed on the scope and scheduling for the entire packaging line, and signed the contract already in April. ‘Cruz Azul attaches greatest value to the quality seal ‘Made in Germany’,’ explains Buchholz. ‘Those responsible for the project even travelled to our headquarters in Beckum, Germany to accept the systems in person.’

In October 2015, the BEUMER Group provided the systems. Three BEUMER employees from Germany and one from Mexico were in charge of installing the system. ‘We had to integrate the line into the existing building structure and bulk storage technology,’ reports Buchholz. ‘My colleagues mastered this challenge because our solutions can be easily adapted to technical and structural conditions.’ In this case, the engineers had to rework the suspension for the BEUMER fillpac.

Precise degrees of filling
The BEUMER fillpac R operates with with eight rotating filling spouts according to the impeller filling principle. This way it can safely handle even fine-grained tile mortar. The rotating filling impeller is characterised by its speed and maximum material throughput. ‘The bags are weighed during the filling process,’ explains Buchholz. The BEUMER fillpac is equipped with an electronic calibration-capable weighing unit. It ensures that the bags are always filled with the same amount of material. A special software enables filling spouts and scale to constantly compare the weight. If the determined weight is incorrect, the bags are automatically removed, discharged on a chute and opened. The collected material is fed back into the process via a spillage screw conveyor and a bucket elevator.

The system has a modular structure. ‘We equipped the system with the new BEUMER bag placer because the material is so fine and volatile,’ says Buchholz. A ream magazine for 700 bags was also added. This allows Cruz Azul to further increase the efficiency of the filling system. Servomotors drive the application unit and the suction gripper automatically, precisely and energy-efficiently. The gripping system and the application unit apply the bag from the stack safely onto the filling spout. The system can pack 1,800 25-kg bags or 2,250 20-kg bags per hour with the highest precision. ‘The operator can also adjust the BEUMER bag placer to other bag formats,’ explains Buchholz.

For the subsequent fully automatic, reliable and most of all fast palletising, BEUMER Group installed a BEUMER paletpac layer palletiser. Per hour, it gently and reliably stacks 2,200 bags per hour in 10-bag patterns or in eight-bag patterns on pallets of 1,220 x 1,020 x 245 mm in size. ‘A twin-belt turning device brings the bags in the required, dimensionally stable position,’ explains Buchholz. The position accuracy of this device offers a great advantage compared to conventional turning machines, because the system’s components move the bags without mechanically deforming them: two parallel driven belt conveyors move at different speeds and turn the bags quickly into the desired position. The intelligent control of the twin-belt turning device also takes the dimension and weight of the filled bag into consideration. Exact positioning, specified by the preset packing pattern, is achieved. ‘No adjustment is necessary even with a product change,’ says Buchholz.

Packed fast and safely
The finished bag stacks are transported over roller conveyors to the BEUMER stretch hood packaging system. It packages 110 pallet stacks per hour with stretch film hoods with film thickness ranging from 40 to 100 micrometers. ‘It depends on the type of tile mortar,’ Buchholz explains. ‘The packaging protects the product against dust and humidity during storage and on long transport routes and ensures that the bags remain stable on the pallet without moving.’ In order to facilitate the work for the maintenance personnel and to ensure high system availability, the packaging system no longer needs a platform. Maintenance work, such as changing the blades or the sealing bars, is handled at floor level. Additional benefits include the compact design and the resulting low height and small footprint.

‘The BEUMER stretch hood A is extremely energy efficient,’ emphasises Buchholz. A film transport system, which is particularly gentle on the material, introduces the previously cut and sealed film hood into the system. The sealing seam already cools down on the way to the crimping and stretching unit. Crimping can start without any delay. This allows for the elimination of energy-consuming cooling units and efficiency-reducing cooling times. This way the pallets can be packaged at a high bag sequencing.

In June 2016, Cruz Azul put the line into operation. ‘The new BEUMER packing line brought the project to success,’ mentions Victor Luna. Which means that the cement manufacturer can reach its projected production capacity. In order to ensure a trouble-free operation, the system supplier’s competent specialists stay in close touch with the customer and help out immediately in case of malfunctions or downtimes. BEUMER Group also provided the necessary spare parts. Ensuring availability of the systems at all times.

Victor Luna is visibly very pleased with the new solution because this packaging line is tailor-made for their needs. He is particularly impressed by the flexible filling technology. It saves a lot of time and brings great peace of mind, the different types or mortar are getting to the customer a lot faster. With this project, BEUMER Group has installed the first BEUMER fillpac R on the American market. The cooperation with the system supplier will continue. Discussions are currently held regarding new projects in the fields of conveying and loading and palletizing technology.

Courtesy: Regina Schnathmann Director – Communications and Public Relations BEUMER Group GmbH & Co KG

ABOUT BEUMER
The BEUMER Group is an international leader in the manufacture of intralogistics systems for conveying, loading, palletising, packaging, sortation, and distribution. With 4,000 employees worldwide, the BEUMER Group has annual sales of about EUR 750 million. The BEUMER Group and its group companies and sales agencies provide their customers with high-quality system solutions and an extensive customer support network around the globe and across a wide range of industries, including bulk materials and piece goods, food/non-food, construction, mail order, post, and airport baggage handling. For further information visit www.beumergroup.com

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Price hikes, drop in input costs help cement industry to post positive margins: Care Ratings

Published

3 years ago

October 21, 2021

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Region-wise,the southern region comprises 35% of the total cement capacity, followed by thenorthern, eastern, western and central region comprising 20%, 18%, 14% and 13%of the capacity, respectively.

The cement industry is expected to post positive margins on decent price hikes over the months, falling raw material prices and marked drop in overall production costs, said an analysis of Care Ratings.

Wholesale and retail prices of cement have increased 11.9% and 12.4%, respectively, in the current financial year. As whole prices have remained elevated in most of the markets in the months of FY20, against the corresponding period of the previous year.

Similarly, electricity and fuel cost have declined 11.9% during 9M FY20 due to drop in crude oil prices. Logistics costs, the biggest cost for cement industry, has also dropped 7.7% (selling and distribution) as the Railways extended the benefit of exemption from busy season surcharge. Moreover, the cost of raw materials, too, declined 5.1% given the price of limestone had fallen 11.3% in the same aforementioned period, the analysis said.

According to Care Ratings, though the overall sales revenue has increased only 1.3%, against 16% growth in the year-ago period, the overall expenditure has declined 3.2% which has benefited the industry largely given the moderation in sales.

Even though FY20 has been subdued in terms of production and demand, the fall in cost of production has still supported the cement industry by clocking in positive margins, the rating agency said.

Cement demand is closely linked to the overall economic growth, particularly the housing and infrastructure sector. The cement sector will be seeing a sharp growth in volumes mainly due to increasing demand from affordable housing and other government infrastructure projects like roads, metros, airports, irrigation.

The government’s newly introduced National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), with its target of becoming a $5-trillion economy by 2025, is a detailed road map focused on economic revival through infrastructure development.

The NIP covers a gamut of sectors; rural and urban infrastructure and entails investments of Rs.102 lakh crore to be undertaken by the central government, state governments and the private sector. Of the total projects of the NIP, 42% are under implementation while 19% are under development, 31% are at the conceptual stage and 8% are yet to be classified.

The sectors that will be of focus will be roads, railways, power (renewable and conventional), irrigation and urban infrastructure. These sectors together account for 79% of the proposed investments in six years to 2025. Given the government’s thrust on infrastructure creation, it is likely to benefit the cement industry going forward.

Similarly, the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana, aimed at providing affordable housing, will be a strong driver to lift cement demand. Prices have started correcting Q4 FY20 onwards due to revival in demand of the commodity, the agency said in its analysis.

Industry’s sales revenue has grown at a CAGR of 7.3% during FY15-19 but has grown only 1.3% in the current financial year. Tepid demand throughout the country in the first half of the year has led to the contraction of sales revenue. Fall in the total expenditure of cement firms had aided in improving the operating profit and net profit margins of the industry (OPM was 15.2 during 9M FY19 and NPM was 3.1 during 9M FY19). Interest coverage ratio, too, has improved on an overall basis (ICR was 3.3 during 9M FY19).

According to Cement Manufacturers Association, India accounts for over 8% of the overall global installed capacity. Region-wise, the southern region comprises 35% of the total cement capacity, followed by the northern, eastern, western and central region comprising 20%, 18%, 14% and 13% of the capacity, respectively.

Installed capacity of domestic cement makers has increased at a CAGR of 4.9% during FY16-20. Manufacturers have been able to maintain a capacity utilisation rate above 65% in the past quinquennium. In the current financial year due to the prolonged rains in many parts of the country, the capacity utilisation rate has fallen from 70% during FY19 to 66% currently (YTD).

Source:moneycontrol.com

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Wonder Cement shows journey of cement with new campaign

Published

3 years ago

October 21, 2021

admin

The campaign also marks Wonder Cement being the first ever cement brand to enter the world of IGTV…

ETBrandEquity

Cement manufacturing company Wonder Cement, has announced the launch of a digital campaign ‘Har Raah Mein Wonder Hai’. The campaign has been designed specifically to run on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

#HarRaahMeinWonderHai is a one-minute video, designed and conceptualised by its digital media partner Triature Digital Marketing and Technologies Pvt Ltd. The entire journey of the cement brand from leaving the factory, going through various weather conditions and witnessing the beauty of nature and wonders through the way until it reaches the destination i.e., to the consumer is very intriguing and the brand has tried to showcase the same with the film.

Sanjay Joshi, executive director, Wonder Cement, said, "Cement as a product poses a unique marketing challenge. Most consumers will build their homes once and therefore buy cement once in a lifetime. It is critical for a cement company to connect with their consumers emotionally. As a part of our communication strategy, it is our endeavor to reach out to a large audience of this country through digital. Wonder Cement always a pioneer in digital, with the launch of our IGTV campaign #HarRahMeinWonderHai, is the first brand in the cement category to venture into this space. Through this campaign, we have captured the emotional journey of a cement bag through its own perspective and depicted what it takes to lay the foundation of one’s dreams and turn them into reality."

The story begins with a family performing the bhoomi poojan of their new plot. It is the place where they are investing their life-long earnings; and planning to build a dream house for the family and children. The family believes in the tradition of having a ‘perfect shuruaat’ (perfect beginning) for their future dream house. The video later highlights the process of construction and in sequence it is emphasising the value of ‘Perfect Shuruaat’ through the eyes of a cement bag.

Tarun Singh Chauhan, management advisor and brand consultant, Wonder Cement, said, "Our objective with this campaign was to show that the cement produced at the Wonder Cement plant speaks for itself, its quality, trust and most of all perfection. The only way this was possible was to take the perspective of a cement bag and showing its journey of perfection from beginning till the end."

According to the company, the campaign also marks Wonder Cement being the first ever cement brand to enter the world of IGTV. No other brand in this category has created content specific to the platform.

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In spite of company’s optimism, demand weakness in cement is seen in the 4% y-o-y drop in sales volume. (Reuters)

Published

3 years ago

October 21, 2021

admin

Cost cuts and better realizations save? the ?day ?for ?UltraTech Cement, Updated: 27 Jan 2020, Vatsala Kamat from Live Mint

Lower cost of energy and logistics helped Ebitda per tonne rise by about 29% in Q3
Premiumization of acquired brands, synergistic?operations hold promise for future profit growth Topics

UltraTech Cement
India’s largest cement producer UltraTech Cement Ltd turned out a bittersweet show in the December quarter. A sharp drop in fuel costs and higher realizations helped drive profit growth. But the inherent demand weakness was evident in the sales volumes drop during the quarter.

Better realizations during the December quarter, in spite of the 4% year-on-year volume decline, minimized the pain. Net stand-alone revenue fell by 2.6% to ?9,981.8 crore.

But as pointed out earlier, lower costs on most fronts helped profitability. The chart alongside shows the sharp drop in energy costs led by lower petcoke prices, lower fuel consumption and higher use of green power. Logistics costs, too, fell due to lower railway freight charges and synergies from the acquired assets. These savings helped offset the increase in raw material costs.

The upshot: Q3 Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) of about ?990 per tonne was 29% higher from a year ago. The jump in profit on a per tonne basis was more or less along expected lines, given the increase in realizations. "Besides, the reduction in net debt by about ?2,000 crore is a key positive," said Binod Modi, analyst at Reliance Securities Ltd.

Graphic by Santosh Sharma/Mint
What also impressed analysts is the nimble-footed integration of the recently merged cement assets of Nathdwara and Century, which was a concern on the Street.

Kunal Shah, analyst (institutional equities) at Yes Securities (India) Ltd, said: "The company has proved its ability of asset integration. Century’s cement assets were ramped up to 79% capacity utilization in December, even as they operated Nathdwara generating an Ebitda of ?1,500 per tonne."

Looks like the demand weakness mirrored in weak sales during the quarter was masked by the deft integration and synergies derived from these acquired assets. This drove UltraTech’s stock up by 2.6% to ?4,643 after the Q3 results were declared on Friday.

Brand transition from Century to UltraTech, which is 55% complete, is likely to touch 80% by September 2020. A report by Jefferies India Pvt. Ltd highlights that the Ebitda per tonne for premium brands is about ?5-10 higher per bag than the average (A cement bag weighs 50kg). Of course, with competition increasing in the arena, it remains to be seen how brand premiumization in the cement industry will pan out. UltraTech Cement scores well among peers here.

However, there are road bumps ahead for the cement sector and for UltraTech. Falling gross domestic product growth, fiscal slippages and lower budgetary allocation to infrastructure sector are making industry houses jittery on growth. Although UltraTech’s management is confident that cement demand is looking up, sustainability and pricing power remains a worry for the near term.