Concrete

An Open and Shut

Published

3 years ago

April 7, 2023

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The Indian Cement Industry presents its multi-faceted approach to manufacturing environmentally compatible cement a.k.a. Green Cement as it races against time to minimise carbon footprint of cement production and accelerate the nation’s efforts towards achieving Net Zero deadline.

Cement production is one of the highest-emitting industrial sectors, responsible for about 6 to 7 percent of global CO2 emissions. About 40 per cent of the emissions come from the fossil-fuel combustion used to power the precalciners and kilns in cement plants, the rest from a chemical reaction inherent in cement making.
To bring down the carbon emission from cement manufacturing would require efficient energy usage systems, low carbon alternative fuels and raw materials as well as machinery, equipment, automation, and technology to support the functionality of cement plants, making them productive and cost efficient. Newer processes may also lead to a rise in cost of production, however, this may as well be rewarding for cement manufacturers as the consumption and production of cement is expected to rise in the coming decade globally.
According to Statista, by 2030, China is expected to maintain its status as the world’s leading cement producing nation, albeit by a smaller share. At the beginning of the 2020’s, China accounted for more than half of the world’s cement production, and this is forecast to decrease to 35 per cent of global production by 2030. In second place, India is expected to maintain its ranking. Unlike China, India’s cement production share is anticipated to double by
2030 compared to its 2018 volume, to 16 percent of global production.
The Indian government is highly focused on infrastructure development to boost economic growth. Since the pandemic, India and the world are now pushing harder than ever to meet climate goals. Moreover, for India, the need and importance to cut down on emissions is double; to target climate change and to reduce the current dangerous levels of air pollution. The usage and demand for cement are only going to increase due to the burgeoning population and the need for housing and infrastructure.

The concern for the cement industry is the emission from chemical reaction of limestone in the kiln and the combustion of coal releasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere making the cement sector a major contributor to the climatic change and rising global warming.
Dr BN Mohapatra, Director General, NCB says, “The production of blended cements like PPC and PSC has seen constant increase since the year 1995 when only 30 per cent blended cements were produced in India as compared to 2017 when the production of blended cements has increased to 73 per cent. This could have been achieved due to acceptance of blended cements in Indian markets by the awareness efforts of cement companies and research organisations like NCB. Keeping in line with the current global scenario, the National Council for Cement and Building Materials (NCB) in its endeavor to help the cement industry realise the target of net zero carbon by 2070 has been working on various levers of CO2 reduction, especially Clinker Substitution.”

India’s cement production share is anticipated to double by 2030 compared to its 2018 volume to 16 per cent of global production.

Efforts are being taken in the direction to combat this damage to the environment, by making huge emission reductions by using supplementary cementitious materials, by improving energy efficiency, substituting fossil fuels with alternative fuels, using waste heat to generate electricity, and scientifically trying new production techniques and process improvements. Cement manufacturing organisations are also adapting to new technologies like Waste Heat Recovery and alternative energy sources like solar energy for eco-friendly and sustainable cement making.
“The industry has an intention to reduce their carbon footprint and make cement production friendly for the environment. However, without governance and regulation, the implementation will be a challenge and there will be no standard practice. If you go back 30 years when stacks in cement plants had a lot of dust. It was the government that made norms and kept making stricter laws which has led to a highly reduced dust emission from cement plants. Similarly, usage of technology for reduction of carbon footprint will require intervention and regulation for cement players. In Europe, there is a penalty known as carbon tax while the talk of Indian industry is Sustainability Incentive. Either way, there needs to be an intervention to bring down emission levels in any industry,” says Sridhar S Sundaram, VP -Head of Cement Africa, Middle East & South Asia, FLSmidth Private Limited.

COST EFFICIENCY
The rising cost of raw materials, fuel, machinery, and technology is leading to the cost of cement production going up. Cement manufacturers today are investing in making cement production greener and sustainable by relying on efficient systems that enhance the productivity of the process and make full utilisation of the available resources.
V N Balasubramanian, Director – Head BU Cement, Thyssenkrupp Industries India, says, “Costs are increasing every day. The goal is to reduce the production cost to the best possible extent for the customers. At the start of my career there used to be about 800 people working at a cement plant, today there are less than 100. This has been possible due to automation. It is also gradually increasing in the cement industry. Manual intervention not only reduces the chances of risk but also helps in achieving greater accuracy. Automation is not just a buzz word but also the need of the day.”
“For example, German headquarters can evaluate the performance of a plant in India without physically visiting. It comes at a price but there are ways and means to do it and customers are asking for it as well. Developing a solution for this is a challenge, but with us, the advantage is the technical know-how. We understand what needs to be measured, at what time and what frequency. We provide this as part of our package as an offering that is a plus. The advantage of getting this solution from us is because we understand the technology as well as its functionality. Thus, the result and output from our automation solutions are more precise and accurate. We also interpret the results and give recommendations,”
he adds.
Although investment in newer and high-tech machinery and equipment is a large CAPEX, according to the experts it leads to lower OPEX, which in the long run brings cost efficiency to production of
cement by giving machinery a longer life and more precise functionality.
“Sustainability today is not a choice anymore. It has become a part and parcel of boardroom discussions. It is important to understand and appreciate some of the most polluting industries, like the cement industry, are paying close attention to the matter and taking steps to make the environment
better.” says Hitendra Grover, Director – CAD & MSD – India and South Asia, Thermo Fisher Scientific India.
“There are two ways to look at sustainability, on the process side and the utility side. Thermo Fisher plays on the process and environment side. We help the sector to contribute towards the overall sustainability by measuring the level of harmful gasses emitted at the plant,” he adds.

AUTOMATION
The world is moving towards Industry 4.0 and so is the Indian cement industry. Technology, innovation and automation are key components to building a stronger future for the industry. As a mission to achieve Net Zero, efforts are being taken in the direction to reduce carbon foortprint as well as use of energy or make use of alternative fuels and raw materials to achieve desired results.
Technology plays a key role in the same as it brings real time monitoring and accuracy to the functionality of cement plants. This leads to lesser wastage, less lead times and reduces the chances of plant shutdown due to sudden
“According to the cement history of India, the optimum size of the plant is changing every 6 years. Primarily this change relates to the technology that is available to the Indian manufacturers along with the location of mines, location of the market and transportability. These factors play a role in defining the change of the size of the plant. Today I think apart from the selection of technology, availability of the size is also important. For a 10,000 tonne plant to be sustainable, peripheral equipment also needs to be available. Today we have reached that stage,” say Vivek Bhatia, Managing Director and CEO and Makarand Marathe, Business Advisor – Cement, thyssenkrupp.
Newer technologies like Waste Heat Reduction (WHR) and Carbon Capture (CC) are making the rounds which are going to be beneficial for the decarbonisation future of the cement industry. Though these systems are in their nascent stage, they are making their way into the cement manufacturer’s sustainability plans.
“There are some frontier technologies where we increase the density of carbon dioxide speed from 20 per cent to 90 per cent which allows easy carbon capture. We are also working on various carbon capture technologies. As far as carbon capture in India is concerned, we are still at a nascent stage and have to create a situation where carbon can be easily captured. The question is about its storage and subsequent utilisation and disbursement. This technology still has some more distance to cover, but India will reach there,” they add.
Precision and accuracy play a very important role in making the overall process of cement manufacturing cost effective, energy efficient and sustainable. Most equipment makers are making keen efforts in deriving perfection for measurement accuracy. This allows the manufacturers to measure every activity in the manufacturing process accurately and take corrective actions. This helps avoid any errors, thus, saving cost, effort, time and wastage at the plant.
“Today, with new technology the demand for accuracy has increased and it is the call of the technology and customer expectation for parameters in systems to fulfill their requirements. We believe in creating systems that meet customer expectations and add value to their processes without them demanding for it. That is changing from push principle to the pull principle. Cement manufacturers do not incur a high maintenance cost on our equipment; thus, it becomes a cost effective purchase in the long run, giving a better return on investment. Cement manufacturers do not incur a high maintenance cost on our equipment; thus, it becomes a cost-effective purchase in the long run, giving a better return on investment” says Rajesh Pathak, Managing Director, Schenck Process.

SKILLING
The cement industry is a machinery heavy industry. With a technological wave on the horizon and automation taking up a large part of the manufacturing system, it is imperative for the manpower to be trained efficiently in the systems.
The personnel working at cement plants should be able to derive equipment readings as well as understand the data provided by them and make adjustments to the feeds of the machinery. This training in reading data will also help identify markers that indicate a probable need of repair or damage.
“Earlier people used to monitor the output from our systems and monitor them on screens, but now with automation in the picture, everything is in a closed loop control. All systems share selected data with plant control systems. For example, a thermal imaging camera in the burning zone informs about the flame temperature, it also informs about the clinker outgoing temperature as well. This data is given to the kiln optimising package which uses this information to automate their burning process,” says Keyur Shah, Business Manager, SB Engineers

ENERGY EFFICIENCY
According to the International Energy Agency, the cement sector is the third-largest industrial energy consumer in the world, consuming seven per cent of industrial energy use. It is also the second-largest industrial emitter of carbon dioxide, responsible for seven per cent of global emissions. Most emissions occur when raw materials, typically clay and limestone, are heated to more than 2500oF to become the super-strong binding material. Roughly 600 kilograms of carbon dioxide are released per ton of cement produced.
“We have reduced fuel consumption and power consumption as compared to previous years and that is an on-going process. We are an efficient plant and have installed a waste heat recovery system and perhaps it is one of India’s best in the cement industry. It is a 22.5-megawatt WHRS plant, which is of much higher capacity than other cement plants. We have also installed a 30-megawatt solar power plant and are using approximately 35 per cent renewable energy. We are looking forward to increasing this capacity and steps are being taken in this direction” says Vivek Agnihotri, CEO and Executive Director Cement, Prism Johnson.

CONCLUSION
India is the second largest producer of cement in the world. Which means it serves a large consumer base. Therefore, change in consumer preference will also have The Mission Possible Partnership reported in their Concrete Action for Climate plan that global cement production could increase by as much as 23 per cent by 2050. Just as cement and concrete are shaping our built environment, their impacts also shape our climate future. The cement industry will need to decrease its annual emissions by at least 16 per cent by 2030 to meet the Paris Agreement on climate change standards. And because cement and concrete will be crucial for future development, researchers argue that making the material inputs to cement will be one of the fastest ways to reduce emissions and environmental impact.
“Decarbonising the cement industry is likely to require significant advances on three fronts: operational efficiency, technological innovation, and business model reorientation. More collaboration across the cement ecosystem will be pivotal. Despite the increasing complexity and challenges each ecosystem player faces, first movers may gain the upper hand by taking immediate action across the value chain to help the industry reach its decarbonisation targets. These green-cement disruptors are likely to capture headwinds as sustainability becomes increasingly urgent,” says Pankaj Kejriwal, Whole Time Director and COO, Star Cement.
Opportunities could arise across the low-emissions cement industry and its value chain, as well as in the markets and value chains for alternative materials. Collection and recycling of concrete waste, adoption of other building materials, and the application of modular-construction methods and building-information-modeling systems can enable more efficient construction and reduce the need for cement and concrete. New, innovative technologies to alter the composition of cement and to offer alternative solutions may be needed to reach the decarbonisation targets set for 2050.
The growing infrastructure of India and the world will not be slowing down anytime soon. But using greener alternatives to the main building material, cement, shall definitely reduce the adverse effects on the environment. It has become imperative for the cement industry and its partners in technology and allied industries to collectively work towards the better of the environment by taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint. The value chain of cement production needs a strong shift in a sustainable direction, and that change has just begun.

-Kanika Mathur

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Concrete

Refractory demands in our kiln have changed

Published

3 days ago

February 20, 2026

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Radha Singh, Senior Manager (P&Q), Shree Digvijay Cement, points out why performance, predictability and life-cycle value now matter more than routine replacement in cement kilns.

As Indian cement plants push for higher throughput, increased alternative fuel usage and tighter shutdown cycles, refractory performance in kilns and pyro-processing systems is under growing pressure. In this interview, Radha Singh, Senior Manager (P&Q), Shree Digvijay Cement, shares how refractory demands have evolved on the ground and how smarter digital monitoring is improving kiln stability, uptime and clinker quality.

How have refractory demands changed in your kiln and pyro-processing line over the last five years?
Over the last five years, refractory demands in our kiln and pyro line have changed. Earlier, the focus was mostly on standard grades and routine shutdown-based replacement. But now, because of higher production loads, more alternative fuels and raw materials (AFR) usage and greater temperature variation, the expectation from refractory has increased.
In our own case, the current kiln refractory has already completed around 1.5 years, which itself shows how much more we now rely on materials that can handle thermal shock, alkali attack and coating fluctuations. We have moved towards more stable, high-performance linings so that we don’t have to enter the kiln frequently for repairs.
Overall, the shift has been from just ‘installation and run’ to selecting refractories that give longer life, better coating behaviour and more predictable performance under tougher operating conditions.

What are the biggest refractory challenges in the preheater, calciner and cooler zones?
• Preheater: Coating instability, chloride/sulphur cycles and brick erosion.
• Calciner: AFR firing, thermal shock and alkali infiltration.
• Cooler: Severe abrasion, red-river formation and mechanical stress on linings.
Overall, the biggest challenge is maintaining lining stability under highly variable operating conditions.

How do you evaluate and select refractory partners for long-term performance?
In real plant conditions, we don’t select a refractory partner just by looking at price. First, we see their past performance in similar kilns and whether their material has actually survived our operating conditions. We also check how strong their technical support is during shutdowns, because installation quality matters as much as the material itself.
Another key point is how quickly they respond during breakdowns or hot spots. A good partner should be available on short notice. We also look at their failure analysis capability, whether they can explain why a lining failed and suggest improvements.
On top of this, we review the life they delivered in the last few campaigns, their supply reliability and their willingness to offer plant-specific custom solutions instead of generic grades. Only a partner who supports us throughout the life cycle, which includes selection, installation, monitoring and post-failure analysis, fits our long-term requirement.

Can you share a recent example where better refractory selection improved uptime or clinker quality?
Recently, we upgraded to a high-abrasion basic brick at the kiln outlet. Earlier we had frequent chipping and coating loss. With the new lining, thermal stability improved and the coating became much more stable. As a result, our shutdown interval increased and clinker quality remained more consistent. It had a direct impact on our uptime.

How is increased AFR use affecting refractory behaviour?
Increased AFR use is definitely putting more stress on the refractory. The biggest issue we see daily is the rise in chlorine, alkalis and volatiles, which directly attack the lining, especially in the calciner and kiln inlet. AFR firing is also not as stable as conventional fuel, so we face frequent temperature fluctuations, which cause more thermal shock and small cracks in the lining.
Another real problem is coating instability. Some days the coating builds too fast, other days it suddenly drops, and both conditions impact refractory life. We also notice more dust circulation and buildup inside the calciner whenever the AFR mix changes, which again increases erosion.
Because of these practical issues, we have started relying more on alkali-resistant, low-porosity and better thermal shock–resistant materials to handle the additional stress coming from AFR.

What role does digital monitoring or thermal profiling play in your refractory strategy?
Digital tools like kiln shell scanners, IR imaging and thermal profiling help us detect weakening areas much earlier. This reduces unplanned shutdowns, helps identify hotspots accurately and allows us to replace only the critical sections. Overall, our maintenance has shifted from reactive to predictive, improving lining life significantly.

How do you balance cost, durability and installation speed during refractory shutdowns?
We focus on three points:
• Material quality that suits our thermal profile and chemistry.
• Installation speed, in fast turnarounds, we prefer monolithic.
• Life-cycle cost—the cheapest material is not the most economical. We look at durability, future downtime and total cost of ownership.
This balance ensures reliable performance without unnecessary expenditure.

What refractory or pyro-processing innovations could transform Indian cement operations?
Some promising developments include:
• High-performance, low-porosity and nano-bonded refractories
• Precast modular linings to drastically reduce shutdown time
• AI-driven kiln thermal analytics
• Advanced coating management solutions
• More AFR-compatible refractory mixes

These innovations can significantly improve kiln stability, efficiency and maintenance planning across the industry.

Concrete

Digital supply chain visibility is critical

Published

3 days ago

February 20, 2026

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MSR Kali Prasad, Chief Digital and Information Officer, Shree Cement, discusses how data, discipline and scale are turning Industry 4.0 into everyday business reality.

Over the past five years, digitalisation in Indian cement manufacturing has moved decisively beyond experimentation. Today, it is a strategic lever for cost control, operational resilience and sustainability. In this interview, MSR Kali Prasad, Chief Digital and Information Officer, Shree Cement, explains how integrated digital foundations, advanced analytics and real-time visibility are helping deliver measurable business outcomes.

How has digitalisation moved from pilot projects to core strategy in Indian cement manufacturing over the past five years?
Digitalisation in Indian cement has evolved from isolated pilot initiatives into a core business strategy because outcomes are now measurable, repeatable and scalable. The key shift has been the move away from standalone solutions toward an integrated digital foundation built on standardised processes, governed data and enterprise platforms that can be deployed consistently across plants and functions.
At Shree Cement, this transition has been very pragmatic. The early phase focused on visibility through dashboards, reporting, and digitisation of critical workflows. Over time, this has progressed into enterprise-level analytics and decision support across manufacturing and the supply chain,
with clear outcomes in cost optimisation, margin protection and revenue improvement through enhanced customer experience.
Equally important, digital is no longer the responsibility of a single function. It is embedded into day-to-day operations across planning, production, maintenance, despatch and customer servicing, supported by enterprise systems, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) data platforms, and a structured approach to change management.

Which digital interventions are delivering the highest ROI across mining, production and logistics today?
In a capital- and cost-intensive sector like cement, the highest returns come from digital interventions that directly reduce unit costs or unlock latent capacity without significant capex.
Supply chain and planning (advanced analytics): Tools for demand forecasting, S&OP, network optimisation and scheduling deliver strong returns by lowering logistics costs, improving service levels, and aligning production with demand in a fragmented and regionally diverse market.
Mining (fleet and productivity analytics): Data-led mine planning, fleet analytics, despatch discipline, and idle-time reduction improve fuel efficiency and equipment utilisation, generating meaningful savings in a cost-heavy operation.
Manufacturing (APC and process analytics): Advanced Process Control, mill optimisation, and variability reduction improve thermal and electrical efficiency, stabilise quality and reduce rework and unplanned stoppages.
Customer experience and revenue enablement (digital platforms): Dealer and retailer apps, order visibility and digitally enabled technical services improve ease of doing business and responsiveness. We are also empowering channel partners with transparent, real-time information on schemes, including eligibility, utilisation status and actionable recommendations, which improves channel satisfaction and market execution while supporting revenue growth.
Overall, while Artificial Intelligence (AI) and IIoT are powerful enablers, it is advanced analytics anchored in strong processes that typically delivers the fastest and most reliable ROI.

How is real-time data helping plants shift from reactive maintenance to predictive and prescriptive operations?
Real-time and near real-time data is driving a more proactive and disciplined maintenance culture, beginning with visibility and progressively moving toward prediction and prescription.
At Shree Cement, we have implemented a robust SAP Plant Maintenance framework to standardise maintenance workflows. This is complemented by IIoT-driven condition monitoring, ensuring consistent capture of equipment health indicators such as vibration, temperature, load, operating patterns and alarms.
Real-time visibility enables early detection of abnormal conditions, allowing teams to intervene before failures occur. As data quality improves and failure histories become structured, predictive models can anticipate likely failure modes and recommend timely interventions, improving MTBF and reducing downtime. Over time, these insights will evolve into prescriptive actions, including spares readiness, maintenance scheduling, and operating parameter adjustments, enabling reliability optimisation with minimal disruption.
A critical success factor is adoption. Predictive insights deliver value only when they are embedded into daily workflows, roles and accountability structures. Without this, they remain insights without action.

In a cost-sensitive market like India, how do cement companies balance digital investment with price competitiveness?
In India’s intensely competitive cement market, digital investments must be tightly linked to tangible business outcomes, particularly cost reduction, service improvement, and faster decision-making.
This balance is achieved by prioritising high-impact use cases such as planning efficiency, logistics optimisation, asset reliability, and process stability, all of which typically deliver quick payback. Equally important is building scalable and governed digital foundations that reduce the marginal cost of rolling out new use cases across plants.
Digitally enabled order management, live despatch visibility, and channel partner platforms also improve customer centricity while controlling cost-to-serve, allowing service levels to improve without proportionate increases in headcount or overheads.
In essence, the most effective digital investments do not add cost. They protect margins by reducing variability, improving planning accuracy, and strengthening execution discipline.

How is digitalisation enabling measurable reductions in energy consumption, emissions, and overall carbon footprint?
Digitalisation plays a pivotal role in improving energy efficiency, reducing emissions and lowering overall carbon intensity.
Real-time monitoring and analytics enable near real-time tracking of energy consumption and critical operating parameters, allowing inefficiencies to be identified quickly and corrective actions to be implemented. Centralised data consolidation across plants enables benchmarking, accelerates best-practice adoption, and drives consistent improvements in energy performance.
Improved asset reliability through predictive maintenance reduces unplanned downtime and process instability, directly lowering energy losses. Digital platforms also support more effective planning and control of renewable energy sources and waste heat recovery systems, reducing dependence on fossil fuels.
Most importantly, digitalisation enables sustainability progress to be tracked with greater accuracy and consistency, supporting long-term ESG commitments.

What role does digital supply chain visibility play in managing demand volatility and regional market dynamics in India?
Digital supply chain visibility is critical in India, where demand is highly regional, seasonality is pronounced, and logistics constraints can shift rapidly.
At Shree Cement, planning operates across multiple horizons. Annual planning focuses on capacity, network footprint and medium-term demand. Monthly S&OP aligns demand, production and logistics, while daily scheduling drives execution-level decisions on despatch, sourcing and prioritisation.
As digital maturity increases, this structure is being augmented by central command-and-control capabilities that manage exceptions such as plant constraints, demand spikes, route disruptions and order prioritisation. Planning is also shifting from aggregated averages to granular, cost-to-serve and exception-based decision-making, improving responsiveness, lowering logistics costs and strengthening service reliability.

How prepared is the current workforce for Industry 4.0, and what reskilling strategies are proving most effective?
Workforce preparedness for Industry 4.0 is improving, though the primary challenge lies in scaling capabilities consistently across diverse roles.
The most effective approach is to define capability requirements by role and tailor enablement accordingly. Senior leadership focuses on digital literacy for governance, investment prioritisation, and value tracking. Middle management is enabled to use analytics for execution discipline and adoption. Frontline sales and service teams benefit from
mobile-first tools and KPI-driven workflows, while shop-floor and plant teams focus on data-driven operations, APC usage, maintenance discipline, safety and quality routines.
Personalised, role-based learning paths, supported by on-ground champions and a clear articulation of practical benefits, drive adoption far more effectively than generic training programmes.

Which emerging digital technologies will fundamentally reshape cement manufacturing in the next decade?
AI and GenAI are expected to have the most significant impact, particularly when combined with connected operations and disciplined processes.
Key technologies likely to reshape the sector include GenAI and agentic AI for faster root-cause analysis, knowledge access, and standardisation of best practices; industrial foundation models that learn patterns across large sensor datasets; digital twins that allow simulation of process changes before implementation; and increasingly autonomous control systems that integrate sensors, AI, and APC to maintain stability with minimal manual intervention.
Over time, this will enable more centralised monitoring and management of plant operations, supported by strong processes, training and capability-building.

Concrete

Redefining Efficiency with Digitalisation

Published

3 days ago

February 20, 2026

admin

Professor Procyon Mukherjee discusses how as the cement industry accelerates its shift towards digitalisation, data-driven technologies are becoming the mainstay of sustainability and control across the value chain.

The cement industry, long perceived as traditional and resistant to change, is undergoing a profound transformation driven by digital technologies. As global infrastructure demand grows alongside increasing pressure to decarbonise and improve productivity, cement manufacturers are adopting data-centric tools to enhance performance across the value chain. Nowhere is this shift more impactful than in grinding, which is the energy-intensive final stage of cement production, and in the materials that make grinding more efficient: grinding media and grinding aids.

The imperative for digitalisation
Cement production accounts for roughly 7 per cent to 8 per cent of global CO2 emissions, largely due to the energy intensity of clinker production and grinding processes. Digital solutions, such as AI-driven process controls and digital twins, are helping plants improve stability, cut fuel use and reduce emissions while maintaining consistent product quality. In one deployment alongside ABB’s process controls at a Heidelberg plant in Czechia, AI tools cut fuel use by 4 per cent and emissions by 2 per cent, while also improving operational stability.
Digitalisation in cement manufacturing encompasses a suite of technologies, broadly termed as Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), AI and machine learning, predictive analytics, cloud-based platforms, advanced process control and digital twins, each playing a role in optimising various stages of production from quarrying to despatch.

Grinding: The crucible of efficiency and cost
Of all the stages in cement production, grinding is among the most energy-intensive, historically consuming large amounts of electricity and representing a significant portion of plant operating costs. As a result, optimising grinding operations has become central to digital transformation strategies.
Modern digital systems are transforming grinding mills from mechanical workhorses into intelligent, interconnected assets. Sensors throughout the mill measure parameters such as mill load, vibration, mill speed, particle size distribution, and power consumption. This real-time data, fed into machine learning and advanced process control (APC) systems, can dynamically adjust operating conditions to maintain optimal throughput and energy usage.
For example, advanced grinding systems now predict inefficient conditions, such as impending mill overload, by continuously analysing acoustic and vibration signatures. The system can then proactively adjust clinker feed rates and grinding media distribution to sustain optimal conditions, reducing energy consumption and improving consistency.

Digital twins: Seeing grinding in the virtual world
One of the most transformative digital tools applied in cement grinding is the digital twin, which a real-time virtual replica of physical equipment and processes. By integrating sensor data and
process models, digital twins enable engineers to simulate process variations and run ‘what-if’
scenarios without disrupting actual production. These simulations support decisions on variables such as grinding media charge, mill speed and classifier settings, allowing optimisation of energy use and product fineness.
Digital twins have been used to optimise kilns and grinding circuits in plants worldwide, reducing unplanned downtime and allowing predictive maintenance to extend the life of expensive grinding assets.

Grinding media and grinding aids in a digital era
While digital technologies improve control and prediction, materials science innovations in grinding media and grinding aids have become equally crucial for achieving performance gains.
Grinding media, which comprise the balls or cylinders inside mills, directly influence the efficiency of clinker comminution. Traditionally composed of high-chrome cast iron or forged steel, grinding media account for nearly a quarter of global grinding media consumption by application, with efficiency improvements translating directly to lower energy intensity.
Recent advancements include ceramic and hybrid media that combine hardness and toughness to reduce wear and energy losses. For example, manufacturers such as Sanxin New Materials in China and Tosoh Corporation in Japan have developed sub-nano and zirconia media with exceptional wear resistance. Other innovations include smart media embedded with sensors to monitor wear, temperature, and impact forces in real time, enabling predictive maintenance and optimal media replacement scheduling. These digitally-enabled media solutions can increase grinding efficiency by as much as 15 per cent.
Complementing grinding media are grinding aids, which are chemical additives that improve mill throughput and reduce energy consumption by altering the surface properties of particles, trapping air, and preventing re-agglomeration. Technology leaders like SIKA AG and GCP Applied Technologies have invested in tailored grinding aids compatible with AI-driven dosing platforms that automatically adjust additive concentrations based on real-time mill conditions. Trials in South America reported throughput improvements nearing 19 per cent when integrating such digital assistive dosing with process control systems.
The integration of grinding media data and digital dosing of grinding aids moves the mill closer to a self-optimising system, where AI not only predicts media wear or energy losses but prescribes optimal interventions through automated dosing and operational adjustments.

Global case studies in digital adoption
Several cement companies around the world exemplify digital transformation in practice.
Heidelberg Materials has deployed digital twin technologies across global plants, achieving up to 15 per cent increases in production efficiency and 20 per cent reductions in energy consumption by leveraging real-time analytics and predictive algorithms.
Holcim’s Siggenthal plant in Switzerland piloted AI controllers that autonomously adjusted kiln operations, boosting throughput while reducing specific energy consumption and emissions.
Cemex, through its AI and predictive maintenance initiatives, improved kiln availability and reduced maintenance costs by predicting failures before they occurred. Global efforts also include AI process optimisation initiatives to reduce energy consumption and environmental impact.

Challenges and the road ahead
Despite these advances, digitalisation in cement grinding faces challenges. Legacy equipment may lack sensor readiness, requiring retrofits and edge-cloud connectivity upgrades. Data governance and integration across plants and systems remains a barrier for many mid-tier producers. Yet, digital transformation statistics show momentum: more than half of cement companies have implemented IoT sensors for equipment monitoring, and digital twin adoption is growing rapidly as part of broader Industry 4.0 strategies.
Furthermore, as digital systems mature, they increasingly support sustainability goals: reduced energy use, optimised media consumption and lower greenhouse gas emissions. By embedding intelligence into grinding circuits and material inputs like grinding aids, cement manufacturers can strike a balance between efficiency and environmental stewardship.
Conclusion
Digitalisation is not merely an add-on to cement manufacturing. It is reshaping the competitive and sustainability landscape of an industry often perceived as inertia-bound. With grinding representing a nexus of energy intensity and cost, digital technologies from sensor networks and predictive analytics to digital twins offer new levers of control. When paired with innovations in grinding media and grinding aids, particularly those with embedded digital capabilities, plants can achieve unprecedented gains in efficiency, predictability and performance.
For global cement producers aiming to reduce costs and carbon footprints simultaneously, the future belongs to those who harness digital intelligence not just to monitor operations, but to optimise and evolve them continuously.

About the author:
Professor Procyon Mukherjee, ex-CPO Lafarge-Holcim India, ex-President Hindalco, ex-VP Supply Chain Novelis Europe, has been an industry leader in logistics, procurement, operations and supply chain management. His career spans 38 years starting from Philips, Alcan Inc (Indian Aluminum Company), Hindalco, Novelis and Holcim. He authored the book, ‘The Search for Value in Supply Chains’. He serves now as Visiting Professor in SP Jain Global, SIOM and as the Adjunct Professor at SBUP. He advises leading Global Firms including Consulting firms on SCM and Industrial Leadership and is a subject matter expert in aluminum and cement. An Alumnus of IIM Calcutta and Jadavpur University, he has completed the LH Senior Leadership Programme at IVEY Academy at Western University, Canada.