What's the value of visibility?
Imagine; creating a product that your customers will be thrilled with, only to have it ruined as soon as it's taken from your plant. You probably don't have to imagine..this is a reality for many ready mix producers.
Too Much Can Become Too Costly
Excess water increases the water-to-cement ratio of concrete and maximizes workability; which is good news for concrete finishers. However, this benefit doesn't come without cost. The additional water eventually evaporates in the curing process, leaving a porous network of capillary voids and lower overall strength.
Excess water can also cause large aggregates to settle to the bottom of the matrix, resulting in reduced structural capacity and increased likelihood of cracking - resulting in the crumbling infrastructure that has become a major problem in our world today.
Keep Control in Your Hands
One way that excess water becomes a problem is while the materials are in transit to a job site. Generally, truck drivers climb on top of the their trucks and eyeball how much water they believe should be added to the mix. If the materials become ruined by excessive water and aren't immediately turned away at the job site, it can still cost your business money down the road if the structure fails.
There is a way for you to stay in control, even after materials leave the plant. Command Alkon has a product that incorporates a rheological probe designed to provide benefits to the ready mix producer and their customers; this provides visibility into the properties of fresh concrete throughout the delivery cycle.
Visibility Is in the Mix
Say "goodbye" to guesswork. The probe's features include:
- Current concrete slump and temperature
- Volume in the drum
- Water-to-cement ratio, and any additional water added when using a meter on truck
- Water allowed to be added based on water-to-cement ratio and volume of concrete remaining in the drum
- Number of revolutions
- Whether or not the concrete has reached a homogeneous state (fully mixed)
- Drum RPM
- Drum direction and unload rate
Visibility = Assurance
Receive a richness of concrete property data previously unseen in the delivery cycle. This solution can deliver you an invaluable peace of mind. Let's talk about how your ready mix operation can thrive with a system like this in place.
