How Smart Plants Lower Producers’ Costs

While construction was booming and concrete in high demand, buyers were happy to get material at just about any price. Producers could focus solely on getting concrete to the jobsite, and not worry as much about offering competitive pricing or value-add services. Today’s decrease in demand for concrete enables buyers to be much more selective. Producers must reduce the friction in their operation to become a “least-hassle supplier” that attracts customers. Typical ways to become a least-hassle supplier involve investing in new accounting systems, online portals, end-user mobile apps, artificial intelligence and other technologies. While worthy improvements, they may not bring immediate return on investment. Buried deep below the customer-facing glitter is perhaps the most foundational—and financial—need for operational improvement: the plant. In the February 2024 installment of Tech Trends, published by Concrete Products magazine, BCMI’s Craig Yeack explores how investing in plant automation and connecting plants to the industrial Internet of Things will pave the way for a higher-quality product and more predictable logistics. Read here.