WEIGHING

by Cachapuz, Portugal Weighing is an integral part of the cement production process and asimportant as packing and distribution. Weighing Solutions that notonly provide an accurate service to the cement plant but also integrateseamlessly with the works' other operations are an invaluable management

too/, contributing to the daily efforts of leading cement companies.

For leading cement companies toset themselves apart in today'scompetitive environment, multiple

requirements need to be met. While onthe one hand a highly-trained, committed,forward-thinking workforce is essential, onthe other hand, an invisible yet essentiallayer of services exists. These key measurescontribute to the design, production anddispatch of premium products and onesuch important service is the weighingprocess.

The importante of weighingThe world's major cement companies aliconsider weighing to be as important asthe packing, distribution and marketing oftheir products. They surround themselveswith leading technology providers toensure the services obtained go beyondthose of a simple weighing process.In today's highly-competitive market,weighing must be accurate and swift andoptimise operational steps.

Cachapuz, part of the Bilanciai Group,hás been developing automatic weighingand plant traffic management since 1993.By adapting pioneering and state-of-the-technologies to meet individual companyneeds, the company hás established itselfas a market leader in weighing technology

The company's SLV Cement - aweighing and shipment solution dedicatedto the cement industry - hás evolvedthrough dose cooperation with the cementindustry to become a trusted solution forweighing and shipment requirements.

Logistics chailengesThe material flow into and out of anycement plant is a complex process,presenting quite a few logistical issues. Aspart of its extensive research, Cachapuz'sexpert technicians have identified logisticalissues and bottlenecks which can arise inthe following áreas:

Manpower and resources» numerous administrative procedures* excessive paperwork* manual operations

human error! theft and fraud* delays while dispatching trucks« high operational costs

Turnaround time* long waiting and idle periods (eg,parking)* manual operations1 weighing, loading and unloading errors" excessive exchanges of parjer/checking« slow operational process* no or non-integrated IT systems

« inefficient utilisation of plant resourcesand dispatching capacity" lack of automated procedures

Business analysis• lack of real-time data» lack of detailed Information and KPI« non-existent monitoring abilities•• non-integrated IT systems

• unawareness of problematic áreas orprocesses• slow decision-making and optimisationprocesses

Service• undifferentiated from competition• lack of competitive and technological

SLV Cement offers a weighing and shipment solutionspecifically tailored to the needs of the cement industry

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WEIGHING

Through SLV Cement, Cachapuz offers aflexible, mobile and integrated solution

edge compared to competitors• dissatisfied customers, transporters andsuppliers

"•' - '.••::•:• , •-.-- • • ; • . . ' • ; • •

The ín-house expert operational know-how at Cachapuz is reflected in the SLVsolution's architecture, components andfunctions as well as several featuresenablíng it to deliver a robust and highperformance system.

SLV Cement is a web-based,cross-platform dispatching and truckmanagement solution which automatesali processes from the truck's arrival at thecement plant to the cement expedition.

It also automatically prints ali thenecessary documentation at the end ofthe process. Moreover, it enables cementplants to completely automate the mainfunctional áreas of: weíghing, shipping,parking, entry/exit gates, bulk cementloading, cement bags loading, rawmateriais unloading and business analysis.The system's key features are describedbelow.

Modular and scalableThis solution is scalable and adaptable

to small and largecement companies. Itsimplementation canstart with an initialset of modules toautomate key áreas(eg core modules andweighing managementand unloadingmanagement),

Additional modulescan be graduallyadded to the solutionto manage furtheráreas of the plant(parking management,bulk loading, bags

loading, bags counting, etc).

Built on main core modulesauthentication and authorisation

(profiles, users)" business ruies and entities (master data,truck flows, logistic data)• reporting, notifications and alerts.

Prepared for the global market' multi-lingual- multi-measurement.

Robust* Equipment is prepared to respond toarduous industrial environments, ensuringcontinuous operation 24/7« The software platform is based onthe latest technologies and subject tocontinuous performance tests.

Reliable* automatic and efficient exchangebetween logistics and commercialdepartments• seamlessly integrates into the customer'sERP in online/offline mode (such as SAPfor instance), assuring the expeditionof cement and the 24/7 recording of

Information, even in cases when a failurein communication between the twosystems occurs.

Integrated* complements the ERP with detailedlogistics, weíghing and dispatchinginformation» The online/offline features allows theinbound and outbound processes, even incase of a communication failure betweenthe two systems* SLV Cement integrated with the ERPcreates a vertical solution for cementcompanies.

Remotely supportedAli solution components are Ethernet

enabled* A monitoring console provides rapiddiagnosis of the state of the facility and tomanage ali SLV services* Remote support tools available.

Adaptable* SLV Cement complements the clienfsmanagement software (ERP), creating avertical solution, adapted to each cementplant* modular architecture with scalability andadaptation to new needs and flows•=• ability to answer to specific requirementsof each industrial unit and its geography.

Mobile* Users can always be connected to thesystem and are able to interact with it atany time* installed in multiple devices(smartphones, tablets, PC, etc).

Data provider for analysis outputs* thorough monitoring of each plant área* detailed process logs

alerts and notifications» reporting and KPI analysis

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From truck arrival to cement expedition

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• understands the planfs logistics, detectsbottlenecks and other complications• predicts future events, problems.

The SLV Cement solution is implementedat ali Portuguese cement companíes aswell as in Spain, South África, Angola,

Egypt and índia and others countries. Thesystem is installed in several cement plantswhere around 800 trucks per day areautomatically dispatched, with peaks of1200 trucks per day.

BenefitsSLV Cement provides its clients withefficiency gains on different leveis andprocesses in the cement plant. Sometangible gains include:" faster turnaround time to complete eachoperation

» increase in the number of trucksdispatched per day (ie, sales)* accurate and fast weighing operationsdue to automatic weighing• reduced leveis of theft, fraudulent and

The SLV Cement solution is

implemented at ali Portuguese

cement companies as well as

in Spain, South África, Angola,

Egypt and índia and others

countries. The system is installed

in several cement plants where

around 800 trucks per day are

automatically dispatched, with

peaks of 1200 trucks per day.

erroneous operations

* maximising dispatch capabilities andplant utilisation-•- less plant operators required

possibílity to reduce ERP licences andAMC fees with regards to operators beingtransferred to other areas/tasks.

There are also intangible gains:« improved organisation of plant-widetruck movements' increased safety and security at the plant» better quality of service for customers,

transporters and suppliers* innovation and competitive edge overcompetitors

* complete contrai and improvement ofthe processes* automatic parking and queuemanagement

* automatic processes' management anddata exchange* reduction in paperwork andadministration

* access to comprehensive and detailedreports and KPI.

Coniinuous improvementCachapuz continuously works onimproving its SLV Cement solution tomeet the needs of the cement industry.The company carries out field workand analysis of data from its partnersand clients. Through this research anddevelopment, Cachapuz aims to providestate-of-the-art integrated weighingsolutions, always lookíng to takedispatching and weighing logistics to the

next levei.

CemNet e-Learning coursesprovide a thorough learningexperience for cementindustry personnel, with arange of features designed toaccelerate full understandingof the completemanufacturing process.

Regardless ofyourtypeof cement companyorganisation, skilf,personnel learningCemNet e-Learningcan provide access to

rjght levei of training(and any where.

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