SLV Cement RFID-based dispatching solution

In 2010 Cachapuz Bilanciai Group, in partnership with String Automation Private Limited, received a new order to implement SLV Cement in Jaypee Rewa Plant, the flagship cement plant of the Indian Jaypee Group. The implementation of the solution was completed in the beginning of 2011 and it was a great success to all the companies participating in the project.

The problem: “The plant has the optimum production capability, but the product is not being dispatched as desired”

Until now, the cement producers’ main focus was the production capacity of their plants and, from the beginning of each new cement plant project, their managers want the best products, services and experienced suppliers to guarantee the efficiency of their plants. After the conclusion and the start-up of the production in a new big plant (mainly in the countries like China, India, Iran, among others with increasing demand of cement), the cement produces faced a new challenge in their business: “The plant has the optimum production capability, but the product is not being dispatched as desired”. In countries like India, the biggest plants have the capability to dispatch over one thousand trucks per day, but how can they do it efficiently and take the most out of their production unit? This was the problem Jaiprakash Associates Limited (Jaypee Group) has faced and to solve it they contacted Cachapuz/String to overcome the following challenges: introduce well defined rules and organization for the truck movement, reduce human intervention and errors in the processes and reduce the time to complete the loading and unloading operations – in a nutshell, improve the dispatching and logistic processes in their plants.

Because of its importance for the company, Jaypee Rewa was the selected plant to first implement SLV Cement to improve the inbound and outbound dispatching and logistic processes. Jaypee Rewa Plant, the main production unit ofJaiprakash Associates Limited, is located in the Madhya Pradesh state and has a production capacity of 3.0 MTPA (Million Tons Per Annum). Cachapuz Bilanciai Group in partnership with String Automation Private Limited, the exclusive Cachapuz partner for the Indian Market, received this new order to implement SLV Cement in 2010. This new order was the entry point for the internationalization processes of Cachapuz Bilanciai Group in India, opening new and exciting business opportunities in this large country in cement and in other areas.

The solution

To reply to Jaypee’s challenge, Cachapuz/String introduced their world class dispatching and logistics solution – SLV Cement. Based on its modular and adaptable features, SLV Cement was customized to meet the needs of Rewa plant, providing the necessary tools and equipments for the complete automation of its functional areas (RFID identification and access control, dispatching, weighing, parking, entry/exit gates and raw materials unloading), the tools for process management and business analysis and the integration with SAP ERP. All the process operators required in the process use SLV Cement software frontends, which were tailored and tuned up to assure that the software modules are simple and well focalized on the business processes.

With SLV Cement, the truck driver performs the loading/unloading process in self-service mode, interacting with the system components: he identifies himself in the parking kiosk using and RFID tag (associated to the loading or unloading operation and which will be used for identification and validation purposes in every SLV Cement kiosk during the operation), which validates the permission to load/unload from SAP, and waits for the system or the operators to call him; when called in the information panel, the driver goes to one of the entry weighbridges, identifies himself and the system registers the first weigh after checking with positioning sensors that the truck is in the correct position on the weighbridge; when the traffic lights inform him to proceed, he goes to the indicated loading/unloading area, where he performs the operation assisted by SLV Cement unloading kiosks (in case of raw materials unloading processes);  then he goes to the exit weighbridge, he identifies himself in the kiosk, the system registers the second weight and prints the necessary documentation at this stage. All the information is automatically synchronized with SAP to ensure that the data is consolidated in the two systems. To conclude the process, the driver goes to the dispatch zone to collect the legal documents, which are prepared in SAP using the data registered by SLV Cement.

The SLV Cement solution installed was composed 

• SLV Cement software framework with SAP ERP integration
• 1 Parking zone with 2 large Information Panel with full visibility at 150 meters, 1 SLV Cement parking Kiosk and 1 Digital Signage information unit;
• 7 Weighbridges with 7 SLV Cement Check-in/Check-out self-service kiosks (with color touch screens, proximity RFID tag readers, RFID tag collectors sand thermal kiosk printers), 14 positioning sensors to control the weighing operation and 14 traffic lights
• 3 Raw materials unloading zones with 3 SLV Cement Raw Materials kiosks (with RFID tag readers and embedded traffic lights)

Key Advantages

• RFID Access control and identification
• Automated raw materials reception and cement dispatching processes
• Unmanned/unattended weighing operations
• Self-service operations 24/7
• Increased organization of truck movement
• Reduced Turn Around Time to complete the loading/unloading operations
• Increased productivity
• Reduction of manpower and human errors
• Improved safety and security on the plant
• Well oriented and business focalized software frontends
• Integrated with SAP ERP
• Remote support to the system

Satisfaction and Recognition

The success of the SLV Cement implementation in Jaypee Rewa Plant was possible with the hard work, commitment and team spirit of all the teams of Cachapuz, String and both Jaypee  SAP IT and Maintenance teams. On April 4th 2011, and almost three months after the successful “start-up” of SLV Cement in India, officers from Cachapuz Bilanciai Group and String Automation Private Limited visited Jaypee Rewa Plant and met Mr. Sunny Gaur, Hon’ble Managing Director of Jaiprakash Associates Limited, Mr. C. S. Jain, Senior President (Commercial) of Jaypee Rewa Plant, among other personnel from several plants of the same group. During the meeting it was possible to discuss the implementation of SLV Cement in Rewa Plant and the feedback we received was very positive and motivating. According to Mr. Sunny Gaur, “The SLV Cement solution is efficient, is running very well and we are very happy with it”.

© Cachapuz Bilanciai Group