How Smart Plants Lower Producers’ Costs

Optimize your resources to reduce the debt of becoming a least-hassle supplier. When Albert Einstein was once asked to name mankind’s greatest invention, his answer was “compound interest.” While the federal funds rate was near zero, it made sense for businesses to load up on debt and pay virtually no interest. Now, with higher interest rates compounding the impact, it’s…

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Five Questions to Ask at World of Concrete

WOC 2024 is about YOUR Customers, and how you can help them. This year marks the 50th anniversary of World of Concrete, an event that often has seen crowds of more than 50,000 attendees—mostly contractors. For producers, it’s an opportunity to feel the pulse of the industry, including current trends and what’s to come.  This year’s event offers new ways…

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Decode Customer Behavior to Control EBITDA!

Well-structured quotes based on customer behavior will help control variable costs and boost cash flow and earnings. A company often calculates its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to measure financial health. Stripping out “nonoperational” expenses provides a clearer picture of your company’s ability to generate cash flow for its owners and for judging operational performance. The primary…

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Customer Segmentation Service Levels

Group customers by their technology and service needs to become the supplier of choice. Worldwide, the production of ready mixed concrete is fundamentally the same. A plant in Dallas operates similar to plants in Dubai, Dublin and even Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam. The needs of customers, however, can be radically different—and that’s without taking into account their unique geographies.  In…

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Meet the Women in Ready Mixed Concrete Technology

October is Careers in Construction Month, and an excellent opportunity to build your workforce by introducing women to the concrete industry (and concrete tech jobs). Hedy Lamarr, best known as a beautiful actress during Hollywood’s Golden Age, was a brilliant thinker. She co-invented a frequency-hopping system used to prevent Axis powers from jamming torpedoes during World War II, which later…

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2023 ConcreteWorks Technical Highlights

Must-see technology-related presentations at the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association’s annual conference. Citizens of the Industry, NRMCA’s ConcreteWorks is here! This is clearly the singular most important industry meeting of the year, and it now benefits from being co-located with the fall committee meetings of the Portland Cement Association. From September 29 through October 3, your days will be filled…

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The Hard Value of Batch Plant Tuning

Plant tuning matters when it comes to plugging profit leaks. Ready mixed concrete can be batched with pharmaceutical precision and accuracy. It’s just a matter of time and equipment, which means money. The industry challenge is configuring plants with precise (repeatable) and accurate (close to target) equipment tuned well enough (with speed) to minimize cycle costs. Accuracy is dictated by…

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The Age Decline of Ready Mixed Concrete Workers

Ready mixed concrete is a generational business that requires both young innovators and older, experienced employees. Our industry is in a demographic decline. We are losing older, steady hands much faster than their impact can be replaced, and continued enticements to delay retirement only last so long. Compounding the issue, most ready mixed concrete business leaders are rueful about having…

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The Real Value of Integrated Material Replenishment

Looking for true savings? Transition from “keep full” to “don’t run out.”  U.S. ready mix concrete (RMC) production in 2023 should be just north of 400 million cubic yards, a recession notwithstanding. Based on an average five-bag mix, that means at least 27.5 million equivalent truckloads of aggregates and 4.75 million equivalent truckloads of cementitious materials will be required.  Bulk…

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The Economics of Reducing Truck Times at the Plant

Shaving off 1 minute of time at the plant could save $832 per truck annually. Managing ready mix concrete logistics is best summarized by an adaptation of the Serenity Prayer: Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Dispatchers cannot change the…

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